Follow @TheWhiteRabbit & Join the Madness on Facebook: Alice: Madness Return’s marketing campaign enters the World Wide Wonderland

Alice: Madness Returns is the sequel to the computer game American McGee’s Alice. The original game was only available on the PC where the sequel is available for Microsoft Windows, PS3, Xbox 360, the iPhone and iPod Touch. The game is based in Victorian London where orphan Alice is released from Rutledge Asylum only to tumble down yet another rabbit hole into a Wonderland warped by her grief for her late parents.

The games success can be attributed to its online marketing campaign utilizing Interactive Web Marketing and Social Marketing and only releasing their commercial trailers online. The effectively and cost efficiently marketed the new game with an interactive site [www.ea.com/alice] where you can connect and share the madness using Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, as well posting their videos to the EA channel on YouTube:

Alice: Madness Returns – Launch Trailer

With 725,362 views this video helps direct fans to the Social Networking accounts and the official website.

The Facebook site has over 145,253 ‘likes’ and constantly has contests and is interacting with their fans. They ask opinions on game play and design and have the ability to create add ons through online gaming networks after they have collected relevant information from their fan-base.

Alice: Madness Returns most likely will gain most of it’s revenue from merchandise purchased as a result of creating the game, as some fans of the site are NOT gamers themselves, but just interested in the esthetics of the darker version of Alice in Wonderland.

The most recent promotion from Alice: Madness Returns is their “Meet American McGee” event – ‘The time is coming very soon where our wonderful British and European friends can have the benefit of an in-person signing with American McGee at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London on October 8th at 1pm. There are more details here: http://forbiddenplanet.com/events/2011/10/08/meet-american-mcgee/’

The event was posted Wednesday September 21st and already in 3 days it has been shared by over 19 profiles, has over 400 ‘likes’ and has been tweeting dozens of times. Speaking of twitter, the @TheWhiteRabbit account has over 9, 500 followers. Through the twitter account followers are challenged with dark and twisted trivia and games related to Wonderland and Alice. Prizes included the game, merchandise and other collectables are incentive to constantly interacting with the company and helping raise awareness and interest in the game.

Many products available on the Alice Store [http://alice2store.com/] were first given to influential bloggers and posted on the Facebook site to help create hype. Alice: Madness Returns was a very successful sequel especially with the original game being released only to PC over a decade ago.

Don’t fall down the rabbit hole; the WorldWideWONDERLAND is a dangerous place!! And you wouldn’t want to go exploring without the right attire. Visit the Alice Store on the WWWonderland for your very own American McGee Alice Costume.

STRIDE GUM; Product Placement at its Best or Worst?

The episode Hero, starring Pete Ross. Pete has his share of terrible episodes but this is a whole new playing field for Pete “The Boss” Ross.

How great can product placement get when it moves from subtly being placed in a drawer for different shots to having an entire episode written about the brand or product.

Stride Gum; Last Long and Gives you Super Powers! I think it has a ring to it. Try the green gum and see if you get elastic arms too.

Pete is not my favourite character and the episode does have merit for the scenes that don’t include the ludicrous product placement but in all I was just saddened but the display.

Episode starts and there is Pete, Kara and Jimmy at a concert in the Stride Gum factory, not just a gum factory or a factory but the Stride Gum factory. Oh and the gum was left on a crack where somehow Kryptonite was there and it affected the gum and ONLY gave Pete super powers.

He grabs a the green package, holds it perfectly so the camera can see the brand and then opens it to grab a wrapped piece of green gum, that glows before he puts it in his mouth. Then just in the nick of time he saves Kara with his Elastic Man powers. (who by the way is a DC Hero).

The entire episode pushes the gum, Chloe stating it’s slogan and Pete constantly chewing it and having the package on his person and only when he is pushed down and looses the gum is he in trouble. The gum may be full of Kryptonite but it’s the Hero in this story.

How do you feel about Product Placement on this level? It isn’t just the gum in the desk drawer it the plot of an episode.

Facebook Advertising Can Work

Facebook advertising can work, or it at least got me. So I want to go shopping at this new online store (well new to me) and buy some amazing Geek shirts and maybe even try out to be their new Model.

Am I really that easy? (Don't answer that!) Is it that easy to grab the attention of a 20 year old College student? Well yes and no. Using Facebook advertising really allows you to target and connect with the appropriate audience.

Snorg Tees didn't advertise to my mother, or my teacher, they advertised on the Facebook page of a young college student with interests that include: Batman, Comic Books and Smallville. They knew who they were hitting before I even had a chance.

