Blog Report: October 28th

Set On Stun
Veronica Belmont Sums it Up Nicely: “Pink is the New STFU”
JP Sherman
October 20th,2009
http://setonstun.com/2009/10/veronica-belmont-sums-it-up-nicely-pink-is-the-new-stfu/

An article about how women are still being marketed to as dainty homemakers and not the tech savvy equals they have become. When NewEgg.com released a new campaign targeting women this holiday season, a technology enthusiast, Veronica Belmont was taken back at its simple minded focus; offering suggestions only in house wares or consumer electronics, all dressed in a ghastly pink. When do of course enjoy pink (someone has to), but in this day and age where consumers are all about options and differentiation, that suggesting only pink is probably not the most successful way to increase sales. Also, the concept of a technology website selling pots and pans is equally as derivative as, building a campaign towards women with those pots and pans in mind. Since, “61% of technology purchases are unplanned by women, who make up 82.5% of the shopping decision making,” it would be smart of New Egg to focus on the following considerations:

•There needs to be an immediate recognition of VALUE.
•There needs to be a distinct visual identity differentiation.
•Focus on perceived value
•Provide features as it relates to value
•Avoid the “pink it and shrink it” look

Sherman believes that if this is done, NewEgg.com may potentially see more sales and less offended consumers.

The Official U.S. Playstation Blog
UNCHARTED: Eye of Indra – First Episode on PSN Today
Neil Druckmann // Lead Game Designer, Naughty Dog
October 22, 2009
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/uncharted-eye-of-indra-%e2%80%93-first-episode-on-psn-today/

Full motion comics are a relatively new form of media, which utilizes comic panes with some animations, to blend audio driven story with hand drawn characters. This has become a growing trend within video game promotion, yielding an apparent competent return on investment. Basing this assumption on the continuing number of companies who choose to use this method of communication, Uncharted 2 has become the next game to feature its own full motion comic. Having watched the Dead Space full motion comic in anticipation of the 2008, I also participated in the New Uncharted: Eye of Indra episode. Seemed ok, for being so heavily sponsor driven, I would have preferred to pay a dollar and gotten 10 minutes of content, instead of 5 minutes of story and 5 minutes of advertising for the latest Toyota SUV and videogames I already own, but it was cannon to the existing fiction from what I could see. Future episodes will be downloadable on the Playstation Network for a price of $2.50. Hopefully they will be fewer ads, since there is a price associated. I find it interesting how different Medias are blending to create new ways of deliver entertainment. Of course, in this case it seems to be in promotion of an already existing IP, but maybe one day, full motion comics could become respected medium and will even have its own “Citizen Kane”.