Pricing Wars

Podcast: June 8th, 2011

Some insight on the console pricing wars and what they mean, along with some side notes on Karoke and what I'd do if I won the lottery.

Back strong with fifty belly dancers

Wow, it's really been a long time. My novel really hasn't progressed much if at all :p Maybe this is the year, who knows. Before I get to that, I figure I should provide an update, explain why I'm restarting this blog and what the new posting mantra will be.

First the update. Since I last posted, I wrapped up my studies at SFU. That was last August and I received my diploma during the graduation ceremony, which was last October. Right after graduation, I decided that I wanted to take my project management skills to the gaming world. I love video games, why not work with them? Project management is not that far off from Production and I started to poke around to see if anyone would take me.

During PAX 08, I met Ron Gilbert and he introduced me to Su Skerl who was a member of Vancouver's Artery, a group of artists that met regularly at Draw Jams to drink, chat and, well, draw. I couldn't draw very well, but it was a good crowd to hang with. Not only did they have connections to the gaming industry, but we all shared many interests and had lots to talk about.

Around this time, I was still poking around different companies in Vancouver, including Hot Head Games, Slant Six, EA, Radical, Relic, Blue Castle, Action Pants, Nexon, and even Planet Penguin, which was in Kelowna. I also looked at Redmond (Nintendo, Microsoft, NCsoft, etc) and Montreal (Ubisoft). I basically got a big "no dice" from everyone seeing how I didn't have much relevant experience aside from my education. All my previous jobs were really marketing and event management focused.

After 3-4 months of this, I finally decided to look outside the gaming industry and began pursuing marketing, PR and project/event management related job. I was still keeping an eye on the gaming scene just in case I could squeeze myself in somewhere. I was active on gamecareerguide.com, submitting game design ideas for their weekly contest.

Around November, while exploring around Game Career Guide's forums, I came across a section for writers and thought, hey this is perfect for me. I applied to a few places and began writing for Beefjack.com. At first I was paid peanuts, but I didn't mind as I was having fun and gaining valuable experience and references. Liking writing so much, I looked everywhere for paid freelance work and managed to get a comission from the Escapist magazine, which was awesome. Eventually, I landed a regular freelance spot with Kidzworld, where I earn an equivalent or more of what I make at my full time job.

That's right, I'm working full time right now. I managed to find a marketing assistant job for a marketing company in Ladner through Monster.ca. Things are pretty good here, but there is plenty of downtime now and then, which is why I played around with the idea of restarting my blog.

To be honest, I'm not confident in my creative writing. The many times I've started my novel, I've essentially crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside because I was never happy with it. Currently I'm playing with the idea of writing out one of my other novel ideas, but in the mean time, I'll play around with the blog and write to my heart's content.

My goal here now is not to be totally thoughtful or whatever. I think I just want to write what's on my mind and perhaps make myself look and sound interesting. Who knows where this will go. There is no plan, just random and weird thoughts.

Deeper Motifs in Pixar's WALL-E

Life's complicated right now and I'm not really in the mood to do this but for the sake of keeping week to week updates I'll leave something of a placeholder here. Maybe next week I'll have a musing piece for you guys, since I've done a lot of rants recently.

Here's a list of things that I noticed in WALL-E that deserve some further discussion:
-Background storytelling, getting around a silent protagonist
-Problems of over consumption, pollution unchecked
-Problems of over reliance on machines and SEP (somebody elses problem) mindset
-Problems of over privatization, advertising is everywhere
-Definition of the soul, do robots dream (think EVE's coma security cam)
-Can individualism be misinterpreted? Is it what separates humans and machines or simply those with a "soul"?
-The Argos problem and WALL-E
-Balance of love and labour
-A new kind of dystopia, advancing so far that we severely regress as a society and culture
-What is main thematic message presented? Think: Pixar and Disney's audience and track record. Which are jokes and which carries serious overtones?

