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This is Part 1 of my comment on the major retail chains all adopting used game sales. How do I get from a Misguided Pizza Guy to used game sales and business models? Read on, dear gamer, read on... I heard on the radio the other day about a local pizza place owner who has gotten very upset about the ways that the restaurant business is changing. Just as it drives us nuts when our games are reviewed unfairly, he is furious about anonymous Yelp members who display both the eloquence and the sharpness of their tongues in sarcastic 1-star reviews. Despite the fact that he has a Metacritic score over 80 -- I mean a Yelp score of 4 stars -- he wants to strike back against the system. His response to the changes in the business of running a restaurant: take the most hurtful and derisive Yelp quotes, print them on T-Shirts and have his servers wear them. One server, by way of example, is walking around the restaurant wearing a shirt that reads, "The Pizza was so greasy that...." He's gotten the radio piece I heard on KCBS and an article about his wife (co-owner of the shop) and the shirts in the New York Times. He sounded defensive and his wife's interview sounded proud and confident, so maybe he should leave the PR to her. And, I have to admit, as a PR stunt this appears to be working. But I think there's another way to look at it, leaving out gimmicks that only work once. What can you do over and over again to prosper in a world of harsh criticism and ruthless competition?
Question 1: If you're running a 4-star pizzeria, what's a better use of your time: a) Draw attention to Yelp's anonymous, sarcastic, seemingly-random negative reviews and the unfairness of the system. b) Try experiments in service, menu, (and yes, T-shirts) to see what will make your 4-star place a 4.1-star pizzeria. Then going for 4.2, and so on. Question 2: If you chose "b" above, then what is the best source of ideas on how to go for those 4.1 stars? a) Thinking really hard until it feels like you're in a Troma movie and your brain is gonna burst and mess up the carpet. b) Gathering the best ideas from all of your team members in an open environment that encourages honest and frank discussion. c) Reading all the less-than-four-star reviews on Yelp and thinking about how to correct anything that somehow contributed to the negative comments, however random and unfair they may seem to be. d) All of the above.
Question 3: You don't run a pizzeria, you make games. You don't face a world of random 1-star reviews in Yelp, you face a world in which traditional packaged goods have lost a significant slice of their revenue potential. How could you prepare your games and your team for this new model? How could you make the disadvantage we now face into an advantage? Next Post: How can we respond to used game sales?
Copyright (c) 2009, Don Daglow
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