Quoted from bkaelin:I fail to understand or appreciate the cryptic approach to "creating buzz" where buzz involves no actual/factual information.
My message to the powers that be....such an approach to marketing actually fosters a negative response to your product among all but the most dedicated consumers. If you want to use social media to communicate with your customer base, then do so.
When you do, keep it simple, clear and direct. Anything else and you are just jerking around your customers. And while you might find that personally satisfying or intriguing, it is frustrating and annoying for many of us on the receiving end.
It happens because they see "the wave" it creates in the community. This goes way beyond pinball; this is done ANYTIME an entity wants to create buzz, hype, talk, and discussion about a product, a situation, a person, or an idea.
It is so simple that it's complicated. This is basic high school gossip psychology 101. Talk about things in a roundabout way without answering direct questions or stating things in an "A to B, straight line manner", and watch the circus and the hype build.
Mortal Kombat 2 was one of the quintessential examples of this:
Guy #1 (in on the con): Man, I wish I could get this animality to work for Sub-zero.
Guy #2 (spectator) what is an animality?
Guy#1: Dude, I saw Sub-Zero become a polar bear!!!!!! You have to do "Up, right, right, up, left,down,down,left, HP,LP,HK, BLK+HK, Up" and it'll work - promise!!!!!!!!
Guy#2: HOLY SHIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZNAT. Ok man, what was that again, and how do I do it????
And the rumor spreads....and the buzz is created...and people flock to the game...
Over 10 years later, Ed Boon - the main designer of MK - flat out told us: there never was an animality (in MK2). Why would we flat-out tell you, the players, "No. They don't exist." That's bad for business. I like to let rumors flow; it's better than anything I could say....
And it didn't stop there: the living forest can eat your character as a "stage pit" fatality. Hornbuckle and Torch in the background of the Pit II are playable characters, Shang Tsung can do Kano and Sonya morphs, Ermac was a red ninja that showed up once every hundred-thousand games (before Ermac actually DID exist), and Goro was actually still alive. The rumors made MK2 an absolute firestorm of a game, and everyone could not stop playing it chasing rumors that had no factual basis or proof, but the word of mouth was strong.....
Stern watches this and just enjoys it; they eat it up. Heck, I'm commenting here - they got me....
Ontario, CA