Sub-culturally diverse advertisement

Happy April fools day! Here's a joke:

I was walking by the Liquor store the other day when I noticed that the large windows were decorated with huge banner ads for "Support Dry Grad." The funny thing was, each ad portrayed a different sub-culture stereotype. There was the jock, the goth, and some others. I found it hilarious because these groups would never be caught dead together. And yet, this may be one of the only times when sub-culturally diverse advertisement might work: when it's advertising to people who have to deal with these different sub-cultures daily (eg. parents and teachers)

Culturally diverse advertisement are those that strive to depict as many cultures as possible. If you ever watched a commercial and wonder why there is always a woman, a black guy, a Mexican, and a Chinese person, this is why. It's supposed to be politically correct in a way, but it's also necessary to reach out to minorities because they represent a huge demographic that everyone wants a piece of. Cultural diversity in media is also prevalent in movies and television shows: there is always a token minority character in an action movie, etc.

Sub-culturally diverse advertisement are those that try to feature as many sub-cultures as possible. Sub-cultures exists within cultures. You can think of them as a specific and large kind of cliques. There really is no wrong way to identify a sub-culture, they can be categorized by the music they listen to, by the forms of entertainment that they enjoy, even by their sexual orientation. As you can imagine, most people exist in several sub-cultures at once while they may only live in one or two cultures at most. This is just one of the problems with sub-culturally diverse ads. It's hard to pin-point recognizable sub-culture stereotypes to use in advertisement and more often than not, you're going to end up offending someone or making people laugh. An unintentional example of this would be a couple of radio ads that I hear on Fox currently. One is the fountain tire ad that features a lifeguard (I'm a lifeguard) and the other is a Red Bull commercial about studying for Biology (I'm a student). Both are cringe-worthy and makes me turn off the radio as soon as they come on, but I'm sure others wouldn't mind listening through all of it.

The biggest problem with sub-culturally diverse advertisement is the fact that you really can't use it to target multiple sub-cultures. While people of mixed origins are used to living with each other and have come to expect ads to feature a cultural mosaic, those in different sub-cultures really don't have any reason to associate themselves with any other sub-cultures. It may happen on the individual level, but rarely as a collective. As such, you can't really make an ad featuring both rockers and country/techno enthusiasts and expect to get a positive reaction from all groups. Rather, the fact that you're trying to associate polar opposites will most likely turn all groups featured away.

Even with individual ads and campaigns, sub-cultures pose a problem to advertisers wishing to target them. When trying to market vodka to straights and gays, Absolut uses different campaigns to target each group. However, if a few insecure macho men discover the gay targeted ads, it would no doubt cost Absolut some customers.

This is why sub-culturally diverse ads are a joke, they're impossible to use without turning people away and costing advertisers money in the long run. I made an exception above for people not directly in the featured sub-cultures, but those that deal with them daily, like teachers and parents. However, even then, there has got to be a better way to advertise to these groups without turning off potential future customers that are in the sub-cultures and will hold a grudge.

Updated article on Conspicuous Sustainability

Conspicuous Sustainability

...or how I learned to stop worrying and love the trend.

Sustainability is a very popular catchphrase nowadays. Companies work hard to let their companies know that their practices are environmentally friendly and that their products are green. Celebrities have begun voice their opinions on the matter. Their demand for clothes and toys that fit their new cool and trendy lifestyle is eagerly supported by environmentalists, who needs the money and attention, and by their fans, who labour to imitate them.

It is getting to the point where it is difficult to differentiate between those that are madly passionate about saving the world and the knowledgeable early trend adopters. Luckily, there still exists the type of people that wear their hearts on their sleeves, so to speak.

These people practice conspicuous sustainability. I hesitate to use the word “greenwashing” as it explicitly refers to something else and carries with it a strong negative connotation. Instead, a page is taken out of Veblen’s book.

There is a positive and negative side to conspicuous consumption. The negative side is obvious to those that have studied Veblen: wasteful consumption, compulsive spending, etc. However, the positives are not so obvious. These people tended to be the early adopters of new technology and tastes/styles and were not afraid to spend the money to get it. You may have heard of the 20/80 rule, where 20 percent of one's customers provide 80 percent of one's revenue. Since these early adopters demanded innovation and were providing the bulk of profit, businesses were motivated to provide newer and better things, resulting in the lifestyle and consumer/producer model we enjoy today as well as giving the economy a big boost.

