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So I recently interviewed a guy friend who is constantly gaming on his laptop to this particular game called Minecraft. I wanted to understand how this computer game marketed itself in such a effective way that it could get its players to be on it pretty much whenever they had free time. Here were some of my questions to him:

Q: How did you hear about Minecraft?

A: “I first heard about Minecraft through a internet gaming site that I constantly view on a daily basis, this game began to climb the charts in the PC section of this site and my curiousity got the best of me as  I researched this game.”

Q: How long do you ususally spend on this game on a daily basis?

A: “It varies because there is just too much to do in this game. The genre of this game is a ‘sandbox’ game, which means there are no limits to what you can do and it feels like you can do anything you want. Therefore, I can play up to 8 hours depending on the situation.”

Q: What do you find the most captivating about this game?What draws you to it?

A: “It’s charm because it doesn’t follow the same graphical eye candy that current games possess. It sticks to mediocre graphics and the game play itself keeps people entertained.”

Q: What do you do specifically in this game? How is it played?

A: “When you first start this game you will have to create a new world and when you start this new world the game will generate randomized terrain and geography which will span out to an estimated 8 times the size of the Earth. So, there is no limits to the map itself, you could technically be walking forever and the scenery will be forever changing. You then spawn in a random part of this world with nothing but your bare hands so at this point in time you must gather essential supplies in order for you to create tools to survive. You must do this quickly because when the sun goes down, during the night, creatures will appear and attack you. In order for you to prevent them from attacking you, you must build a shelter. This is where the meat of the game is because there are no limits to what you create or how you create it. You can make a tiny little shack made out of wood to a humungous floating mansion created out of glass. So to wrap it up, the purpose of this game is to survive and be creative with what you can create.”

Q: Have you been marketing to your fellow peers about this game?

A: “Yes, I have been telling co-workers and friends to try this game out because I enjoyed it so much I wanted others to enjoy it as well and I also wanted to play with them online.”

Q: How much longer do you think this game will keep your interest?

A: “For a very long time because these type of games last a long time because a person’s creativity is forever thriving so once a person has run out of creative ideas of building houses and objects then the game will get stale.”

Q: Who do you think the designers of this game was trying to target?

A: “This game is pretty much like lego for adults.”

Q: On a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy playing this particular game as opposed to all the games you’ve played in the past?

A: “9”

This game is not yet released fully to the public at the moment and is still in the process of improving. However, from the looks of it, it seems to be drawing a lot of positive attention that is helping it’s marketing scheme. People are trying it out, becoming regular players in the game world, becoming loyal, dedicated and addicted and becoming advocates and spreading positive word of mouth about the game. I feel like the reason why this game had such a positive reaction from its gamers is because it actually has a powerful yet basic foundation and purpose; to survive. However, aside from the purpose of the game, it also requires more than just basic skills of moving the mouse around and clicking a few buttons on the keypad, it thrives on creativity. The more creative and innovative the player, the more power and freedom they feel they possess. This may be the main aspect as to why this game has been so successful. It makes people feel empowered and able to do anything they desire, to use their minds and build a world that they’ve longed for.

It is just surprising because this game doesn’t have any advertisements publicly just yet and yet people are already learning it’s name before the marketing even happens. It just shows, a great product can truly sell itself.

So for those of you out there that don’t know. I am VP Creatives and Logistics in the Pacific Northwest Economic Conference 2011. The conference was just introduced last year for the very first time and this is now its second year. I know in marketing class we find the material rather simple to apply; just follow the steps of the marketing plan but in fact it’s not as easy as it sounds. There are so many aspects to cover and consider and it makes me wonder how marketers do their job so well! They have to think up of what type of image they’re trying to promote, who they are trying to target, how they can attract their target group, and etc. The marketing process is far more complex than I have imagined and it is indeed a hard task! I think the biggest problem I have encountered the past few months was coming up along with the marketing team an attractive way to draw people to our conference while not swaying away from our image and vision. It is insanely hard to grab people’s attention and to differentiate our booth from all the other booths that are set up on in the CA Hall. It definitely takes a lot of time and effort. It amazes me at how successful brands like Nike, Lululemon, Dove and so many other brands were at getting their image out there in the world and attracting their wanted target market while staying true to their image.

At the end of my blog I’m actually going to market PNEC to those of you that visit my blog.

PNEC stands for Pacific Northwest Economic Conference and this year the conference is held on February 4th and 5th at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The theme for our conference this year is “finding new business opportunities,” which is very informative for those out there that would like to learn more about what the Pacific Northwest has to offer.  Our keynote guest for Friday night will be Yoram Bouman followed by a buffet style dinner and a networking event with professionals from various companies in attendance. Saturday is a fun filled day of workshops outlining Sustainability, Natural Resources, Technology, Asian Pacific, Venture Capital and Real Estate. As well, we will be having two more guest keynote speakers come in; Egils Milberg being one of them. The conference is definately a great opportunity to learn and explore and if you are interested in attending, feel free to check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to get updates on regarding the conference!

During Thanksgiving weekend I took the liberty to pop in my favorite movie of all time “Fight Club” and as I watched the film, I came across two scenes that linked towards marketing and consumerism. It is true what Brad Pitt says, we ARE ALL drones that simply purchase what we are told through media and advertising. We buy things we don’t need to fulfill our desires and wishes but in the end, none of it matters, none of it makes us any happier. It started with only food, water and shelter as the necessities of everyday life. Now, we all need designer label clothing, accessories, sports cars, technological devices (IPhone, Blackberry, MP3, PS3) and etc. I realize I may be a hypocrit for saying this, but why are we all giving in to the marketing scenes of most companies? Without the latest smartphone we’re not going to die, without the most expensive handbag we won’t starve, so why are all these items so important to us now? Partially I blame the millions of companies out there that love to advertise and convince consumers that they really NEED the items they are trying to sell. In some ways, these new inventions have made our lives easier, but at the same time, they’ve also made our lives more difficult. For the younger generations it’s all about the brands and the labels and nothing else matters. Everyone wants to get a hold of the latest newest fashion in clothing, technology and etc. Older generations focus on working day to night to make more money to spend on useless items that they believe will make their life more fulfilling and happier. We all become addicted. We continuously buy in hopes that the next item(s) will make a great difference in our lives and possibly create a meaning as to why we live.  Everything around us, everything we’re being forced to believe is not true. We are being targeted and brought up thinking as consumers, we end up becoming obsessed with purchases that we lose sight of what’s really important in our lives.

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