Lucy's View: Clash of the Titans- Sony vs. Microsoft E3 showdown

The claws were out at E3 last week when Sony released this very tongue in cheek response to Microsoft's Xbox One announcement, which explained that new DRM (digital rights management) restrictions will result in harsher controls on lending, sharing and trading games:



Microsoft claim that the new restrictions will actually improve the gaming market. With a new cloud-based system, Microsoft explained how a user will simply be able to log onto any Xbox One console and access their full games library, and that up to 10 family and friends can have accounts on the same console, and access all content stored on there. Furthermore, this system will allow downloads of new releases at the same time as the disc version enters the shops, so no more late night queuing. And really, what would be the point now that a disc will only be needed once to install the game, then it becomes surplus to requirement. (Anyone else think this screams of PC gaming?)

However, there is a downside to all this. Get banned from Xbox Live and you lose all your game licences, oh, and you can't play offline, and the console has to connect to the internet once every 24 hours if you're playing on your own console, once an hour if you're playing your games on a friend's console.

The Xbox One- someone commented it looks like a VCR,
I can't help but agree.

As far as trading goes, you can digitally give your games to your friends if you no longer want them, as long as they have been your friend on your Xbox account for more than 30 days, and you can only give your game away to one person. As far as I can tell you will be able to trade games developed by Microsoft through traditional means, for example CEX in the UK, but the retailers must pay a fee to be able to resell.


Trying to clear up the confusion

I must state at this point that there is an awful lot of confusion over what these restrictions mean / don't mean for the average gamer. I have done my best to decipher the endless rants (there are literally hundreds), and the occasional bit of praise for the new system. The general consensus though, is that Microsoft brought nothing but bad, and confusing, news to the E3 table.

But before we take our hats off to Sony and claim, as others put it, that they 'won' E3, I decided to have a deeper look into what Microsoft are trying to do, and why.

Under the surface of what seems like a power trip from Microsoft, it appears that the Xbox One, and its new restrictions, are designed to sustain / encourage, (depending on your opinion of the gaming world), social gaming. At the same time Microsoft are handing power back to the publishers and developers, allowing them to opt in to allowing re-sales of their games, and in turn giving them control of the distribution of their products. In fact, this guy argues a pretty good case as to why the new DRM restrictions are not all doom and gloom, and raises the point that developers have to make a living too!

I'm still not convinced...

The Play Station 4- definitely smarter looking in my opinion.

Others have also argued an excellent point though: would this set up work in any other market? Look at books for example. Do I have to have known someone 30 days before I can give them a book? The same goes for DVDs, pens, or anything tangible really. If I have bought a disc, surely that is my copy to do with as I please (within the constraints of the law of course). And this is where Sony's argument sits, they are quite realistic about the fact that people may want to lend or even pass / sell games on. It could be argued that lending leads to more sales, in a 'try before you buy' sense.

Maybe, like hundreds of others out there, I have got the wrong end of the stick. What worries me more is the hundreds that have no idea about any of this, and who's brand-loyal children will be going crazy for the £429 Xbox One this Christmas (it's due for release in November). Yes, that's how much it's going to be. The Play Station 4 undercuts it by £80, at £349, but does not include their camera add on. So there is a lot of money to be invested here. And as a friend rightly pointed out, he is a lot less inclined to spend another £50 on a game, that after a period of time, (either after completion or out of boredom), he cannot sell on to get a bit of money towards their next purchase.

Here at the studio we would love to hear your thoughts on this. I may have opened a can of worms, but who doesn't love a good debate? Leave us a comment or tweet us @ubd_studio



Source of Information:
http://ubersocialmedia.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/sonys-social-agility-thwarts-new-xbox-one/
http://www.wpcentral.com/lets-talk-xbox-drm
http://www.neowin.net/news/anonymous-xbox-engineer-explains-drm-and-microsofts-xbox-one-intentions
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-07-xbox-ones-used-game-policies-to-lie-with-publishers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22850409

Personalisation: putting people in your marketing strategy

Just two of the 150 names available on Coke products this summer.

By now we are sure that you have all seen Coca Cola's latest marketing campaign: "Share a Coke with..." It appears that personalisation is a big thing in the food and drink industry at present.

Personalisation can be as simple as using a lead or client's first name on an email, or you could go to the extreme like Coke, and put your customers' names on the products.

Coca Cola have used the top 150 names in the UK to create personalised bottles of regular Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero, the idea being that you share the bottles with friends and family.  The campaign is set to be around all summer, and Coke are even hosting events for those whose name do not appear on the shelves, allowing them to have personalised bottles printed.

The one and only name featuring on an Irn-Bru can

HP Sauce are also jumping on the personalisation bandwagon specifically for Fathers Day (June 16th). Using a Facebook competition, HP are allowing 100 of their biggest fans to win personalised bottles of sauce for their dads. No surprises that your chances of winning are doubled if you choose to share the campaign on your Facebook timeline. HP Sauce state that the reasoning behind the campaign is to reward their most loyal fans (and their dads) in "a new and exciting way".

A slightly tongue-in-cheek nod to personalisation is Irn-Bru's new can. Following on from their TV campaign, the scottish soft drink has released pictures of a personalised can, but it's only suitable if your name is Fanny. Unfortunately the can is not available in stores, and there is no word as yet that it ever will be.

An example from the HP Sauce campaign.

Personalisation is a rewarding strategy, both from the prospective of the
business, and your audience. The customer feels that they are being given something back from the company, and the company is able to encourage loyalty and advocacy.

Do you use personalisation in your marketing strategy?