Similarly, there is a positive and negative side to conspicuous sustainability. The negative side includes sustainability falling out of fashion and greenwashing, which involves companies highlighting certain “green” elements of products while keeping the non-environmentally friendly aspects hidden. The big positive, however, is the amount of attention and awareness being brought to the topic of sustainability. Because of this attention, I believe that it would be impossible for this trend to ever go away. The social enigma of being a tree-hugger has been removed and in its place are litterbugs and eco-villains. Green has become the norm and standard. It is quickly reaching the point where non-green actions are considered faux pas, similar to how wearing fur coats would net you dirty looks.

This brings us to an interesting conclusion: whether people are genuinely practicing green activities, or if they are just trying to be trendy, in the end, they are still doing the world a favour in preserving it. For that reason, I am content to put aside my cynicism and focus it on other things, like American elections.

Conspicuous Sustainability

...or how I learned to stop worrying and love the hype.

Note: I've redone this article for a school publication. The new article utilizes the correct definition of "greenwashing". I will post the new article at a later time.

I had this topic in mind ever since Boxing Day. I was shopping with my girlfriend in Off the Wall at Metrotown when I noticed a bag hanging off a wall rack. It was one of those grocery shopping/library bags, you know the kind that is ugly-durable and can be reused until the end of time. My mom and grandma had a bunch of them way back when, as a demonstration of their uncoolness, before the bags were popularized for their reusable/sustainable ways.

Anyways, what made this bag stand out to me (aside from its gaudier than gaudy quality that considerably made it worse than any of the other gaudy things in the store) was the line that was printed (in a gaudy fashion, no less) on the face of the bag. It read "This bag is made with 100% recycled cotton"


It came across to me that it was not enough to simply popularize the bag as reusable and better than plastic. Instead, all the exemplary qualities of the bag must be thrust into the face of all passing by. It was, in fact, an exceptional example of what I call conspicuous sustainability.

Conspicuous sustainability is related to greenwashing, but is also category unto itself. Greenwashing refers to how companies and corporations try to cover every facet of their business with sustainable practices and then market the hell out of it. Well, without my negative connotation. The fact that the practices are sustainable are usually a side benefit for these businesses. More often than not, these practices are adopted because they are cost effective. That is, it's cheaper to produce more waste or to use less energy. That way you don't have to pay for trash removal or shipping energy from elsewhere. However, since it is sustainable, businesses also like to advertise the fact in order to gain even more benefit from their new policy and actions, drawing in more conscious minded customers.

Greenwashing is a play on the word whitewashing, but instead of covering things or cleaning up things so that they're white and spotless, greenwashing ensures that a company is entirely green and environmentally friendly. Conspicuous sustainability, on the other hand, refers to the term conspicuous consumption, which was first coined by Veblen in 1899. Veblen, in regarding to the leisure class, noted how people tended to purchase things for the sole purpose of showing it off. Often, these products or services would help to denote their social class and worth. In the modern day, almost everything can be considered conspicuous as the postmodern person often purchase products and services for the hedonic, or pleasurable, experience. What this means is that the function and practicality of the product is often put off to the sideline or ignored completely.

However, conspicuous consumption is not entirely a bad thing. While appealing to a more sinister side of human behaviour, that is pride and egotism, conspicuous consumption has allowed for tremendous boosts in the economy. If it weren't for the upper classes spending their cash on frivolous things, there would be little cash flow in the economy. That is, if all people did was save save save, then a lot of people would be out of a job.

These people tended to be the early adopters of new technology and tastes/styles and were not afraid to spend the money to get it. You may have heard of the 20/80 rule, where 20 percent of one's customers provide 80 percent of one's revenue. Since these early adopters demanded innovation and were providing the bulk of profit, businesses were motivated to provide newer and better things, resulting in the lifestyle and consumer/producer model we enjoy today.

