Monday · November 08 2004
The Decline of Brands
Fickle and demanding consumers armed with easy access to product reviews and information are killing blind loyalty to the brand. This article got me thinking what sort of consumer loyalties I hold. It's the review, not the brand, that holds sway with me.
I'll scan informal message boards, read heavily trafficked sites like Amazon and Epinions, and watch celebrity-oriented review shows like Ebert & Roeper and XPlay to get info on media or a product. With the exception of the latter category which I watch as much for entertainment as information (yes, Morgan Webb has something to do with that), I look to the aggregate review sites to filter quality for me in the way that brands have in the past.
It's remarkable how totally dependant I am on video game reviews to drive my game buying decisions (although with gamefly, I'm much more willing to take a chance on something that gets modest reviews than I would be if I were paying $40 for it) I find they are a much more reliable predictor of my opinion of the game than film critics are as a predictor of my response to a movie. One thing I've noticed, at gamespot.com for example, is that the games rated by the pros in the 7-8 range usually get better reviews by the users on average. Whereas the really crap stuff in the 4-5 range gets flamed even worse by the players.
I'm over Morgan Webb. Now I'm into Tina Wood on g4tv.com.
Reed, check out metacritic.com if you haven't already. They are the best official review aggregator site I've found. They cover movies, DVDs, music, and games (console and PC). They dont' review anything themselves, but it's a great one stop shop to see all the reviews lined up with links to each.
Tina Wood seems so fake with that, "Hi caller, what's your name and where you calling from?" She has no geek cred with me. :)