How has capitalising on the attention economy influenced Kings digital success

1. How has capitalising on the
attention economy influenced
Kings digital success?
Analyzed by
Alastair Ward - Alexander Leighton - Benn Rayner
Molly Trumble - Roger Steiner and Sarah Bates

2. Todays Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Technology trends and adaptability to market
3. User engagement
4. Financial evolution of King
5. Findings
6. Q&A

3. 12 April 2012:
King makes a pivotal decision that affects the future of the
company
King Launches Candy Crush Saga on
But lets take it back……
Images courtesy of https://livingtheglutenfreelife.wordpress.com/tag/social-media/ and
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/addicting-iphone-games-2013-8#candy-crush-saga-is-an-insanely-popular-puzzle-game-1
1. Introduction

4. • With more than 190 titled games spanning across 200
countries, King is responsible for Hit micro-games such as
Candy Crush Saga, Bubble Witch Saga and Pet Rescue
Saga
• According to King, this model of synchronized cross-platform
and user-friendly game play encapsulates the idea of bite
size entertainment.
• Success in the digital world is not reflected by a financial
economy, but instead by the level of attention generated
through accessibility or networks
• The reflection on King’s success within these economies
involves examination of their user engagement strategies,
adaptability to market position and technology trends, and
reflective financial analysis within the attention economy.

5. 2. Technology Trends and Adaptability to Market
Accenture Consumer
Electronics Products
and Services Usage
Report 2013
Accenture Digital
Consumer-Tech Survey
2014
Accenture Consumer
Electronics Products and
Services Usage Report
2011
(Accenture, 2013) (Accenture, 2014)(Accenture, 2011)

6. 2011 Power Rankings
Accenture,. (2011). The 2011 Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services Usage Report.

7. Intentions to purchase 2011
Accenture,. (2011). The 2011 Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services Usage Report.

8. Consumer reasons for connecting on social network
Accenture,. (2011). The 2011 Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services Usage Report.

9. Planning to purchase in 2013
Accenture,. (2011). The 2011 Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services Usage Report.

10. Who owns what?
Accenture,. (2013). The 2013 Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services Usage Report.

11. "People need innovation in small iterations.
One step at a time is how you have to innovate
for broad demographics."
Tommy Palm, Director of Marketing, King
Sinclair, B. (2013). Candy Crush's recipe for success. Gamesindustry.Biz. Retrieved from http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-11-12-candy-crushs-recipe-for-success
Weston, R. (2014). FreshMinds - 3 digital trends will drive the gaming industry in 2014. Freshminds.net. Retrieved 9 October 2014, from
http://www.freshminds.net/2014/02/three-digital-and-mobile-trends-that-will-drive-growth-in-gaming/

12. Global Market
Games are services
Free Games
More Screens

13. 3. User Engagement
"People who play Candy Crush Saga on both the web and on the
mobile app show nearly twice the level of engagement compared to
users who play on just one platform.”
Riccardo Zacconi, CEO, King

14. Cross platform game synchronization
Likeability plays a large role in user engagement
http://company.king.com/about-us/our-history/

15. Diversification
Intersection
Extension
How does King cross platforms?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/02/12/how-to-master-mobile-seo-in-2014/
http://www.praxismi.com/content/computer-system-validation-courses
http://holykaw.alltop.com/california-homeless-and-poor-get-better-access-to-cellphones-and-texts
https://www.facebook.com/

16. • 70% of users finished the game without payment to
further gameplay
• Core demographic is women, aged 25-55
• With the launch of Candy Crush on Facebook, it bought
7 million active daily users, increasing to 93 million
active daily users today
600%
Massive trajectory of user engagement means Kings ability to
maximize the attention economy is substantial, users don’t pay for
the game, but money flows to attention.
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/showcase/candycrushsaga
http://candy-crush-saga.wikia.com/wiki/King
User Fast Facts

17. Brilliant Content
Engaging Stories
Transference of Attention
Capitalization of Attention Economy
Steps
to engaging users
http://www.newmediastudies.com/economic.htm

18. Prior April 2012
• Web Based Micro-Gaming
• Revenue was earned by applying
The Advertising and Community
Business Models
4. The Financial Evolution of King
The Advertising Business Model. Courtesy of http://casettasthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/low-end-disruptive-innovation-in-web-2-0-2/

19. Kings market share of the Attention Economy
“Investors value Web
companies based on the
expectation of how powerful
they think those companies
will be in the future.”
“Similarly, any website that is well-known
and visited by millions of people has a high
value simply because that’s a lot of eyeballs
to sell to advertisers.”
David Gauntlett, 2004
Courtesy of http://www.businessinsider.com.au/chart-of-the-day-candy-crush-vs-zynga-2014-3

20. Post April 2012
• Reaches a peak in 2013 with 128 million daily active
users
• 324 million monthly unique users
• 1,200 million daily game plays
• 500 million downloads on mobile devices
• 41 billion gameplays in December 2013
The power gain from its success in the attention economy allows King
to develop its games across mobile devices which in turn gains a
wider more engaged public
King shifts the focus of its business model to reflect
a “Freemium”approach…
(United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2013)

21. Economic Evolution
“Freemium” is a combination of Free and Premium and describes a
business model offering a free core product with the option for the
consumer to purchase premium goods/services should they so wish.

22. Advertisements are seen as a negative externality,
detrimental to their ‘Freemium Business Model’ .
• Optioning consumers the ability to purchase extra
lives
• Optioning consumers the ability to purchase virtual
‘gems’ as a form of in game currency
• Optioning the consumer the ability to skip the
mandatory 30 minute game lockout
King Monetises Candy Crush Saga via In-App Purchases such as:

23. King Financial Analysis
• King’s focus has shifted from growth to minimizing churn and
increasing per-user bookings
• Their IPO timing could be for a number of reasons; early VC’s
wanting to recoup their investments, paying down debt or
acquisition of capital for future growth opportunities
• This can be seen in King’s recent buyout of Singapore based
games developer Nonstop Games.

24. Q&A