Are we no longer in the Information Age?Are we destined to be “gamers”?Whether you’re in marketing — particularly the digital side — or just looking for a job in marketing and related fields, you may have noticed the growing emphasis on entertainment. Entertainment activities becoming more the focus of our digital and offline lives.
And, as you’d expect, entertainment marketing seems to be following that growth. I don’t mean entertainment marketing as in promoting movies, actors and actresses. I’m talking about entertainment marketing for the sake of having fun with a brand wrapped around that fun.
The traditional, age-old tactics of marketing to customers and prospects via one-way communications is falling by the wayside. Ads of all type. Direct mail. Mass-distributed news releases. Yes, they will always have a place – some place – but those tactics of marketing communications are becoming a smaller part of the total marketing effort. Today’s successful marketing is individually-focused and better targeted to people’s own interests. Mass marketing is slowing going the way of the dinosaur.
The strong potential of wrapping marketing around entertainment first hit me a couple years ago after reading an article in BusinessWeek. Here is an excerpt:
We’ve all read a lot about viral videos and how to create them. Of course, the main aspect of viral videos is their entertainment value. No one will share a commercial with friends and family – unless they see it as entertaining first and foremost. Any marketing push in the video must be secondary and indirect.
But, a successful viral video is not easy to develop and is not right for marketing every company, product or service.
The trick in the entertainment and marketing combination is to develop some level of connection with your audience. Create tools, services and experiences that complement your company, products or services while being part of your customers and prospects’ entertainment habits and interests.
One good example of this approach is Southwest Airlines. According to a June 26, 2008, MediaPost Marketing Daily story, Southwest Airlines “has signed on to sponsor the Midnight Gaming Championship (MGC) 2008 video gaming season to capture mindshare from tomorrow’s professionals, now ages 16 through 25….The marketing message tied to the sponsorship focuses on educating consumers about several Southwest services such as the downloadable computer desktop widget ‘Ding’ that offers exclusive fares on flights; along with the company’s weekly email, Click ‘n’ Save, that reaches 6.9 million subscribers; and Rapid Rewards.”
Southwest Airlines is marketing its services that are tied to the interests and habits of its targeted 16-25 years of age demographics. There’s a connection between what Southwest is pushing and its audiences’ habits.
There are other ways to connect marketing messages with customers and prospects’ lifestyle. One is video – and not on TV. The use of online video is becoming more and more popular. And, video is being used for entertainment purposes more and more, according to a June 25, 2008, eMarketer article. Based on a study it conducted, Solutions Research Group “predicted that total hours with video-based entertainment would grow by nearly one-third to an average of about eight hours per day by early 2013.”
Another key stat from the eMarketer article is the trend to online rather than offline video:
Marketing is evolving to have companies become connected with their audience much more so than just communicating to them. And, as more of the audience members are focusing on entertainment, it’s up to the marketers and communicators for companies to develop ways to connect brands with their audience around their entertainment preferences.
Posts Tagged ‘Entertainment’
Is the Age of Entertainment Upon Us?
Category Entertainment
Magic Shows-to Add Excitement to Children Entertainment Parties
Category Entertainment
When it comes to children entertainment parties, there are a plethora of options available, such as theme parties, musical chair game parties and flip-flop fun parties. As being parents you are the host of your kids’ parties and to make it a memorable one, you can hire professionals who would ensure kid entertainment to the fullest.
These professionals organize kids live shows that are the most enjoyable and rewarding branch of entertainment among kids especially magic shows. Kids of almost of every age loves magic and the children entertainment parties with the theme of magic is one of the nicest ways to celebrate and add fun and pleasure at your kid’s birthday party.
Kid’s magic shows are very much different from the close up magic or the sleigh of hand, and it is nearer to the stage magic with loads of illusions for keeping the kids attentive. The professionals who perform magic shows at children entertainment parties are often the stage shows where the kids sit as an audience. The magician performs using colorful and visual magic props such as wands in addition to animals like the giant white rabbit coming out of a collapsible illusions or the magical entry of a white colored bird from a plain flat book catching the children attention to the fullest. The kids feel simply elated when they see small little animals popping out and jumps forward to touch those animals. It is an amazing illusion that the children along with the adults enjoy a lot.
The kids live show professionals during the event make all the efforts to raise the level of thrill and excitement among kids to make it an exhilarating memorable experience. There are numerous skills required on the part of professionals so as to capture child’s attention that include expressions, dynamics of the body language and voice and selecting the words, which connect in a manner that delivers an overwhelming response from the kids.
The entertainer or professional magician shows mind boggling and exciting magic tricks during children entertainment parties. Generally, the magician begins the magic games showing tricks using a hat, card or several other props and the excitement gets multiplied when the magician involves kids as well. The volunteered kid helps the professional in performing a specific magic trick that further excites other fellow kids too. As the shows move on, the tricks get smarter making the kids to enjoy every moment of the entertainment.
The professional magician performing at kids live shows holds expertise of many years and is recognized in the industry of offering best entertainment in parties for kids. The best part about calling magician for kids live shows is that it allows the parents to host children party where there is no chaos and no messing up of things even it is a kid’s party as every child attention is captured with the exciting magic shows so there is less of worry for parents. These fast-paced shows are designed to capture children’s attention and entertain them in the most memorable way.
New Style Entertainment Centers for New Style Tv?s
Category Entertainment
Last year we had a new dilemma. Our old TV died, and we had to get a new one. In a way, with the new digital conversion to take place this year, this was good. But a new TV was not the dilemma, the dilemma was a new entertainment center. In the past, a new TV did not mean that you had to change the large pieces of furniture in your house, but with the new style flat TV, this time it was necessary.
Now, I love our new TV, and so do all the men in the house who have to carry it. Our old 27” TV must have weighed around 200 lbs., but our new and larger TV weighs less than 50 lbs, so change is good. But the TV would not fit into our entertainment center, so shopping for a new one and finding the perfect one for our family room was our quest.
When it comes to entertainment centers, people have different requirements. The main requirement of my old entertainment center was one that could completely shut away the television. But that was when we lived in our old house and we only had a living room. With a separate family room now, that was not such an important feature. The main feature I was interested in this time was one that saved space. Our old entertainment center was very deep to close away the TV and took up a lot of floor space. We definitely did not need this anymore, so I was happy for the extra room. Our family room is narrow, so I only wanted something to hold the TV and the extra components.
Shopping for entertainment centers was fun, and the variety was larger than I expected. The new style TV has spawned a new style of entertainment centers, and old styles are available also. The main styles available included:
For our needs, the two best style of entertainment centers were the basic TV stand and the TV lift cabinet. Some of the lift cabinets were very nice, they looked like fine pieces of furniture and were offered in many styles. If our TV was in the living room, I would definitely go for this option. But we settled for a basic pine TV stand. It is the perfect size, does not take up any excess room, and has enough shelves underneath for components. It is also only about half the width of our previous entertainment center, so the room now seems bigger. Yes, we are very happy with our new entertainment center and TV, plus, it is nice not to worry about getting a digital conversion box!