Online noise and teens

Today's teens inhabit a "digital marketing ecosystem" where their identities and interactions are virtually inseparable from the logos stamped all over them, new research suggests.

"It becomes a part of how they communicate with their friends," says Kathryn Montgomery, a communications professor at American University in Washington, D.C. "If they're incorporating brands into their profiles and communicating those with their friends, if the companies are inserting the products into the games young people play, if they're part of the use of mobile technology so there's a brand presence that follows their every move — that is creating a new kind of intimacy."

The brain doesn't reach full maturity until the early 20s and one of the puzzle pieces missing in adolescence is impulse control — a fact that will come as no surprise to any parent of a teen, she says.

"We're known for as long as branded communication has been around that you can't just shout at people, you have to interest and engage and entertain them," Cubbon says. "Most advertising online is still pretty much an announcement, it's noise."

Read full article here.

Herod’s Lost Tomb

Well its the name of the new game on iPhone. Its a simple hidden-objects game built on a story in the magazine’s December issue and a TV show about King Herod. It was produced in-house at National Geographic. The pictures and graphics in the game are too clear and realistic picked from the best of the collection. Does this set a trend in gaming? 

I think it would because till date the attention was to detail, power, clarity and real pictures and sequences were not too important. But research has shown that this was the un-vocalized need of the new gamers who liked to see better pictures and this suits their requirements. 'Herod's Lost Tomb' aims at this.

Will this increase the craze for iPhone? 

Will iPhone replace other gaming devices?

What do you think? 

Tamil invite

Jaago and Jeeto

This game "Jaago aur Jeeto" that starts from 12 AM the night in ZEE TV is definitely a fraud game! It asks questions and asks viewers to send SMSs with "Jeeto" at 57575 and win thousands of rupees. No matter how many SMSs you send you will never be called back. Each sms costs rupees ten!! There were instances where after 15 minutes no viewer was called and the question lapsed! I think this is a all staged where sometimes someone from their own team calls up and actually no one gets paid.

Though the entire mechanism looks flawed many people do SMS. The continuity of the show is the proof for this. Many such shows exist on various channels.

It hits the most at where it hurts but not right away. The lure is high enough to make you send the SMS. The anchor seductively cajoles, lures and what not to make you send the SMS. Why no one complains is because the effort of pursuing this legally is too big when compared to the Rs. 10/- loss upfront. Hence the success. If we keep the ethical side away, I think it is a clever idea.