There is much talk these days about pushing marketing messages through the line. In an age where the 20 second spot on TV just doesn’t cut it anymore and marketing material is used as coasters, we continously look for new avenues to engage people in real life.
Urban Games or Pervasive Gaming is a relatively new trend to rise from some of the most urban places on our globe. Pervasive gaming takes digital gaming onto the streets and redefines the playground as we know it. It provides an interactive and connecting experience for the players and possibly for the brands who dare incorporate this into their marketing mix. The obvious aside, could this be a prelude to social interaction in our digital age?
The best examples of this offers players sitting behind a computer screen the ability to connect with other players who are out on the streets. This location-based interactivity is pushing the boundaries of collaboration between the physical and virtual realm and has spawned some cult like following.
The smarts employed by this new level of geekiness has been existing mobile phone technology, SMS and various forms of multimedia technology. Check out these YouTube and MySpace spots for more on the latest Street Wars taking place across the US. With the excitement and pulling potential of these events to the digital generation, we are seeing companies and Universities investing research into Augmented Reality Technology (A.R.T) that allows organisers (and brands) to enhance our REAL physical environment with a virtual scene generated by a computer that augments the scene with additional information. More on A.R.T
The concept is still very young in Australia, but we at Accure see the dawn of Events Marketing 21st century. Let us take you around the world and show you the application of pervasive, interactive gaming:
Street Wars and PAC Manhattan in the US
Love City and the Day of The Figurines in the UK
Net Attack in Germany
Shoot me if you can in Korea
(Sorry but this is in Korean - the crux of it is inspired by a first person shooting online game. But the gun is replaced by a cell phone with digital cam, and participants shoot, or take pictures of their opponents. The picture has to be sent via multimedia SMS to the opponent’s team. Necessary skills are team work, tactics and understanding of the urban environment.)
I would love to do this if it ever came down to Melbourne. There’s something to be said about that inner desire to kill someone, an urge that Goldeneye for Nintendo64 has only ever truly satisfied.