DESIGN DIARY - 11.22.00

Mrs. Jones

She knows her stuff. Monica Jones has been marketing Decipher games for four years. Before that, she worked in an ad agency for seven years. And she's just getting started.
I would gladly disclose her age, but this falls within the ethical guidelines of the professional interviewer/interviewee relationship - in other words, I didn't work up the nerve to ask her.
Let's just say that I'm happy to have such a young yet seasoned trooper on my side of the forcefield. You never know when the power might fail.

"I'm the Marketing Director of the Specialty Products Group," says Monica in one breath. Her day job involves promoting Boy Crazy, the new brand developed by the Specialty Products division of Decipher, the right hemisphere of the company. But at night, Monica becomes the Jedi Knights sniper. "I'm basically the team leader for the Jedi Knights marketing effort," she explains.

Because he wanted something really different for Jedi Knights, Decipher Chairman & CEO Warren Holland brought Monica over from the "other gang" to get a fresh point of view on the marketing strategy. "Although I know how to play Young Jedi, I'm really not a gamer," Monica says. "It's the traditional marketing way VS the TCG mentality," and that clash is producing some very exciting sparks.
[Which is why Decipher's new offices were all fireproofed; smells bad for a while, but gives you a very nice shade when the walls finally dry up. And I can roast marshmallows right in my office.]
"The TCG side of Decipher is largely composed of gamers, and gamers who are very passionate about their hobby," muses Monica. "This allows people to relate to pretty much everyone here, because they share this passion." And Monica's job consists in channeling that passion into the marketing sledgehammer. Please wear protective headgear at all times. I mean it.

With sextant and map firmly in hand, Monica is sailing Jedi Knights on seas rarely approached by Decipher's TCG team. "Switching gears between Boy Crazy and Jedi Knights has been great for me," says Monica, who splits her days between the two projects. "It gives me a fresh perspective on both aspects of my work. Some of what we develop for Jedi Knights I can turn around and use with Boy Crazy, and vice versa."

The hard-core gaming community linked to Decipher's trading card games is one of the elements Monica can use in her Boy Crazy endeavors. "With Boy Crazy," she explains, "we're creating a new brand, and a whole new community to support and enjoy that brand. The TCG community I've seen tells us a lot about fan communities." To get her started, TCG Marketing Director Kendrick Summers took Monica on a local retailer tour earlier this year. "It was fascinating," recalls Monica, "because I was really building my knowledge of that community from the ground up." And now that community is turned into an ally through the Rebel Strike Team and other covert projects I'm not supposed to be typing about (read that sentence again to make sure it's still there).

Monica will stay onboard the Jedi Knights vessel at least until the game is launched. Beyond the release? That area remains terra incognita. "We'll see if I'm needed or not," Monica says. "But eventually I'll go back to Boy Crazy full time, and I know I'll miss working on Jedi Knights. I like the passion the TCG team has for what it's doing. The Specialty Products Group has passion too, but the passion stems more from the results of our efforts than the games themselves. Over here, the games are an integral part of people's lives."

Right now, Mrs. Jones is working on a press release about the various promotional cards found within Jedi Knights. So I'd better go back to my office. But you can be sure you'll hear from Monica again.
Don't take it personal; it's her job.

Francis K. Lalumiere
The Juggler