Similarly, I believe greenwashing and conspicuous sustainability to have long lasting positive outcome, wherein people are more aware and more proactive in preserving the environment. This is regardless of their intention. They could be doing it because it is trendy (or it may become a faux pas to not be green, similar to how fur coats are now looked down upon) or they could be doing it because they genuinely care. In either case, there will be a general motion towards green activity and this will become mainstay and the norm, which is a great thing. So, though other may be cynical of greenwashing and sneer at those practicing conspicuous sustainability (such as celebrities or Off the Wall customers), in the end it all goes towards something positive and that outcome will be reached, with or without intent.

Cellphone Dump 2

Ah feck it. Since I'm in the mood, let's double post this week and continue looking at the pictures I snapped from the corner of Nelson and Seymour.

Item 5: Richmond Auto Mall - Nelson and Seymour

I like the vast majority of the Richmond Auto mall ads. They're often time both clever and effective. They have a good slogan, something about better selection = better end choice, that hits home. I'm sure that any serious car shopper would at least *think* about going to the Auto Mall before making a final purchase and that's a good thing.

This particular ad actually took over the entire billboard, using all three "slides" to show three different cars. The last slide, which I didn't get (but should've), it includes the Richmond Auto Mall logo and the slogan.

Here's another angle of the billboard. You'll note that the three figures are actually mannequins, so that they stay in place as the pictures of the cars change. It's an example of how advertisers try to differentiate themselves from each other. Not too long ago, we had billboard ads that expanded beyond the boundaries of the billboard. This has carried over to the ads on buses expanding toward the roof of the bus, like the My 5 ads.

Speaking of bus ads, I also like the Canadian Tire and 3M ads that uses the bus stop ad windows in a different way: emptying them out and putting real objects in it. If I can, I'll find an example of such an ad for the next cellphone dump.Item 6: EA Canada - Unknown

I believe my lovely girlfriend snapped the picture for this ad, but from the surrounding landmarks, I would assume that it is close to the Main/Terminal Skytrain station.

This is a good example of an ad nailing their target market. The message here, when deciphered through the use of computer programming language, is simply one noting a job opening. You can almost treat it like a preliminary test or interview. The only people that would "get" the message would be those that take the time to copy the message and decipher it; or those that already have everything memorized, allowing them to get the message right on the spot. Both types of people demonstrate a good understanding of the programming language and a strong passion for it. These qualities are what EA is looking for in their employees and the ad enables them and their candidates to meet up. And that is what marketing is all about, it is the constant effort to bring producers and consumers together at the right time, place, etc.

Item 7: Flick Off - Zephyr in the Sky (bathroom)

Urinal ads are great, unless they're boring. Nonetheless, I really don't mind them as they provide a ready way to avoid looking at other men's nether regions.

They are many great examples, but I always feel kind of conspicuous when I take pictures in a public bathroom. This picture is not a good example, but it is funny. I was rather taken aback by the large message and it wasn't until I took the time to look carefully that I realized that it wasn't telling me to scram.

It's an unfortunate example of bad copyediting and it happens all the time. Reminds me of a hilarious story of a snack product called HITS. The name was written across the width of the box, so that when you stocked them on shelves side-by-side, you could read HITSHITSHITS.

Item 8: Reitmans - Skytrain Station

Reitmans is another company that has a good campaign. I've actually criticized their prior campaign in a past blog, which used the same slogan but different images. They had models in the Reitmans clothes doing typical super model poses. The twist, however, is that the context is that of "real life." So, for example we had women mowing the lawn, changing light bulbs, and getting toilet paper for their kids (though, to me, it looked like they were keeping it away from the kid). It is a good that, since then, they've come around, and so have I.

In particular, I like the message they present. It is one that encourages the consumer, a real woman, to subvert the world of high fashion. It is not unlike the Dove Real Beauty campaign. Naturally, they encourage people to express their rebelliousness by buying the so-so clothes from Reitmans, but the message/suggestion is there for people to consider as they shop elsewhere. They may not end up buying from Reitmans, but they may not end up buying from anywhere either.

I, personally, would not mind a clothing line that is uber-practical. And by that, I'm thinking of things like super cargo pants or hats with a zip pouch in it for cash or soda cans. One idea I'm particularly fond of is the jacket with dangling pouches that you can hide under the jacket when they're not in use.

