mastery is the message: engaging young audiences through video games

Mastery isthe MessageEngaging Audiences Through

Video Games

PRSA October 19, 2010

Steven KostantKerry TroupMarc DionneWill McHenry

Why Gaming?Research RevealsContent is KingCreative TranscendsExperience Matters

Collect12 Coins

Whygaming?

PeopleLovegaming

1

Seriousgaming

Socialgood

Gamingcurriculum

Educateto Innovate

By age 21,the averageAmerican willhave spentmore than10,000hours playing

5 yearsof work

That’s

ZyngaMafia Wars + Farmville

100 millionmonthly visitors$4 billion

Gamesactuallywork

2

minutes

18

Researchreveals

“People who come up with clever solutions are almost always the same people who take the time to figure out the real problem.”

Jesse Schell

Expertsforum

Co–creation

Playtesting

Researchis not a boxto check

3

Research is part of the entireprocess.

That means keepdoing it.

www.franklincovey.com

Researchis notscripture

4

Don’t obsess onwhat they said.

Focus more onwhy they said it.

Whether you agree ordisagree with research…Have a reasonwhy.

“Never ignore a gut feeling,but never believe it’s enough.”

Robert Heller

Contentis king

Content iseverything

5

Content isstoryAvatar: $2.24B (Feb. 2010)

Content isauthenticBill of Rights (1789)

Content issocialFacebook 500m (Oct 2010)

Content isdataInformation graphics

Content iscurrentBBC Online (300+ staff)

Content isviral

Content isreal-time

Twitter

Content isgaming

Admongo

Contentmust havecontext

6

digestible

Creative: Writing &Design Tech

Research

SubjectMatter Experts

Clients

The king is promiscuous Marketi

ng& PR

What is theprocess forfor ignitingcontent?

1:Insight

2:Strategy

3:Staging

4:Creation5:Sustain

Contentflows

Content istrans-media

7

Content isflexible

Creativetranscends

Creativetranscends

Startwith theobject

8

The object is a players perceptionof completion

It’s the journey, not the end.

But the end drives the journey.

Explorationcreates

9

“If you wish to advance into the infinite, explore the finite in all directions.”

Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe

explore

Designismessage

10

“Design trends online change slightly less often thanmy socks.”

— Suleiman Leadbitter

Johnny

blue

thinkcritically

discover

Experiencematters

Ourgoal isexperience

11

Our goal was not to create a game.

Our goal was to create anexperience.

Welearn fromexperience

12

Experiencematters

Care.

Experience is100% qualityover quantity.

Experience is in the details

1 People love gaming2 Games actually work3 Research is not a

checkbox4 Research is not

scripture5 Content is

everything6 Content must have

context7 Content is trans-

media8 Start with the object9 Creativity is

exploration10 Design is message11 The goal is

experience12 We learn from

experience

Go play