It is pretty rare that a sequel to any game or movie is ever as good as the original. Often times concepts are lost, or the fan-base feels that the developers have ’sold out’ to brand placement and co-marketing efforts. In this world where ‘authentic‘ content is so valued— creatives, writers, and strategists find it increasingly challenging to come up with something fresh; or more so to evolve something with what is contemporary-cool.
With that said I am absolutely as guilty as the other 926,000 GTA addicts out there…I just can’t put the game down to save my life. But second to the amazing gameplay experience, and rich media licensing that Grand Theft Auto brings to the table, is what I like to call a 2nd-Degree Brand Experience.
Let me explain…
For those of you that play the game, you all have seen the Escalades, Vespas, and Corvettes be translated into a GTA version of the product. Even Fast food chains, Fox News, and architecture landmarks are recognizable, yet not exactly what they would be in real life. This publishers tactic was once used to avoid licensing complaints, but the likeliness in these cases are so blasphemously obvious that I have started wondering about the positive effects of this 2nd-Degree Brand Experience. The real debate though is that knock offs in real life [Payless vs Adidas] cause serious brand infringements and legitimate lawsuits but should knock offs in games be rewarded through media buy dollars?
In past games we have seen actual brand names used, but this might be overkill and kill the authentic messaging that our SEM-eteers argue will rule the world. So rather than kill the authentic nature of a game, knock off the brand in a way that it’s audience will enjoy and still give them the brand experience; and make them pay dollars for it.
