Play the social card

When that enormous meteor blasted through the atmosphere, the dinosaurs didn’t stand a chance – even if they’d have seen it coming. Game and HMV are the two remaining dinosaurs of the entertainment retail industry and, although given warnings about the impending impact of the internet as long ago as last century, they both largely ignored it and carried on with business as usual.

Even today, with marketing gurus perpetually jumping on the latest social bandwagon and trying to sell social media consultancy to their clients, it still hasn’t dawned on Game that perhaps ‘social’ is the way forward in more than just the online world. ‘Social gaming’ has even become a key buzzword in the past few years. Here’s an idea for you, Game – put some beanbags and refreshments in your shops and set aside a whole area for gamers to be social together.

As bonkers as it seems, the high street doesn’t solely need to be about branding and shifting product. Multichannel retailing is evolving as the two once disparate worlds of online and offline blend together.

The concept of ‘social’ doesn’t just apply to the internet. If executed perfectly, true blended retail means it works just as well in the physical
If you’re in the market of entertaining people, go back to the roots of genuinely social ret

ail experiences, blend in the online space, and you can beat the vultures and their empty marketing slogans. Only by offering an inventive point of difference will Game once again become the true home of gaming.

Jason Finch
Director
Port80 Retail Technology

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