True Confessions Of A Marketing Intern

Just to give you an idea of World of Warcraft’s (WoW) reach I did a Twitter search on “World of Warcraft” (http://search.twitter.com/search?q=world+of+warcraft). I then compared my results to a Twitter search of the top 3 video games of 2008  according to CNET News (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10022181-62.html).

World Of Warcraft………………………………..  15 Tweets in 32 minutes
Grand Theft Auto IV…………………………….  15 Tweets in 19 hours
Super Smash Bros Brawl………………………..  15 Tweets in 14 hours
Mario Kart………………………………………….  15 Tweets in 41 minutes

If you are looking for an audience that is tapped into social media then World of Warcraft users are it.  WoW currently has more than 11.5 million monthly subscribers and is estimated to hold 62% of the massively multiplayer online game market (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_warcraft).

While companies are not allowed to market inworld, WoW has managed to gain advertising revenue through sponsorship.  The WoW world has been featured in ads for Toyota Tacoma (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u15HmEMp2Qc) and Snickers (See video below).  WoW has been doing just as well gathering free celebrity support from both Mila Kunis of That 70’s show fame and Macaulay Culkin, who both admit to being WoW players (http://tinyurl.com/cm3pcv).

How does this relate to marketing?

Well, I think WoW has managed to do a few things really well that can be applied to many other industries:

1. WoW has history.  WoW users really feel connected to the back story of the Virtual World.  The whole history is available at http://www.wowwiki.com/History_of_Warcraft.  The creators clearly put a lot of time into working out the history of the world and this will help the user become more involved in the game.  This can be applied to traditional organizations by creating a transparent history of your company.  This is particularly easy for organizations with formal websites and the company’s history can be included in the about section of the site.
2. WoW has created an intuitive environment. WoW is easy to use.  Even if you have never played and RPG video games you will be able to figure out WoW in  a few hours.  You may not be proficient inworld but you will be able to navigate, which is more than many Virtual Worlds have accomplished.  How you can apply this to a traditional organization would be in ensuring that your location is intuitive.  If you have a convenience store then figure out where customers expect to find bread and place it there, if you have a website then ensure it is easy to navigate.
3. WoW is constantly evolving.  Aside from 3 versions of the base game WoW has a plethora of expansion packs, board games, and new patches released every Tuesday.  Aside from creating a constant stream of products for WoW users to purchase, by constantly upgrading the product they are able to hold the users attention without becoming boring.  The can be replicated in a traditional organization by constantly updating your offerings; even if it is just something as simple as new packaging for a product, aesthetic improvements to a facility, or website promotions.
4. WoW is incredibly addictive. From speaking with past WoW addicts I’ve come to understand that the WoW addiction is all about the camaraderie formed with the games.  We have to go back online to socalize.  This level of addiction can be almost impossible to replicate and is the secret to WoW’s success.  The best a traditional business can do is to ensure  atight community and support these efforts with an online community through social media.

As I’m sure most of you have heard, Facebook’s user agreement terms
became public recently.  Someone in the media finally figured out that
Facebook included in their terms proprietorship over all user
generated content and released this information to public outcry.
People started canceling their accounts (just as an aside, canceling
doesn’t matter once they own the information) and Facebook began
losing their brand equity.  What is really remarkable about this whole
situation is the way Facebook managed to turn this situation around.

Their first reaction was to deny and lie.  They said that the clause
was misunderstood by the public and that what they really meant was
that even if you untagged yourself in a picture it would still be on
the uploader’s page.  They claimed that the clause had nothing to do
with them owning or keeping the content, it was necessary for them to
allow content sharing.  This was clearly  completely untrue and likely
did more to damage their image than renew public trust.  In case you
believe there is any validity to Facebook’s claim consider the current
situation: Facebook has removed the ownership clause and untagged
picture are still available.

That is when Facebook did what it does best and used social media to
solve the problem.  Facebook is putting all of its Web 2.0 skills to
the test and allowing the public to discuss the terms and conditions
of the site.  Among other means of gathering public opinion on the
issue they will host “Town Halls” (election anybody?) and hold public
votes.  This is a great move because not only will the term and
conditions be accepted by the public; creating them in a collaborative
environment will, I believe, create affective commitment within the
community.

I really think this is a great move for Facebook, both from a PR and a
Marketing perspective.  They don’t really need to own the information
posted if they continue to expand in the social media industry as fast
as they are currently growing.  In the long run it is much better for
them to lose this little bit of control to gain back their brand
equity.

I found the following article does a great job explaining their new method for developing terms and conditions.
http://tiny.cc/Empp5
(You need to clickon the right hand side link for “Faebook - A More Open Book Policy Toward It’s Users?)