Incomplete Gamer

I want a job in advertising and marketing. Here’s the thing. The way people consume entertainment and information is changing so rapidly that advertising companies and the clients they represent are prepared to chuck just about any wacky, outlandish delivery model against the boardroom wall and see what sticks. It’s not just the way we consume entertainment in the 21st Century either. Our tribes are becoming more fragmented. With each new Coke variant, markets become ever more niche. So how do you reach your audience in this new age?

The telecommunication industry think mobile ads are the answer. An online report published this month at the telecommunications news site, Billing World claim that all the big US telecom players are testing and rolling out advertising on mobile phone screens.

Last year, Virgin Mobile, USA, began offering its 4000 customers free phone calls in return for watching commercials. Good luck with that one. The service is dubbed SugaMama. Perhaps the name ‘SugaDaddy’ was ruled out ’cause they figured women were just way too smart to be suckered into this deal, which offers up to 75 minutes of free talk time a month if your prepared to give up almost as much time watching ads on your computer and then correctly answering questions about the ads, to ensure that you really were paying attention. Pepsi and Microsoft all signed up to flog the Xbox 360 and Pepsi Cola on SugaMama.

Howard Handler, Marketing exec at Virgin Mobile USA, says, “This service acknowledges the savvy and free will of our customer base. Our attitude, and that of our partners, is that these customers’ time is valuable. They should get something for giving us something. And that’s what SugarMama is all about.”

Yep, their time is so valuable and they’re so savvy, that they’re prepared to watch ads and then sit a pop quiz afterwards. I don’t think so. I know what you’re thinking. What do I know? Sir Richard Branson’s is one of the world’s most high profile and successful entrepreneurs while I on the other hand would struggle to flog a box of fundraising chocolate at the Biggest Loser auditions.

I concede that everyone likes free stuff, but if you’re so desperate for the free talk time, that you’re prepared to watch commercials, and then sit a written test, then I’m kind of wondering how much of the ready cash you actually have available to buy the products Virgin Mobile USA is flogging. You might be able to pony up for the Pepsi, but forget about the Xbox 360.