thinking out loud: game vs. play

I've been kicking around Bogusky's thought on "What's your brand's game?" some more. I'm posting this as a stream of thought. It's not final by any means but I'm just trying to work out where this is going. I think what he said was quite interesting and it has obviously stuck with me. So, here's how I've been thinking about it lately...

I'm not so sure this question/idea works entirely across the board. At least not if you take literally, which I think he was meaning as he used "Tic Tac Toe" as a possible answer and it was in close proximity to his discussion of video games being a very interesting area he's constantly thinking about.

I believe it might not be so much about what your brand's game is as much as I believe it gets to the bigger question of how will your brand provoke someone into interacting with you. So maybe the question is more about "How does your brand play?" Or, maybe even more importantly, "How does my brand's audience like to play?" and then "How can my brand add value to that form of play?"

I like the idea of keeping it in the framework of something kid-like. And I like keeping it about creating an interaction and getting someone to do something. I also like keeping it about something fun. Games are generally fun. Playing is generally fun.

If you make it about playing, then you can go beyond games. Some kids like to build things - toy models, Legos, blocks, etc. Some kids like to solve puzzles. Some kids like to color. Some kids like to sing. Some kids like to run and dance and constantly be moving around. Some kids like to joke and tease. Some kids like to ride their bikes or skateboards. Some kids love learning and so they play in ways that are educational, yet fun.

I also like playing because it is social. Playing for the most part involves doing something with at least one other person if not a larger group. Playing generally requires people to interact with each other based off of another person's actions in that group. And then someone else reacts based on the new action. And so on, and so on. If you make it about playing, it gets to how is your brand going to do something fun with others.

I've always believed that brand loyalty and/or brand preference is built over time through repeated positive experiences with a brand by a consumer/user. (You can say it, "no duh, Paul.") Those experiences take shape in many forms. How the brand's packaging looks and feels. What the brand's advertising conveys. How the brand's product or service itself looks, tastes, feels, smells, sounds. What others say about the brand. Etc., etc., etc. All of these add up over time and if they all build to an overall positive experience, you're in good shape to build brand preference and loyalty.

By looking at your marketing as how you're going to play with your audience, it might open up new ways of building your brand. Instead of asking what you can tell them that will make them choose you, maybe consider asking yourself how can you play with them to get them interested in choosing you.

When thinking about this, I think it's important to be sure to make it involve your brand's audience and their perspective. You can't just make it about what you want to play. Think back to when you were a kid. You had your favorite ways to play. Your friends might have had other favorite ways to play. Sometimes in order to get them to play what you wanted them to, you had to first play what they wanted to play.

So long as you're building a postive exprience with people who can utlimately become loyal advocates for your brand, does it really matter whose form of playing you're doing? Yours or theirs? Either way, aren't you getting what you want?

I'm going to keep thinking about it and will continue to share where my head is going with it. I kind of like this idea of playing and taking it beyond games. But who knows what tomorrow or the next day will bring as this continues to bounce around in my head.

If you've got some thoughts, I'd love to hear them...

photo via NikonD40Rob

Comments

[Sean]

What I took from his comment was that the vast majority of mainstream advertisers believe, perhaps unconsciously, that consumers view advertising as a spectator sport. Meanwhile, the guys at CP+P see consumers as dormant players - consumers who may not even be asking to play with brands - but are totally game if a brand says "Let's play." Or better still, if they make a first move and the brand responds playfully instead of corporately.