About that official Scrabble app
Published by Blake Robinson April 9th, 2008 in Branding, Facebook, Facebook Software, Facebook controversy, business.
My first piece for FaceReviews was a positive review of Scrabulous, the immensely successful, Scrabble-inspired Facebook app. The implementation I said, was well-done and, barring a few acceptable bugs, the overall experience was excellent.
Not surprisingly, the Calcutta-based brothers responsible soon became entangled in legal woes at the hands of Hasbro and Mattel (who each own chunks of the game’s distribution rights in various parts of the world. Fortunately for all, especially the users, an accord was soon reached that seemed to ensure that Scrabulous would be preserved, with each company promising to help save the game.
Recently though, a new application has popped up on platform: Scrabble by Mattel. Since Mattel is the owner of Scrabble distribution internationally, the app is only available on Facebook outside of North America.
The move on the whole is a curious one for Mattel and it should be taken as a lesson by other brands on how not to operate. Mattel has erred in so many ways on this action that I’m going to summarize and generalize and probably say some stuff that makes me sound silly, but whatever:
Sure Mattel has a copyright, but if the Internet has taught us anything about branding, it’s that copyrights (and intellectual property in general) arre coming to mean less and less. Whether that’s a good thing or not is for others to decide, but while they’re deciding, I’ll glare disapprovingly at the ways IP owners hang on to their brands, which leads into point two.
Crowdsourcing. Both Hasbro and Mattel had (maybe still has) an opportunity here. To embrace Scrabulous would be an efficient utilization of its fans. It’s not as if they have to relinquish ownership of Scrabble, they just need to find a way to coexist in a manner that is amicable among all three parties — and there is definitely enough money to go around.
Remember Metallica? I know its hard, but think back to the glory days when Master of Puppets melted faces, not the contemporary St. Anger abortion. Metallica learned the hard way what it happens when you turn on the people who got you places. The band also brought most of the current IP clamor into the spotlight with its blows against Napster. The point is though, times change and you have to change with them or render yourself obsolete. The record industry continues to suffer these consequences. So screwed by its own devices was Metallica that it released the studio-heavy lo-fi album mentioned above. It was lo-fi because it was trying to make fans think back to the old days, before they were pilfering for every penny.
It’s the digital age. Information is now, more than ever, a form of currency. Google has built an industry dealing only in information. It’s a fact that renders the old adage “learn from your mistakes” obsolete. With so much information available, you shouldn’t make mistakes., you should learn from the mistakes of others. Look at the RIAA, look at every IP owner that has gone against its base and look at the consequences. Consider the gravity of that and then recognize Scrabulous for what it is. It’s an homage to a great product that has been a staple of households for 50 years.
Finally, your alternative sucks. Scrabble by Mattel on Facebook is a poorly made, bug-ridden app. It has no community, mainly because it’s redundant. If users are already hitting one destination, don’t change it, or try to compel them to go to another, use it to your advantage. With your legal precedent, you have rights to make Scrabulous play ball, rights that no one would question you exercising, but again, you should use those rights to work with your community, not to alienate it.
Hopefully this has a happy ending; hopefully Mattel doesn’t quickly recognizes how wrongly its proceeding here. I doubt that it will, but you should all hope with me, because the alternative, as I said, sucks.
Technorati Tags: Facebook, Scrabble, Scrabulous, Hasbro, Mattel, legal
2 Responses to “About that official Scrabble app”
- 1 Pingback on Apr 9th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I think the importance aligns in the brand understanding that they have to make a good product. I’m not so disappointed in Scrabble’s reaction to the Scrabulous App, I can understand it. I am more disappointed that they didn’t put out an unbelievable app that would have rivaled scrabulous.