How I Knew It Was Time

So you might have seen some of my status messages on various sites this weekend, proclaiming my recent purchase of a Playstation 3 system, and wondered, but why Seth?

I decided as a tribute to my final decision, I would post my decision reasons. And as I pondered my reasons for making the purchase, I started to realize that while I wasn't an early adopter on this one, I think that I am still one of the first of the late majority. That being the case, I have a good reason to think that the PS3 is 6 months or so from becoming a mainstay gaming system in lots more peoples homes.

But without further delay, here are my top 3 reasons for getting a PS3:

3. I've always been a Playstation and Nintendo person. I didn't go Dreamcast, and never turned Xbox. To be frank, I have always had a hard time getting used to the controller structure of Xbox, and know the Xbox system components have never been as capable as the Playstation systems.

2. The high-def format war ended up going the way of the Blu-Ray disc. And because I plan on getting a high-def TV in the near future, I needed something to play amazing quality movies with. On top of that, the multi-media functions and Playstation Store options make the PS3 as much of a Media Center PC as anything out there.

1. Sony just re-released the 80 PS3 model as a bundle with the final edition of the best game series of all time, Metal Gear Solid. The 80 Gb model is backwards compatible and will play all of the old Playstation games I hold dear, and has enough extra hard-drive room to store all the 1080p movie trailers I can get my grubby hands on. At a retail price of $499.99, and Wal-Marts $100 back gift card, the purhcase total nets a more respectable $399.99. Not a drop in the bucket I know, but I have spent a lot of time saving, and thinking through the purchase. I was ready.

So if anyone out there is thinking about taking the plunge into a new, high-end gaming system, I hope my ration proves useful in your decision. And if you're not quire ready to drop that much green, there's always the world's best selling system, the Nintendo Wii.

Targeting... When Go-to Came Too Late [Marketing]

Ryan from "The Office" defined target markets as "a way of looking at subsets of a larger population in closely related demographic groups". And while I agree with the theory around target marketing, I feel like it's old news. It seems like a company selling a certain product 10-20 years ago could "target" the appropriate audience, and it was their best option.

Nowadays, it seems like a company can target itself right into the ground. By setting your sights too closely around a specified group, you have the tendency to lose track of profitable business outside of your scope. I think a better method today to reach the right customer, is with the right message to a much further expanded audience.

The right message should be targeted to speak to the type of customer your business serves. Not to be confused with "White, 40+, Farmers, Within the 55511 Zip-code". You can't target a message to that. The key, is to find the persona of the customer you want to market to. A persona should look like this, "Hard working, Internet challenged, Truck driving, Boot wearing, Thermos toting, Deer hunting, Bass fishing, Product loyal, Cash paying son-of-a-bitch."

That's the type of information a business can use to define strategy, concentrate distribution, develop creative, and purchase media. That's the type of information that let's you engage conversation with to your target, regardless of age, occupation or geography. And that, is how you grow business without over targeting.

If you want to learn more about doing this effectively, read this book.

How much would you spend?

As I watch Vince McMahon give away $1,000,000 of his own money tonight to WWE Raw viewers, I find myself wondering why.

After the announcement that the password to claim the prize was "WWE Universe", I started to think that this was really an elaborate marketing scheme to build awareness for a new WWE brand. Rather than spend the time, effort and money to spread the word of WWE Universe in the print, digital and video world of WWE, why not ingrain that slogan/tagline into viewers minds instantly over two hours. Not only will viewers hear "WWE Universe" dozens of times during the show, they also must store it in cognitive memory, just in case Vince McMahon were to call them and ask for it.

The cost of mass marketing to drill "WWE Universe" into fans minds over time would far exceed the $1,000,000 Vince has put up this evening. So to large companies out there, looking to launch a new brand, or division, or product... I ask you, "What would you spend to have all of your customers be able to recall your new product by name just hours after, or even before it's release?"

Not a bad spend if you ask me.

At this point, I don't know what WWE Universe is, or what it will be. I don't even know if it will even exist after tonight, as this is all just my theory.