Internet Celebrities

Snapchat has exploded.  A platform seemingly impossible to advertise on is becoming more and more saturated with celebrities or people with a lot of followers to endorse products. The days of going on the app to see what your friends are up to are dwindling, and it’s becoming more with seeing what Sedgy Fergo is up to tonight and whether or not she’s going to her FAVOURITE club, Blue Velvet in Newcastle.

The app is slowly turning into marketers utilising people with a decent following to endorse products or places, much like what’s happening with popular instagram accounts. As a result, these new celebrities are being born under the guise of still being “untainted” by the corporations. Dan Bilzerian and Jen Selter are the most popular instagram celebrities who post the products they used or recently purchased to their mass of followers. It is unknown whether or not organisations such as Nike are behind the accounts and pay them, but one things for sure – they reach millions of people daily.

A Dan Bilzerian post, showcasing his products

This is what marketing is turning into digitally. The consumer is becoming fed up with advertising and advertisements and will find ways to block them, hence the popularity of AdBlocker. Companies are looking for other ways to engage their audience and are using an age old tactic of endorsement. It happened to sports such as soccer in the 70’s and 80’s and now it’s happening to people who have a large following on social media. People are getting paid to simply make give aways on their youtube channels, flaunt their new watch they were given on instagram or let people know where they’ll be a certain night to build hype for the venue.

A Popular YouTuber’s giveaway

Essentially, it’s traditional marketing with a digital twist. My question is: how does this affect your browsing of youtube or instagram? Do you really care about advertising if it’s non invasive in the form of giveaways or photos on instagram accounts?

The Beta and how it has transformed video game marketing

Historically, ‘beta’ tests for software were for the developers to test how the piece of software worked out in the “real world”. Essentially, it was a trial run to help iron out some weird bugs or issues. All this has changed in recent times, with beta tests for a lot of games becoming tools for companies to sell their product. We’re seeing quite a few “bundle deals” with games coming out in which pre-purchasing the game gives you access to the beta. Companies are cashing in on the fact that consumers want things as soon as possible, and are sacrificing quality testing for it. The way they make their money is by riding the “hype train”, and people getting excited to try out this “revolutionary” new game, that they’ll pay money to get involved in the beta.

This has changed the beta landscape. Beta’s are now almost 100% completed products and are made to get people involved in the game early. They are a showcase of the game and users treat it as a trial to see if they want to purchase it. All the issues and problems with games and software are treated by consumers as “oh, it’s only in beta! They’ll fix it!”. Some games are even being released with “open alphas” which is a stage in the development cycle testing before beta’s, where only core mechanics and very little polish on the game is done. Moreover, some games such as “Crackdown” were advertised with a free beta pass to a much more anticipated game, Halo 3 in order to make more sales. People would buy Crackdown in order to play the beta of Halo 3. Another example is games using collectors editions and expensive products which the average consumer wont purchase containing “closed beta” invitations to persuade people into trying the game early.

Crackdown, the game.

Consumers love “trying before you buy” and beta tests do exactly that. What ends up happening is that they play the beta, and generally get involved and invested because it’s new and then purchase the game. It essentially enables customers who were on the fence with purchasing a product to make a decision whether to buy it. So of course, it’s no surprise when beta’s start offering free perks and little gifts for customers to enjoy.

This change in the landscape of beta is both good and bad, as it lets smaller companies advertise and promote their game (in other words, making money) whilst simultaneously testing it on a large scale. At the same time however, it’s also letting any John, Dick and Harry to test the game, and they’re usually only interested in trialling the game rather than actually testing it. This leads to unreported bugs, typos and just issues in general for the game.

Example of a game giving away beta keys as a promotion.

What are your thoughts? Should games treat Beta’s (or any large scale “public” tests) more professionally or leave them as is, which is currently a revenue stream.