Sources of Information:
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/05/31/hp-sauce-offers-facebook-fans-chance-win-personalised-bottles-father-s-day
http://www.thedrum.com/stuff/2013/05/31/irn-bru-jumps-personalised-can-bandwagon-suitable-only-people-called-fanny
http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/faq/products/share-a-coke.html

Sensible Social Media

The careless tweet that may have cost a woman's career.

Social media is becoming an ever more popular form of marketing for businesses worldwide, but used incorrectly this instant, and free, form of communication can become a disaster for even the biggest of companies. This week has seen another three social media blunders each resulting in a huge backlash from the public. There are lessons to be learned here.

Making an 'opportunity' out of a crisis will never work

Without a doubt the biggest social media error of the week comes from Friends Reunited, who posted a rather insensitive tweet following one of the most horrific incidents to affect the UK in recent times. After public reaction to other such social media mishaps in the last few months, it is seemingly obvious that unless your sending your thoughts / condolences, it's probably best not to say anything at all, let alone newsjack and try and force a marketing opportunity out of a tragedy. Friends Reunited have since apologised, suspended the person responsible, and have stated that the post was not cleared by management. Another lesson here, know who has access to your accounts!

Strong personal opinions should be kept away from the internet
 
It's not just companies that can be affected by the power of social media. A flippant tweet by a 21-year-old trainee accountant explaining how she hit a cyclist may have jepordised her career. The girl has already been suspended from her job and has stated her contract may be over. It doesn't matter whether you are the social media manager for a huge company, or simply expressing your opinion on your own personal social media accounts, you are at risk of putting damaging information out there. Do not post anything which you may later regret. Sure there is a delete button, but you can't delete those hundreds of screen grabs just by removing the original post, and you can't stop those hundreds of screen grabs from being circulated, and hate being directed towards you. Do yourself a favour and think before you tweet / post, please!

If someone loves your brand, do not give them reason not to
 
Not as controversial as the other two examples, but potentially as damaging to the company, was the way that Fererro handled a Nutella superfan this week. Sara Rosso created World Nutella Day in 2007, and the event has over 40,000 fans on Facebook. However, Fererro initially panicked, and delivered a cease and desist notice against the event, claiming that their branding was being used incorrectly on the fan page. Luckily, Ferrero backtracked and are now supporting the event. But why the panic? Fans are a great asset to a brand, they are an opportunity, not a threat, especially when they already have 40,000 fans of their own!  We hope Fererro are now making the most of this and are assisting Sara. Send her the brand guidelines, help her use them correctly, make her a brand ambassador, reward her loyalty.

There are those who get it right
 
A great example of how brands can reward their superfans, and use social media in a positive way, comes from Taco Bell, who have been sending rings and hand written letters to their 'special ladies'. These ladies are all high profile celebrities, but they are also people who apparently promote their love for the chain on their social media accounts. This may seem a little bit odd, but a picture is worth 1000 words and some of the receivers of these rings have taken to Instagram to show them off, jackpot for Taco Bell.

What lessons have you learned through using, or watching others use, social media?

Kanye West uses unconventional marketing to promote "New Slaves"

Were you in a big city over the weekend? Did you manage to see a projection of Kanye West's face onto a building near you?



"New Slaves" is the first official song to be revealed off the artist's latest studio album, expected to be released on June 18th. To help fans find the projections, kanyewest.com has been turned into an interactive map highlighting the times and locations of the 'performances'.

Artwork for Kanye West's upcoming album, 'Yeezus'.

Speculation and hype about the upcoming release of the album has been fuelled by this Instagram posted by Kim Kardashian, released before Kanye appeared on Saturday Night Live, (18th May), to perform.

Is this the way marketing is going now, bigger and bolder? And more importantly integrated? It's one thing to set up your website to promote the launch of a new product, in this case an album, but it's another to use your website as some sort of 'treasure map' directing your customers to another form of marketing. Plus the use of Instagram to promote the album artwork just before a live performance is a very clever and free way to get news out to the masses, and to start to cause a stir.

Moreover, Kanye West must have a lot of faith in his personal brand, the projections don't feature any gimmicks, logos, or any other branding apart from Kanye himself. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit his methods of self promotion definitely stand out from the crowd. 

Lucy's View: Social Media

Studio 'Research'

We hear about it everywhere, businesses should be making more effort on social media, in order to connect to their customers, and it's true, they should. We like to use our social media channels in order to let our network know about company updates, share things that we find interesting, and to shine a light into studio life.

Nowadays there are so many websites offering tips, e-books, white papers, you name it, all about how to run your social media channels, how to strategise, how to automate, create and curate. And a lot of it is contradictory.  I subscribe to tens of social media experts and 'gurus', and yes I find a lot of the advice useful, but some of it is far too confusing! Especially if you're just starting to expand your company's social media efforts.

To me, the idea of social media, is to be just that, social. While automation is great for regular features, and days out of the office, surely the point is that your presence on social media is to interact with your network. Ask questions, discuss the answers, post that quick snap of the 'research' going on in the studio (see picture). This enables you let people in to who you are as a company, and as individuals, and share experiences. Sharing is such an important part of social media. Don't be scared to share articles and pictures by others, they might do the same for you!

Of all the guides, tips and tricks I have read and picked up through developing my role in social media, I go back to my dissertation for the most valuable and simple advice. A pair of academics (Kaplan and Haenlein) broke the term social media into it's two components, quite simply 'social' and 'media', and offered five guidelines for each. As many of the gurus I follow suggest that you 'put your own spin' on curated content, I have decided to add my comments on the matter.

Social Media Guidelines from UbDStudio

We'd love to hear your feedback! Do you have any social media golden rules you abide by? Tweet us @ubd_studio.