When my son Collin was two years old, he was listening to a friend of mine who was sitting on the hearth and playing a beautiful rendition of Johnny Cash’s Folsom on guitar. Collin raised his arm, pointing his stubby finger at my friend and in a strong, authoritative voice, he said “That, is a piano.”
Collin started to play classical guitar at age 5, electric guitar at age 8, and now at 13 has a band, which according to Frank Portman, Author of King Dork, makes you “at least 15% more attractive to girls.” And, he’s right.
The question is – “Does Guitar Hero make you a rock star or a dork?” Or, said a different way – “Is Guitar Hero a guitar or a piano?”
After months of scoffing at advertising for Guitar Hero, Collin finally started fooling around with one on display at Best Buy. Knowledge of guitar didn’t help him build hero-level skills right away, but he actually had a blast with it and after an hour has mastered the five button version of “Woman” by Wolfmother.
I think the appeal of Guitar Hero may lie in the imagination of the player. Who doesn’t want to be a rock star or at least screw one? Hey, even I’ve been known to jump around my room and strike a stance to Foghat now and then -- OKAY -- it was the 70s not last week, so watch it! The universality of this fantasy predates air guitar and Guitar Hero is just air guitar with positive feedback. It’s air guitar you can do in front of other people and chances are only 50/50 they’ll laugh at you.
So, maybe the real question is – “Does Guitar Hero make you 15% more attractive to girls?” Give it a try and let me know the results.
The Data:
Guitar Hero entered the survey strong with 76% awareness in the first period of measurement. With 30% modeled interest and nearly a third of those surveyed having tried the product. This product is pure enjoyment, driven by very high scores in this area. The overall success measure is lower than other products, so Guitar Hero may need to innovate to fill some gaps. Innovation should focus on “producing” something with the product to broaden appeal. Perhaps this is a composition function to build original pieces, linking with others online to form virtual bands, or other things that allow people to interact and make things themselves versus playing pre-recorded music.
Collin started to play classical guitar at age 5, electric guitar at age 8, and now at 13 has a band, which according to Frank Portman, Author of King Dork, makes you “at least 15% more attractive to girls.” And, he’s right.
The question is – “Does Guitar Hero make you a rock star or a dork?” Or, said a different way – “Is Guitar Hero a guitar or a piano?”
After months of scoffing at advertising for Guitar Hero, Collin finally started fooling around with one on display at Best Buy. Knowledge of guitar didn’t help him build hero-level skills right away, but he actually had a blast with it and after an hour has mastered the five button version of “Woman” by Wolfmother.
I think the appeal of Guitar Hero may lie in the imagination of the player. Who doesn’t want to be a rock star or at least screw one? Hey, even I’ve been known to jump around my room and strike a stance to Foghat now and then -- OKAY -- it was the 70s not last week, so watch it! The universality of this fantasy predates air guitar and Guitar Hero is just air guitar with positive feedback. It’s air guitar you can do in front of other people and chances are only 50/50 they’ll laugh at you.
So, maybe the real question is – “Does Guitar Hero make you 15% more attractive to girls?” Give it a try and let me know the results.
The Data:
Guitar Hero entered the survey strong with 76% awareness in the first period of measurement. With 30% modeled interest and nearly a third of those surveyed having tried the product. This product is pure enjoyment, driven by very high scores in this area. The overall success measure is lower than other products, so Guitar Hero may need to innovate to fill some gaps. Innovation should focus on “producing” something with the product to broaden appeal. Perhaps this is a composition function to build original pieces, linking with others online to form virtual bands, or other things that allow people to interact and make things themselves versus playing pre-recorded music.
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