brands and games

i was 15 years old when my dad bought me a small chinese handheld video game, that was my first gaming experience. with change in technology and man becoming more social, gaming needs, interests, experience and platforms also changed. popularity of games is ever changing and evolving from games like pac-man (which is still very popular), to alladin, to mario and so on.

games have entered our living rooms with consoles like PS3, xbox and nintendo; games will soon enter our pockets with more intelligent competition coming from our cell phones.

layman will not understand the gaming jargons like – MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) decoded as alien shooting games where 2 or more players can enjoy the game and can play online as well and Single Player games decoded as racing games – road rash kinds which school kids still enjoy.

now where do indian brands come into picture in all this? well, they don’t; brands particularly indian brands are neglecting this captive audience who spend an average time of 45-60 minutes or even more per week on console/computer gaming. think about the person who is playing Need For Speed on his PS3 for 2 hours on a weekend and Mountain Dew has an unlocked car waiting for him after completion of 20th level. or, Maruti’s latest offering Kizashi’s meaner version is waiting to be unlocked.

motivation/involvement levels in such games is much higher than any other communication be it television, radio or even internet. this can be possible only if a brand manager can be little imaginative and try and do something out of box instead of doing what his boss will like.

even if gaming doesn’t appeal (read cost effective) to any of the brands; social gaming is huge. no brand is even thinking of using social gaming (read games on facebook page) as an alternate/sampling option for new launches.

people discuss about dearth of new ideas in each and every advertising or media conference, discussion boards and in general conversations. well, ideas are right in front of you and up for grabs. all that needs to be done is think within the box – i.e. our computer and television screens.

if Delhi was a brand

if Mr.Sam Pitroda were the sole brand manager of Delhi city, he would be having sleepless nights and surely a receding hair line. handling a brand like Delhi is not easy and not one man’s job. Delhi needs at least 20 brand managers, some super cops and definitely some female members in the team.

Ms.Kiran Bedi, now she’s the most important candidate for the team followed by someone like Rahul Gandhi but without any political intentions. Some sports persons will add icing to the cake, someone like Kapil Dev who is not scared to share his views and will do something for every sport. Vijendra Kumar is another contender, not to knock out the officials, but to help smaller known players.

if anyone is still reading this post, you might be wondering why are we talking about Delhi as a brand and deciding on the brand managers. it is simple, we’ve spent some of the best days of our lives to take care of some of the biggest brands in the country but done nothing for the place where we live. We’ve left everything to the politicians and officials to decide.

even if the government can look at Delhi as a brand and not as a state it’ll be hell lot easier to manage the problems faced. bad roads, no security for women, nightlife, brash behavior, gun-in-the pocket lifestyle, everything can be taken care of if Delhi is given to brand managers and not to politicians.

think about a citizen complaining about some local area problem on facebook and brand managers responding within seconds to get rid of the problem, a group of women sharing their views on a specific hangout and complaining about the behavior of men after 8 PM. even school kids telling the team responsible if the school curriculum is up to the mark or not. people posting pictures of rule violations and police taking corrective measures instantly.

feels like the ideal world?? well, delhi traffic police has kicked off a very unique initiative on facebook where 10000 strong fans can post their concerns and DTP (lovingly called on the fan page) responds to the posts. now that’s innovation and inclusion of technology in day to day working. people can upload pics of traffic violations and DTP takes corrective measures in return. hats off DTP.

A Stanford MBA named Roy Raymond wanted to buy his wife some lingerie but he was too embarrassed to shop for it at a department store. He comes up with an idea for a high end place that doesn’t make you feel like a pervert. He gets a $40,000 bank loan, borrows another $40,000 from his in-laws, opens a store, and calls it Victoria’s Secret. Makes a half million dollars his first year. He starts a catalog, opens three more stores and after five years he sells the company to Leslie Wexner and the Limited for four million dollars. Happy ending, right? Except two years later, the company’s worth 500 million dollars and Roy Raymond jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge.

universal truth about women – they are always right; its your fault if you do not know anything about them; you’ll have to apologize after 99.99% of arguments; no matter what you do, you don’t know her well and you cannot understand her

you have at least one person in your life who has a calming effect no matter hw bugged u r, no matter hw down u feel…i knw some1 who has this effect on me

3 weird things hapnd wid me tday: a rickshaw wala bumped my car nd said ‘saab aapne brk laga di’ – weird; got my ass kicked fr sumthng i dint do – weirder; da rudest person in my life has turnd sweet nw – weirdest

u remember that feeling wen u jus enjoy some1 else being happy. i had that feeling tday, same laughter, same fun, same leg pulling aftr a long long time. *touchwood*

i wanna be a billionaire, so freakin bad!!! i hate bills…

now google’s gonna do it!!!

google has plunged in the race to make the ultimate online music store and might launch the same this fall. so what?? should apple be scared of google now??

nah!! apple comes with a huge fan following and no other online music store can kick it off table until and unless it provides an integrated solution to music lovers. now the ‘wow’ factor that google can create is provide the same features and more music to the users.

no user is interested if google can out shine itunes or not, all they care about is the quality and quantity of music available. who so ever will be able to provide more of that will take the cake.

does anyone have a time machine??! i wanna go back to saturday…