Marketing mobile gamesWhat lies ahead – look at opportunitieshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/graft/1600789262/sizes/z/in/photostream/
Please style – perhaps add client brands??3,700 people in 53 offices400 people in London office across consumer, tech, healthcare and digitalJust bought 12 person mobile development agencyDigital, social media and mobile for Xbox, EA Mobile, Samsung, RIM, Starbucks, Pepsico, Diageo, etc.
Head up mobile across the group & manage digital/social media for mobile & gaming clients
Switch brains to mobile channel2 minutes on what’s happened in the past year
Significant audiences across variety fo major mobile platforms(add NOKIA and JAVA)OS proliferation > More ‘real’ players in app space. Need to consider which platforms to build for and long term development strategy.Means more competitionBut also opportunity: bigger market.Main platforms: iOS, Android, RIM, Symbian, Bada, WP7
Android has come out on top
- Tablets are a completely new mobile gaming platform / format- Paved way for new genres of gaming, from 2 payer board games (chess) to advanced strategy games- 84% of tablet owners play games on their deviceiPad led the way, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Motorola Zoom, Blackberry Playbook following suit
Shift away from premium to freemium / ad funded models
Rise of power publishers (EA, Gameloft, Zynga): top developers acquired by major publishers 36% rise in global funding and acquisition deals in 2010.Zyngaalone has acquired 14 mobile companies – development and tools – in 2012Mean more competition for indie developers + more important to think about exit strategyFor consumers it provides curationhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/rlews/2111616358/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Think more about girls!31% increase in 25-34 year old womenhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/missfawn/2195100845/sizes/z/in/photostream/
Majority female compared to console -53% vs 40% are femalehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/missfawn/2195100845/sizes/z/in/photostream/
Mobile game development means – you’re in marketingLike music or fashion– standing out, branding and consumer engagement is more important than qualityhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/dcdead/5624359943/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Don’t think about writing a game – you’re in marketinghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/dcdead/5624359943/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Dedicated & experienced: 24/7 attention to opportunities, eye on Facebook.mobile adsResources: designers, budget for print adsCuration (best of breed) so media pay attentionMajor opportunities for cross promotionBrand selss
No right/wrong answerDedicated & experienced: 24/7 attention to opportunities, eye on Facebook.mobile adsResources: designers, budget for print adsCuration (best of breed) so media pay attentionMajor opportunities for cross promotionBrand selss
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24298207@N03/5255348854/sizes/l/in/photostream/Build a relationship with distributorsSend a weekly report with updates on figures and planned marketing to Apple, with screen assets and copy available via an FTP.Nokia featured one of our apps in their TV marketing campaign, and also paid for several apps to be ported to their platform. Sometimes just getting on someone’s radar can both save and make you money.Perfect one ‘killer feature’Interest press and bloggers.Helps word-of-mouth marketing.Make your app social & shareableAllow people to share via Facebook, Twitter or email.
AMAZING QA and Testing is crucialIf your apps is released with bugs it will incur bad reviews and kill the app. Well worth spending money with an outside agencyMake sure you test on all relevant versions on software. Even individual releases (4.2.1) can cause bugs or crashesAim to keep iOS apps under 20MB so it can be distributed over-the-air – you will get lots more downloadsFiles can increase in size after you upload it, so make sure you check the file after you upload the source code. Aim for <17MB distribution buildThe Android Market imposes no size restrictions to over-the-air downloads, however there is a 50MB size limit for Android applicationsAnalyze and iterate!!Make sure you have great analytics in place to watch what people DO rather than SAY they want. AppFigures etc. are a great way to keep an eye on the go.Iterate and Update your app to improve it and keep people interested
Buzz, blog and press reviewsGet ahead by posting a teaser trailer on Youtube and screenshots on gaming blogs/forums like TouchArcadeSend demo codes to key bloggers and journalists, and try to secure launch coverage e.g. with an exclusive interviewGreat app store reviewsAVOID bad reviews by having bugsAsk friends to review itInclude ‘Rate This App’ codeGet into the Top 10Pile up ‘launch triggers’ to get as much momentum as possible in the week after launch: press, social media, mobile/digital advertisingGet featured by AppleApple decides who they feature by geography, but you can help yourself by getting buzz in press/social media and building a relationship with the Developer relations team
Advent of ad-funded and in-app purchases.Note: it is very hard to make money in arvertising, need 1m+ downloads and tech is hard to integrate.
Interesting when you break down free vs. paid by volumeTop free game make more than premium, less popular free games make significantly less
Truly Cross PlatformMobile, PC and Console mixMobile browser & mobile apps convergeCross platform coding strategy - http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelmama/5154277788/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Multi Player modeReplicate success of social game – Popcap / Bejeweled: play 2 mins solo, 10 mins socialSocial by design – building word of mouth into fabric of gameTurning players into advocateshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/alvaroparis/3303815321/sizes/l/in/photostream/http://www.flickr.com/photos/davedellacosta/83127087/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Location based – increased relevance,
GamificationMobile & Social convergence (Facebook’s “Project Spartan”; WoW mobile companion)Increased importance for marketing