The Branding Game

Whoa. I just witnessed the ending to maybe the best video game I've ever played—BioShock Infinite. The game topples the typical stereotypes of the entire video game genre; it doesn't dull the player's mind, it doesn't divorce them from reality, it doesn't incorporate obvious game structure. Infinite steps out of the gamer box and digs a flag into the ground declaring itself a pioneer legitimizing the art form games can be. What makes BioShock so great are the same things that make social brands remarkable.

The basics are done so perfectly that they get out of the way. Players don't notice load screens, glitches don't freeze the game, the environment looks realistic, the physics makes sense—the fundamentals for a believable world are so sturdy that the game actually delivers a universe that immerses the player. Similarly, a socially active brand should master platforms and strategy so well that the customer doesn't even notice them and gets to business falling in love with the brand.

The characters are meaningful because they develop, they are round. BioShock only introduces characters it intends to develop and even the most shallow characters within the story are fleshed out with back stories that fit perfectly within the overall narrative. Likewise, we should imagine company a an imaginary person, a brand is their personality—the character customers will get to know. The most powerful brands are like characters within an epic: they reflect and ultimately impact the cultures in which they develop, they celebrate the legend of their founders, and they champion a core mission. Turn a brand into a character that interacts consistently with customers among social and traditional media and watch consumers fall in love. By the way, customer love doesn't just echo across Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest, and other social media—it puts dollars on the balance sheet.

The story is extraordinary because it is about the player, as a person, in the real world. BioShock is remarkable because it challenges the player to reconsider their own decision making and moral barometer. Its story is always about the player. Seth Godin mentioned that the central character of the brand's story isn't the brand itself, but the people who interact with it. To relate to my above example, the customer could be the hero or the damsel in distress, but they should never observe from the sidelines.