Art Meets Commerce

Forbes describes the ongoing struggle to create Facebook games that both entice players into logging online daily and make a return on investment.

The COO of Playfish, a leader in this type of game development, describes how he aims to create games that are “very engaging, entertaining worlds and lead to the discovery of new friendships and relationships.” 

Playfish and its competitors make money by advertising and selling virtual goodies.  They host video ads on their site and sell gifts to give to friends — including $40 virtual lip-shaped couches. 

(We live in interesting times, don’t we?)

Here’s Forbes list of the 10 hottest games.

While trying to find bad 80’s commercials on YouTube for the upcoming Rock of Ages, I stumbled upon this guy: Brandon Nichols. I love this guy! He is an example of what all actors will have to do to get seen in the near future.
Here’s how he did it:

1. He created all of his music/video free on One True Media, then, created a free website on wix.com.

2. He uploaded his videos to YouTube and added keywords like Broadway, Musicals, etc. This made it easy to find Brandon when people searched for those terms. They loved him, and subscribed, saw other videos and then commented and responded wiht their videos.

3. Brandon used his original style and sang show tunes to the pictures of the show he was singing to. The whole thing is bizarre and really…oh, what’s the word…REAL. Something Broadway could use more of.

It’s going to be interesting to see where the industry and Brandon go next. For Brandon, if it’s not a career on Broadway, it’s definitely a career in internet marketing.

One of our clients is Life in a Marital Institution: 20 years of monogamy in one terrifying hour.  It’s a great show, with intimate storytelling by James Braly, who reminds me (and plenty of reviewers) of Spalding Gray.  James tells stories about his marriage to Susan, who breastfed her children until they were 6 years old.

That’s right: 6 years old (and this is not even the strangest story in the show).

So, the producer thought of a  great ad, to be blasted to The Onion readers, and on Facebook:

Got Breastmilk ?

Life In A Marital Institution’s James Braly is “Gifted…and, frankly, just a little strange!” – The New York Times

www.LifeInAMaritalInstitution.com

Alas, Facebook rejected the ad.  Why?

The text of this ad contains language that is unacceptable or inappropriate. Per sections 3 and 8 of Facebook ’s Advertising Guidelines, ad text must relate directly to the content of the landing page and may not include any user attribute unless it is directly relevant to the offer. The text may not contain, facilitate or promote offensive, profane, vulgar, obscene, adult or inappropriate language.

Now, I understand that Facebook is trying to protect its site and its users from Spam.  Integrity is a good thing.

But, really, Facebook users can’t take a little milk mustache ‘n breastmilk reference?

Irony of ironies, Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point almost did not make the tip from failure to success.

The Tipping Point is a book about how “ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do” (Gladwell, page 7).  It discusses how specific changes, such as the person spreading the message or the format of the message itself, can effect how, or even if, the ideas, products, messages, and behaviors spread across a population.  Gladwell cites numerous examples, including Paul Revere’s fateful trip warning that the British were coming, hush puppies as a fashion trend, and the downward spiral of crime in New York.

According to Robert McCrum, the former literary editor of The Observer (via Kottke.org), it was Gladwell’s US-wide lecture that truly tipped The Tipping Point from failure into success.

The Tipping Point was almost a flop. It was published to mixed reviews in the US, did no serious business in the UK and was saved by — yes — word of mouth. After a dismal launch, and as a desperate last resort, Gladwell persuaded his American publisher to sponsor a US-wide lecture tour. Only then did the book ‘tip’. Eventually, it would become a literary success of its time, turn its author into a pop cultural guru and spend seven years on the New York Times bestseller list. This was one of those pivotal moments that illustrates the story of this decade.