Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

There was an interesting article in the New York Times about how there has been a shift in new teen romances, "brands are more important than romantic relationships to the female protagonists' popularity." Dr. Naomi Johnson, a communication professor at Longwood University in Virginia wrote her dissertation on female characters' obsession with being pretty, thin and stylish. She did this by reviewing three popular teen series, "Clique", "Gossip Girl", and "A-List". What she found was interesting.

In these new teen romances, she wrote, "Heroines no longer become women through romance, they become feminine through consumption" On average, there was more than one brand mentioned per page and the bad guys are often indicated by their unfortunate brand choices. Although all the representatives of the "Clique" series were adamant that there had never been any paid product placement in these books, cross-promotion or barter exchange, the books are represented by Alloy Entertainment. One of Alloy's biggest revenue streams is product placement and they are "very good" at reaching the pre-teen and teenage audience.

This goes into the face of the rise of the Alpha Girl. Alpha Girls have an "emancipated confidence" that is raising self-esteem, reducing depression, and altering gender roles among girls and young women.

So what does this mean? Maybe the difference with the girls coming of age is that they want the same things girls have always wanted, but now they will provide the clothes, fun and happiness for themselves versus looking to a boy to make it happen for them.

Full article in the New York Times:
In Novels for Girls, Fashion Trumps Romance

Embarrassingly as it is to admit I have recently become obsessed with teen romance novels (I like vampires, fairies, witches rather than the mean fashionable girls).

Kari Girarde

I am definitely one of those people who hit the remote button but this spot would have kept me watching.
 
Imagine doing this with Volkswagen. They probably would have got to the G and then gone splat.
 
Adam Turinas

Google is powered by Post-It Notes.

For more interesting uses of Post-It Notes, check out the YouTube Post-It Notes contest, where users are encouraged to upload a video showing their unique use of the notes for the chance at $10,000.

Marta Strickland

Clever fun from Nokia.

http://www.get-out-and-play.com/

Adam J. Wilson

I've been a little jaded by the Facebook phenomenon lately and I needed a different fix... Enter Ego (still in beta) by Punch Entertainment, a little startup in Mountain View. These guys used to port console games to mobile phones for carriers like Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile etc.

After playing it online for a day, I find that Ego is like a cross between a Tamagotchi, a Mii, Facebook and IM. Your avatar starts off with very basic attributes and levels up by developing a stronger persona or archetype through in-game interactions called Socializing. Going from high school to college to adulthood, you can be buddies with not only your friends, but with the whole American Idol crew, the folks from Lost (all AI driven) or random avatars with AI kicking in when they're not online - based on those users' past actions. As you progress in the game, you unlock rewards that help refine your personality instead of buying features.

Ego is built as a social networking game for mobile phones with online components through their site, a Facebook app and beyond. It was awarded "Most Innovative Game" at Game Developers Conference 2008. The target demographic is teens and up.

http://www.ego-city.com/

Nic Tan