Mario and Madmen

After 21 years of waiting, the moons aligned, and this summer I was able to merge my passions:

No, not flying children with laser guns and a slightly overrated Bravo show (I said it). Finally I was allowed to merge video and computer games with marketing. An independent developer took me on as an intern and suddenly I was an insider. One non-disclosure agreement later the Tweets were flying and the Facebook page was rocking. I loved it, and that's where this all started.

The video game industry is notorious, in my opinion, of throwing a game out into the open, relying on reviews of their game, swag, and their ability to YELL AT YOU to carry them through. They don't listen! One not-to-be-named developer claimed their only source of press was through reviews of their game. Well, you can imagine where their product went.

I was shocked as kept the Twitter account Tweeting and the Facebook page updated that I saw and heard of so few video game developer utilizing social media. Gamers are and enormous community! Like almost everyone community, they are using social media!

One company that tapped into that community was Ubisoft with Assassin's Creed 2. Instead of just YELLING AT their Twitter followers, they created a game on Twitter. They game them something to do. Twitter followers would be given a "target", another follower, and be charged with assassinating them with a #hashtag. By doing this, followers were given items to be redeemed when the game is released. They added value to their brand through social media.

Many social media efforts just happen, and then stop. Over 56% of marketers say they will include social media in their plans for 2010, but how many of those efforts will be properly utilized? The Nintendo Wii, the most financially successful current generation home console, has a fan page on Facebook that was last updated November of 2008. The Nintendo Corporation fan page has not been updated since April of 2008! Why would I bother with either of these social media efforts? Nothing of value is gained from the consumer's point of view.

Instead of just jawing in the ear of their consumers, Ubisoft gave them a reason to follow them, made social media fun, and gave their Tweets value. That's what we all want, right? Something in return.