Item 9: "I Want Out" - SFU

Parodies are awesome.I did a double take when I saw these posters at school last week. Did I mention that they're absolutely brilliant? I'm not sure if you have noticed the "I Am CFS" skytrain ads that are all over the Millennium Line, but they're ridiculous.

Here's a quick rundown of the events that lead to the CFS ads. First, SFSS decides somehow that the CFS that lobbies for all Canadian university students is not accountable and, well, just plain doing a shit job. During a regular meeting, which any SFU student can attend, the SFSS votes strongly in favour of ditching the CFS. Now, note that these meetings cannot run without a specific number of students present. As well, all the students present votes and the meeting is representative of the entire school as a collective.

The CFS jumps in a vetoes the vote, saying that they didn't get a chance to present their side well enough. I'm not sure what gives them the right to veto a vote, but I agree that the meeting was probably one sided, although neither myself nor the CFS was present.

What bothers me, however is that the CFS is suddenly very visible (whereas, before I never knew they existed). The ads pop up all over the place, graciously stealing the Molson Canada slogan. As well, they show up at SFU and hand out free agendas. It always looks bad when someone suddenly pays too much attention to someone. It's like those people in the swimming lanes that only speed up when you're trying to pass them. If you're not going to put in the whole effort right from the get go, we know it's only for show and it will not impress anyone.

Well, that's all the ads stored up in my phone right now. When they start piling up again, I'll be sure to empty it out here. I should probably stop rambling and maybe get a few musings up too...

Cellphone Dump 1

***Mind the load time, there be many pictures in this post.***

While strolling about the city, I occasionally see an advertisement that strikes me. It could be a good or bad thing, but in either case I get the urge to whip out the ol' cellphone camera and snap a picture of it.

Cellphone cameras are such fickle things. The quality of the following pictures are ludicrous (due to the minuscule nature of the camera and the shakiness of my hands) and yet it is so convenient that we don't mind. I remember an odd comic strip a while back, it might have been in the The Peak newsletter (the dedicated weekly from my campus), it had a character that complained about the pointless nature of a fridge with a built-in television set before saying "Oh wait, I took a picture of it with my phone." And while the joke was clever and funny, it got a silly grin and a chuckle out of me anyways, it does not quite hold true.

The main reason being that the camera add-on feature on phones is just simply convenient while a television in a fridge is decidedly the opposite. In my household, we have a television in the kitchen and the furniture is arranged so that people can be seated at the dinner table and be able to watch TV. This means that, in my household, we would not need a second television in the same room. At the same time, said television in fridge would only take up valuable storage space in the fridge. I can think of at least one friend that is constantly thinking of creative ways to cram more foodstuffs into his fridge. The last thing I'll say on this matter before moving onto the pictures is that sitting down to watch your fridge, and arranging your furniture to enable the action, is just plain silly. I don't know about you, but I would feel like I just turned my chair towards a freshly painted wall for a few solid hours of entertainment.

Anyways, enough rambling, let's get to the good stuff.

Item 1: 7up lite - Richmond Centre

At first I couldn't decide if I liked the ad or not, despite having my attention drawn to the ad and spending a good few moments contemplating it. However, I then recalled the other lite/zero ads for other drinks. You know, the one that included nak3d people. After that, it was easy to say that I prefer these ads as invoke more emotions and stimulate better discussions that straight forward sex appeal.

The campaign is more capricious as well, as the bottom picture would demonstrate, allowing 7up's marketers to flex their collective creative muscles.


An aesthetic element of the ad that you can't see here, is the fact that they were hung, in giantesque form, from the ceiling of the shopping centre entrance. This added to the "lite takes flight" message that the ads were trying to produce.

I'll mention it again and again, but it is always amazing how we no longer care much for the actual product itself. People may deny it, but the marketers certainly think so and they're the ones spending billions on research. The messages that these soda ads are sending out have little to nothing to do with the physical qualities of the product themselves. Instead, they work with a reflection of a particular lifestyle, allowing those that wish to live that lifestyle (or to look like they're living it) to do so by copying an existing reflection.