Now I am targeting, I am hoping that the eyes following this blog are geeks, nerds and fun people who would be interested in Star Wars shirts, Joke sayings and Zombie pictures. If you are interested in geek style shirts to wear under your dress shirt or to wear to your local comic book shop then check out this online store. Oh, and girls, do you want to model for some Geek shirts and win some swag? Then check out this link to Snorg Tees and compete to be their next model!

Well enough of my plug, and enough my 'awe' on how easily a Facebook Ad grabbed me, why don't you pay a little more attention next time you are online, are the ads popping up related to you in any way? Are they targeting you on your interests or by what sites you are clicking on? What about the ads on my site, are they targeted to you?

Snorg Tees, they found my weakness for geek shirts!

Want to become a Snorg Girl? I know I do!

Every Chick has her weakness!

Weaknesses, every chick from real life to comic books has a weakness. For some it’s purses or makeup and for Powergirl its a little green meteor rock and for Harley Quinn it’s her unyielding love/obsession for The Joker.

What is my weakness you may ask? Well it is simple and it is complicated and I will answer first with; Shoes! I am still a chick, though a very untraditional chick. Now I will NOT go out and spend hundreds of dollars on shoes in fact I’m not sure if I have EVER spend more than approx $80 on a very nice pair of fancy shoes. I try to keep my impulsive purchases to a minimum and I weigh price versus use in my head many times before I hit the ‘buy’ button.

I have just over 20 pairs of shoes for presentations, working out, general use and some costume pieces (come on, I cosplay). Now I want to add a few more shoes to my collection that I have just seen advertised in my Zatana and Powergirl comics this month. I want Superhero shoes! I mean, I know I won’t ever find a Powergirl or Harley Quinn shoe, I’m just not that lucky and they are not that popular but Converse and DC have joined forces to create an amazing line of Converse shoes.

Including Batman; Superman and Green Lantern, DC is using the most popular and most recent heroes to hit the spot light this year and I truly hope they are able to expand their line in the future to create shoes with Villains and less popular characters as they introduce them in Smallville and in their animated movies.  I may have a budget and I may be one of the most reasonable out of my species (gender) but I can tell you that if I find a pair of Batman or Superman Cons that fit my petite feet I will be snatching them up whether it requires a credit card or not.

Now that you know my weakness, I shudder to think how many will use it against me. This is The Hottest-Geekette signing out!

Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Friends.

Lately I have been a little Fang Obsessed with the season premiere of True Blood Season 3, and I have been looking into what helped this season reach the outstanding numbers that it did.

In an interview with Tongela Johnson, True Blood discussed their marketing plan; “Instead of a traditional marketing plan, True Blood creates an “in world” perspective. This is done through a wide array of social media, digital, and traditional advertising techniques”.

After watching the bonus disc for Season 2, I noticed their wide array of Fellowship of the Sun commercials and that they all had web addresses. I decided to take a look and not only did HBO create a site for The Fellowship of the Sun (http://fellowshipofthesun.org) and the American Vampire League (http://www.americanvampireleague.com/) but they also have their very first website http://trubeverage.com// for the sales of the TruBlood beverage created to help promote the show.

TruBlood is a carbonated drink, flavoured to be Blood Orange and displayed to be a blood type. The beverage has its own small marketing campaign that promotes itself as well as the drinks for some very eccentric Fang Sympathizers.

After the drink was created to promote the first season, the advertisers for HBO’s True Blood had to step it up with online viral advertising as well as some shocking Outdoor ads. I have discovered a vampire blog that I have just started following called Blood Copy (http://www.bloodcopy.com) as well as a Human/Vampire dating site (http://lovebitten.net/).  

True Blood’s advertisers had a challenge this year with Season 3’s premiere and their need to top their previous advertising campaigns, their website states;

“We created and executed a campaign to disrupt reality and people’s perceptions of what an advertisement really is”.

If you haven’t noticed some slightly bizarre ads this year, take another look at Monster.com Billboards, as well as Harley Davidson. 

Digital Kitchen says:

“When we started we were hopeful to get 2-3 brands to sign on, however in a matter of weeks we were able to secure six brands: Geico, Monster, Mini, Harley-Davidson, Gillette, and Mark Ecko”.

Their campaign proved to be exceptionally successful. Not only do they have a large viral and reality disrupting campaigns but you can also follow True Blood on Facebook or get your fix on Twitter by following BonTempsGossip, I know I will be a follower!

Don’t miss True Blood on HBO.