"kaiwrysims;c-18017683" wrote:
"BlueR0se;c-18017618" wrote:
So I'm younger millennial (I think I at least qualify as that) and this definitely makes me feel old cause I'm pretty sure I'm not the target demographic (if not age wise, at least not interests wise. Not invested in youtubers or influencers). But honestly while I don't get the marketing, the guy is cute and seems pretty interesting. And I don't think there is anything wrong with it.
The marketing strat, while I don't "get it;" I get it. In a time of great worldwide struggle, it's especially hard for younger generations growing up in it. Seeing an outlet to live out the lives you wish you could live or explore possibilities is a very smart way to target towards younger generations over time and keep your audience growing/expanding for a franchise. Not to mention the "be the real you" vibe is very geared towards those who really can't fully be themselves irl and I know from experience a lot of people explore aspects of themselves they can't do irl in games (not necessarily for sims mind you, but still).
This kind of clashes with some players who kind of go in with a more detached storyteller playstyle. You ultimately are still playing parts of yourselves via the pixel people on some level, but it's more distant and not as personal. Maybe this is more of a product of older generational marketing (or older players' general playstyle in general) but I don't think either are "wrong."
I see a lot of folks on here confused and going "hey maybe market towards the rest of the world (implying the majority) but, truth is "the rest of us" who don't get this marketing may not be the majority any more. Or at the very least, this isn't for 'us' and that isn't a bad thing. Sometimes it's okay to recognize "yeah this isn't for me" and to just move on.
Also want to add that I don't see how this markets to pre-teens as others have said because I am a full grown adult I knew about him since middle school. I've seen many adults a lot older than me with kids that know him. When talking about younger generations, a lot of us are in university now so I don't get why the sims team wouldn't market towards us. Usually companies market to what's current so I never get what people mean when they ask for ea to market towards the older generations. Like I don't get what kind of marketing that would look like.
But not every celebrity they use to market everyone will know. I think bretman is a better known one since I've seen most ppl know him including me and usually I don't know any of the celebrities they partner with.
Which is why I personally mentioned that if it's not my age demographic that is the difference; it's definitely my interest demographic. The only reason I mentioned younger generations in particular, is because a lot of younger folks are (generally) growing up on media on the internet and less so on TV. Growing up in 90s-early 2000s, it was a lot of pop culture focused on reality TV and general celebrity drama from like movies and TV shows. Nowadays a lot of that is drifting towards youtube, IG, and all the variety of social media platforms and those who star in that. Of course, that isn't even mentioning the culture difference depending on where you live. Internet is global but there are still popularity differences depending where you live.
I've been active online for a long time, but there are times where my younger siblings (by like 8+ years) will ask if I know *insert youtuber/twitch streamer name* and will say they're a very popular person on that platform. And it's like, I'm sure there are plenty of people my age who know them, but I certainly don't and I feel like the younger folks are more likely to know that then older ones. Same thing with like minecraft youtubers. I can't name a single one but I'm kids in high school or early early college can name quite a handful.
I do think there is a major change in direction for the Sims franchise alongside the marketing focus as well. But unfortunately that's the nature of things the longer a game franchise goes on. Nothing is the same forever.
Community Manager