Item 2: Richmond Centre - Richmond Centre

And it works to some degree, if you think about it. Ads are so saturated in our daily lives that they make up the vast amount of "white vision", akin to white noise, that we absorb and dilute in our consciousness. Thus, when presented with the simple equation of product=lifestyle, we learn to interpret it as such, even if we aren't invoking it ourselves. What I mean by this is that we are utilizing a kind of stereotype in classifying each other. When you see a person dressed in a particular way, you make assumptions about them with whatever signifiers are available. These associations are programmed into us by ads, making them almost our bible for judging each other. Naturally, assumptions are revised as more signifiers come to attention, but that is still within the context of what I'm saying.

Anyways, this ad from Richmond Centre I don't like. I don't understand it and I get the feeling that if I do get it, I won't like it. There was another ad campaign that Richmond Centre ran before this that likened the shopping experience at their mall to men on a fishing trip. I don't think that is quite the image you want to portray, nor one that you want your shoppers to emit.

Item 3: 30 Hour Famine - Richmond Centre

Last one from Richmond Centre. It's funny, I actually collected these images after a series of trips to Richmond Centre, but I just felt that it made more sense to put them all together.

I just like this one because it's eyecatching and clever. If you have never done the 30 hour famine before, it's great. I highly recommend it.

I've personally never done it before, but when my high school did it, my drama group put on a show for it. It was "An Evening of Monty Python" and for one sketch, Fresh Fruit Defense, I got to eat a banana. I enjoyed that banana a lot, and the booing from the hungry crowd as well.


Item 4: Dragonfly Business Solutions - Nelson and Seymour

This is an example of an ad that I don't like. I don't quite understand why a company would spend money promoting someone else's product. Sure, you may be a licensed retailer, but others will be as well. Instead, why not put those dollars towards showing why businesses should choose your company over Business Objects or Office Depot?

Also, "Dont Get Mad. Get a Xerox?" I'm sure you mean to say "Get Glad" right?

Wow, this took an hour to write and I still have more pictures. More to come in the following week, I'm off to kickboxing now. I'll have to remember to empty out the cellphone more often.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2008 everyone. I hope everyone has great resolutions that they're eager to tackle. Myself, this blog is a bit part of my own New Year's resolution. I'll be doing my best to update on a weekly basis and write something interesting each time, be it a thought piece or prose or poetry.

Now that the Christmas rush is over and everyone is gearing up to get back to the daily grind, I want to look back at some of the consumerist ideals that we were exposed to during the holidays and the boxing week that followed.

It seems to me that we are getting greedier. I noticed at Off the Wall that there were star-shaped stickers on the ground that said "All I want for Christmas is peace on Earth and a pair of great Jeans." Taken in another perspective, namely a satirical one, I'd be tempted to see the statement as a kind of bathos à la Alexander Pope. What I mean by that is that by even considering those two items as equal, you make yourself look silly and out of touch with reality. I'm not quite sure what Off the Wall was trying to do with their decorations, maybe humour, but I don't believe they achieved their goal.

Not that it really matters, they seemed to get a lot of foot traffic and business throughout December. I was at Metrotown on Boxing Day and there was a long line up in front of the store. I'm not quite sure when Boxing Day became Boxing Week, but I like the idea. Boxing Day has always been a good way for stores to get rid of excess inventory quickly and I've never thought that it beneficial to keep it to just one day. Now, people can take their time and not kill each other while in transit. As well, those that work on Boxing Day won't have to give up their own chance at savings.

The only thing about Boxing Day that I don't like is that it is after Christmas. Of course, it'll have to be after Christmas in order for stores to get a chance at getting rid of extra inventory. However, since it is after Christmas, people can't take advantage of the sales when shopping for gifts for other people. If people were smart, they'd ignore the statutory holiday and opt to nab belated presents for everyone. However, it it becomes common practice, then the "Boxing Week" would simple move back again and the cycle would repeat. I like the American idea of a single sale day a month before Christmas (Black Friday). With that, no one can really complain except about their own laziness to shop for others.

I'll stop here for now. I've still much to say and directions to explore, but brevity is the soul of wit, meaning it'll be to my own credit and benefit if I'm clear and concise.