Meditations Upon Drey
Information courtesy of Megan Egglesden, Lockwood Product Manager; commentary provided by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
If there’s one thing Lockwood is very, very clever with, it’s organizing their products into collections.
Think about it. You’re in someone’s private estate. You spy a clever bit of furniture. You ask where it comes from. Your host can only tell you that he thinks he acquired it from Sony. Or maybe it was Some Other Developer. Possibly part of a bundle purchase. Who knows. And then you spend hours looking for the damn thing, to no avail. It’s like trying to find Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner” when all you can remember is the utterly useless lyric, “Duh-duh duuuuh-duh da-da-duuuh-da…”
On the other hand, by organizing commodities into collections, they’re much more memorable: you can mentally categorize large chunks of data under a label. You can point to a sofa and say, “Oh, you like that? It’s a Cucumber sofa.” And people will easily grasp what you are talking about: Cucumber is a Lockwood collection. Go to Lockwood to purchase. Word-of-mouth marketing achieved.
This is especially critical with virtual apparel. It wasn’t all that long ago that a reasonably-connected Home user could be generally familiar with every piece of clothing this virtual society had to offer. Nowadays, however, that’s impossible. Have you seen the size of AlphaZone4’s database? If the goal of displaying oneself as a savvy Home consumer is to mix and match to form unique combinations, then the sheer number of permutations today is nearly incalculable.
Which means that something more is needed to effectively market virtual clothing items.
And collections are exactly the right tool.
Think about it. When you see a Figment dress or a Drey suit, they are unmistakably Figment and Drey. Is it so much the visual motif, or is it the connection between the image and the word? The word itself may be ultimately irrelevant — a drey is simply a squirrel’s nest — but one of the cornerstones of good advertising is to make a mental connection between a brand name and a commodity.
Say “GEICO.” You just flashed on the gecko.
Say “Dos Equis.” You just saw Jonathan Goldsmith and a liquor bottle.
Now say Drey.
You just saw an avatar in some impossibly hip pose, looking ridiculously cool in a youthful but laid-back manner.
This sort of marketing also has another effect: it motivates people to buy a piece of clothing because they want to make a statement to the rest of the community. If the Gold Suit screamed that its owner had money to burn, then what does a Drey outfit convey?
We turn to Lockwood’s own PR copy regarding the latest addition to Drey:
Drey usher in the Spring with some fresh new looks. The Bonita range is European, chic and figure-hugging for ladies who can rock a strong outfit. Bright colours and vegetable prints are a nod to what’s hot on the world’s fashion runways. Trusted staples like platform heels and a simple ponytail keep the outfits from looking overworked.
Male Drey fans can evoke sixties America in the sleek Retro leather jacket and chinos. Complete the look with a slick hairstyle and two-tone shades. Ultimate Bundles with colours to suit all tastes are available in store now!
For me, personally, here’s how I interpret Drey: it’s geared for the twentysomething crowd that wants to look upscale, but doesn’t want to necessarily look traditional. It’s urban chic. It is, perhaps, the most Bohemian line of clothing in Home. It’s that rare combination of being hip but acceptable.
Is Drey my line of choice? Not necessarily. I skew more conservative; to this day, I lament that the double-breasted suit with side vents has more or less been excised from popular culture. But, that said, in a place like Home which has no end of wannabe “gangstas” running around in it, I certainly appreciate someone purchasing a Drey outfit and wearing it proudly, because that user has taken the time (and money) to make a statement: that in a sea of thugs, mafiosos and far too many tank tops, he or she is determined to look youthful — but with a touch of refinement.
And that, by any estimation, is a good thing.
March 6th, 2012 by NorseGamer | 4 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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All I can say is that Drey and Figment are some of the best clothing in Home when it comes to style, I only wish that more of their pieces were able to be mixed without the bleeding that occurs. But the best part of this particular one that I can see is PURPLE SHOES!!! It is about time.
I like the fact that Lockwood includes some Drey items in the gift machine. Better than sending out some random toy animal or piece of cake.
I’ll commend Lockwood for giving each of their brands a clear identity and purpose for existing. They’ve become a bit like the modern department store, where collections are organized around a single brand identity that reflects both a theme and a particular style. It’s all quite fashionable.
In terms of making things easier to find, however, it can come up a bit short. Is that torso that you’re looking for a Figment, a Drey or a Fool Throttle? Or is it a Sodium piece? Is that sofa a Cucumber or a regular Lockwood?
Establishing the brand also raises the need to maintain the brand with new content. Lockwood has done well with that to date, but how many brands can reasonably be sustained by a single developer?
I’m really happy Lockwood is in Home. I like (mostly) the Drey line. I have also written them about things I want: more choice in skirt lengths; properly fitting pants, separates that don’t glitch when combined with others…at least, other Drey pieces. I’m really happy they brought necklaces. Clever to do it by making them hand items but *now what do I do* with my rings and fans? At least let me combine Lockwood items. All that said, Lockwood items are only a small part of my wardrobe. I appreciate that they make feedback easy via the comments option after the poll. Let’s see how well they respond to customers.