Chitika | Pulse
a weekly data analysis medium for the online marketing industry
Issue VIII
Chitika | Pulse Archive
The brand builds the man.
Ask your friends what they think about Barak Obama; they will most likely answer with their respective opinions on the political issues he stands for (ie; education, health care reform, etc.). Obama’s campaign platform creates a brand that the public can associate with, either positively or negatively, and read into. Without public knowledge of Obama’s brand, he would come across as merely as a stranger, or just another man.
Brands Cannot Stand Alone.
The new web sets the scene for a vibrant, interactive marketplace that is subsequently met by new age conversational brand marketing, or consumer-to-consumer marketing. Today’s technology enabled, interactive marketplace gives consumers the ability to build associations with brands based on knowledge.
Features Cause Buzz.
Conversational brand marketing is all about the story behind the brand; this story is outlined by media coverage and subsequent buzz marketing. When consumers associate with a brand online, a momentum is initiated in which the brand enters conversations, and thereby gains attention and recognition in the new web. With enough buzz, it can become a ‘top brand’.
When it comes to consumer technology, high-tech features are the key ‘characters’ in the brand story, and therefore support subsequent brand recognition.
Chitika | Pulse first looked into gaming brand buzz this January, following Microsoft’s Xbox 360 presentation at CES International 2008.
Recently, however, there has been substantial buzz surrounding the decision Warner Bros., and retailer Wal-Mart, have made to phase out HD DVD in favor for Blue-ray disc technology.
It has been just over ten years since the DVD’s 1997 debut, and Sony and Microsoft have found themselves involved in a Blu-ray vs. HD DVD brand ‘warfare’.
Sony initially branded the PlayStation3 as, “an all-around entertainment console, with tendrils that extend well beyond the realm of game play…chief among these is support for the Blu-ray Disc format.”
Microsoft chose instead to offer product support for HD DVD with their competing gaming system, Xbox360.
When WB and Wal-Mart entered the scene, the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD debate, which at first seemed only to effect DVD and DVD player sales, quickly fueled a fire in the gaming industry; will Sony’s PS3 phase-out Microsoft’s Xbox 360, based merely on the publicity it’s attracting due to its’ Blu-ray DVD capability?
As Macworld.com blogger daneb comments, “The bottom line is that without a [Blu-ray] drive, many people will choose the Playstation3 over the Xbox360.” Blogger Netizen Kane adds that it’s, “the main reason I got a PS3.”
Microsoft is apparently trying to re-work the plot. The company announced on February 25, 2008, a decision to, “stop making external HD DVD drives for its Xbox 360 game console, but wont say whether it will offer a Blu-ray Disc drive instead.”
Chitika is Pro-PS3.
When it comes to gaming consoles, reporting system data analyzed over the past week implies that Chitika’s online consumers prefer Blu-ray DVD technology. The Sony PlayStation3, 40 GB, offering Blu-ray DVD technology, wins as number one gaming console on our network. The Xbox 360, offering HD DVD drives for its game console, is ranked number two. The Nintendo Wii, which does not offer either next generation DVD format technology, comes in at number three on Chitika’s network.
Online marketers should follow branding stories, dictated by major media coverage, buzz, and top retailers (ie; WB, and Wal-Mart). Consumers, clearly, are.
About Chitika | Pulse
Chitika | Pulse is a weekly publication that highlights emerging trends in online advertising and merchandising in the blogosphere.
By offering a succinct analysis of online consumer behavior in Chitika’s network, Chitika | Pulse exclusively correlates trends to address a wide range of topics related to online branding, e-commerce, retail in the long tail, and direct merchandising within the blogosphere and social networks.
By Tessa Rudd, Strategic Partnerships Coordinator – Advertising Media Division
