Comments on: Dan Hon and Mindcandy

By: Extenuating Circumstances – SXSW 2008 - Stories, Games and Your Brand

Extenuating Circumstances – SXSW 2008 - Stories, Games and Your Brand — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:49:21 +0000

[...] was at my panel at this year’s SXSW (11th best panel, woo!) and we did a fun follow-up interview where I spilled some of the beans about how we put Perplex City together at Mind [...]

By: Dan Hon looking for work - Licence to Roam

Dan Hon looking for work - Licence to Roam — Wed, 30 May 2007 00:45:20 +0000

[...] Hon, who I met at SXSW when he was talking on a panel about ARGs, is leaving Mind Candy, the company behind Perplex City. [...]

By: rachel

rachel — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:31:07 +0000

I should have made that clearer I think – sstory vs puzzles. You;re right there, although the line blurs sometimes when it comes to corporate attempts to do it. There may be a ’story’ but it is too easy to just leave that as an overlay. A few years ago I worked on an ARG as an idea for a brand where the story was the brand story – it would have been extraordinary if it had ever got off the ground, but it was too soon for the brand to accept it. Maybe one day.

And I remember Kit William’s book Masquerade, I’ve written about it before. I remember getting it out of the library (it was in the kid’s section – it had pictures in it!) and trying to puzzle my way through it, failing miserably.

On the Mindcandy cards – they are going to be used in 2 ways – they will hold clues to the game but you can just use them as a straight puzzle – 2 layers. So they can market those in a more traditional way, but can also be used in the game to add richness.

By: Kyle Stallone

Kyle Stallone — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:45:51 +0000

“Dr Pepper, Budget and others have all used elements. It may not be a complete ARG, but as treasure hunts the same type of puzzles are used.”

Just to “clear the air” a little bit, everything within an “ARG” revolves around the story itself. So, no story, no “ARG”. Puzzles does not an “ARG” make. I don’t think that is what you were trying to say, but I didn’t want anyone to come away with that opinion in their heads.

Also, I would like to point to the publication of the puzzle trail/treasure hunt book “Masquerade” in 1979 as a source for these previously mentioned Dr. Pepper and Budget promotions.

Using some of the marketing elements that “ARGs” currently use is something that interests me as well. I ended up here through a post made on an “ARG” related site while doing research on the subject.

That said, I think what is interesting about season two is that they are deciding to split the two items of their success (the cards and the “ARG”) and treat them as two separate marketable items.

The cards will probably me marketed in a more conventional manner as they are not part of the “ARG” itself.

As far as the “ARG” is concerned, marketing that will be a pleasant surprise I am sure. As the genre is still “young”, anything is “fair game” (no pun intended).

By: rachel

rachel — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:13:58 +0000

They already are being used, to various levels of success. Microsoft were the lead in this, with their various efforts for XBox, Vista etc. Dr Pepper, Budget and others have all used elements. It may not be a complete ARG, but as treasure hunts the same type of puzzles are used. Teaser campaigns also use elements.

But one of the things I was interested here was not just how ARG type methods are being used in buzz marketing but how an ARG of the size and length of Perplex city raised buzz, with their ads in papers and the ability they had to get press because it was an ARG. This has no changed, the PR world is not as interesting, so the have a different set of challenges to market the games and puzzles for season 2.

By: Kyle Stallone

Kyle Stallone — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 06:00:13 +0000

Interesting article, but I am not quite sure how “ARGs” can help with guerilla marketing. Normally, at least from my understanding, players don’t like having the sponsor thrown into their face. They enjoy the “secret” of it all. I point to the most recent “Lonelygirl15” video and the responses to the obvious product endorsement contained therein as a reference.

By: This Is Mind Candy

This Is Mind Candy — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 16:52:54 +0000

Behind the Buzz at Mind Candy…

I met up with Rachel Clarke, of Behind the Buzz after the Attack of the ARGs panel at SXSW in Austin and we sat down over a few sessions to do an interview which is up now – take a…