SOPA – PR Poison?

What does the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) mean to you, if you’re in public relations? Nothing good. For a business increasingly dependent on social media, whose arsenal has always relied upon viral, user-shared content, and whose aim is to get everyone talking about their clients, SOPA poses a significant threat.

If it is somehow possible that you have not yet read about SOPA – an unlikely scenario, given that reading this blog makes you an able consumer of online content, and the SOPA debate has dominated the web for the last several weeks – the proposed legislation is available here. Put simply, SOPA would allow for court orders to be issued against websites accused of piracy or other illegal activities, potentially requiring (among other things) that ad networks halt their business with said sites, search engines de-link said sites, payment processors cease accepting payments for said sites, and more. In essence, a site accused of facilitating piracy can immediately lose all access to business-vital functions such as site discovery, content sale, and ad revenue.

Everyone whose livelihood is rooted in the gaming industry can likely agree that piracy is terrible and its practitioners should be punched in the head. Trying to solve the issue with SOPA, however, opens the door to entirely new problems, many of which may disrupt your life as a PR professional (or a company that uses PR to promote itself). Continue reading SOPA – PR Poison?

Clouding My Mind: The Cleverness of Steam

Why are the Steam Sales are so darn effective?

As someone who’s worked in PR, sales, and marketing for a few years now, sometimes I like to think that I’m “above” the reach of typical advertising and market tactics. Just like someone who works in film can’t sit through a movie without picking apart the shots, or a game developer can’t help but analyze how well the character camera works with the level design, so it goes for us flacks. We see an animated web banner or a Black Friday flier, and we start thinking about whether the branding is effective, the virality of the content, the effectiveness of the messaging, and a lot of other buzzwords we are ashamed to know.

As such, it takes a very effective piece of marketing to make me take notice – and, rarely, to actually put me into a frenzy of drooling, ravenous, I’ve-gotta-buy-that consumerism. One company is able to do this to me, consistently, year after year: Valve, with their recurring holiday sales on Steam, their digital game distribution platform. The Steam Sales may well represent some of the smartest marketing in gaming and e-commerce today. Continue reading Clouding My Mind: The Cleverness of Steam

Points of Interest – December 2, 2011

Have you had a chance to check out Points of Interest, our company newsletter? Each week, we share a round-up of this week’s essential and entertaining news, as well as a glance at what our clients are doing — and what’s coming up next for us all! The latest issue is right here — and why not consider subscribing, as well?

This week, we check out “Black Eye” Friday, the latest in sinister cell phone innovation, and the handsome men of TriplePoint’s Movember efforts! Read on

Skiller App

Kick it, one time, with a new Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and it offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a copy of Skillz: The DJ Game from the guys at Playpen Studios, which was recently released for the iPad. Will your skillz measure up?

Continue reading Skiller App

Hold Me Closer, Tiny Heroes

Run! Run! It’s a new Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and it offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a copy of Tiny Heroes from the fiendish villains at Simutronics, available now on iOS devices. Dare you steal this free copy from our hoard?

Continue reading Hold Me Closer, Tiny Heroes

Trends with Benefits: Bacon, Breakfast of Champions

Yum! Tuck in to a new Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and it offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a copy of The Baconing from our friends at Hothead Games, for the platform of your choice — Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC! Read on for your chance at pure deliciousness…

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: Bacon, Breakfast of Champions

Trends with Benefits: Knights of Some Other Table

Behold, another glorious and prize-laden Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and it offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a copy of King Arthur: Fallen Champions from the good folks at Paradox Interactive. Read on to begin your quest!

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: Knights of Some Other Table

Trends with Benefits: Mostly Harmless

Don’t panic! It’s just Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and it offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a Hothead Games Beach Towel to celebrate the upcoming Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy app, which you can win here — and then you’ll always know where it is. Read on!

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: Mostly Harmless

Trends with Benefits: What is It Good For?

Time to stand up and fight this week’s Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and it offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a free download of Supreme Ruler: Cold War via GamersGate, from our friends at Paradox Interactive! Your nation needs you to keep reading beyond the break!

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: What is It Good For?

Trends with Benefits: Iconic Arsenals

If you can handle this week’s Trends with Benefits, then you can handle the legendary Golden Axe! TWB is the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint, appearing every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and it offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a free download of Golden Axe via PlayStation Network, from the good folks at SEGA! Take a swing at the challenge, after the break…

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: Iconic Arsenals

Accepting the 3DS Price Cut with a Smile

This week, the gaming world once again heard the tragic cries of the early adopter, as Nintendo announced an $80 price cut for the Nintendo 3DS, representing a slash of almost one-third its original price. I am among the (apparently not very large) crowd of people who purchased the system at launch for its original price, and that would seem to give me a license to gnash my teeth and holler the loudest about this posthumous insult to all that money I spent. Really, though, I’m not mad. In fact, today’s news has me kind of optimistic. Give me a few hundred words, and I’ll tell you why. Continue reading Accepting the 3DS Price Cut with a Smile

Trends with Benefits: Literary Limbo

See if you can puzzle your way through this week’s Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a free download of Limbo via PlayStation Network, from our friends at Playdead! Mind your head…

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: Literary Limbo

Trends with Benefits: A Race Against Time

Hurry through this week’s Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

This week’s TWB prize is a free download of Ionocraft Racing for iOS, courtesy of our friends at PAN Vision! That is, if you’re fast enough…

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: A Race Against Time

Trends with Benefits: Avenues of Fury

Face off against this week’s Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

If you think you can handle it, this week’s TWB prize is a free download of Streets of Rage via PlayStation Network, courtesy of our friends at SEGA! Step this way…

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: Avenues of Fury

Trends with Benefits: Independent of Independence

Have some fun with this week’s Trends with Benefits, the weekly brainteaser from your friends at TriplePoint! TWB appears every week in our news round-up, Points of Interest, and offers terrific prizes to readers who can puzzle their way through the challenge du jour. First crack at the prizes go to Points of Interest subscribers when the newsletter goes out on Fridays, but we’ll be sharing each week’s challenge here on our website, as well.

Up for grabs this week is Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing for iOS, a critic favorite from TriplePoint client, SEGA! Celebrate your independent spirit with a free copy, up ahead!

Continue reading Trends with Benefits: Independent of Independence