| Set On Stun |

I’ve been lucky enough to have a few conversations with some game industry watchers about Project Natal and the reactions to it range from, “it’s a gimmick” to “it will revolutionize gaming”.  However, under the surface lurks the visage of Microsoft’s un-stated strategy.

Project Natal could become the means of content creation on the Xbox 360.

It’s very clear that Microsoft is turning the Xbox 360 into a primary device for consumers. We can update our Twitter & Facebook profiles from the console, we can stream Netflix’s digital library at will, we can listen to our playlists on Last.fm and we can enter a virtual world to play classic arcade games.

The underlying theme is that the Xbox Live platform is a strong social network for gamers to consume media that we want.  However, what’s lacked in the platform has been something that’s inherent in all web and mobile based social networks, content sharing.

One of the core things that changed the web into the social web is the ability for browsers to run native applications through the browser and allow the user to participate, modify and share those applications as they interact with it.  The social participatory network that social media sites have mastered have given us all a platform to share the things we love, hate and do to a wide variety of groups.  Twitter is, for the most part, public.  Facebook is experimenting with different ways of balancing personal privacy with our desire to distribute information.

The second aspect of social media collaboration as it’s evolved has been the advent of real-time updates.  Search giant Google has integrated Twitter streams into its search results page:

Click to embigulate

With the social web combined with the real-time web, there has to be a way to consume media in written, audio or video form, there needs to be a way to share that media with another person in your network and there needs to be a way to modify that media in some form.  Traditionally, the modification of media is comments, ratings or tagging. Lastly, there needs to be a way to create new media, let it reside on a social platform where your network can consume, share and modify it.

Natal fills that gap for Xbox Live. It is a way to modify existing media, it will be able to create new media.

Once that media is created, Microsoft’s Xbox Live has already been looking for ways to spread that media to your network, they’ve been collecting data on how Xbox Live users are actually using Last.fm, Facebook and Twitter and presumably, adding a method that’s more intuitive to share your created content via the Natal update.

Another thing to consider is that Apple has dominated the Zune in usability, user penetration and more importantly, the application distribution and development potential.

With Natal, Microsoft has a unique way for developers to create motion specific applications that can be downloaded from the store, played with and the result of that media consumption and creation will need to be shared with your networks.  If I were to create a really cool picture using “Natal Paint”, I should be able to send that picture to my email, to Twitter, to Facebook.  I should be able to make that creation my background image, the ways for Natal to inspire unique user generated creations is absolutely limitless.

That distribution capability is now being tested.  While some, including my partner Shawn has called Microsoft “drunk” or “stupid” when new features come out that only go half way, I think that this is just the foundation for Xbox Live, in combination with Natal, to explode in the ability to create content and then distribute it.

If I were to be able to link my YouTube account to Xbox Live, I could record my motions in video, apply some paint techniques to add some style, upload it to YouTube and Facebook, promote it with Twitter, then Microsoft would have been successful in creating a fully functional social network out of the browser, away from the computer and in front of all the media we belong to.

The integration of Xbox Live into the Zune is just one more way to spread that content. If I’m right, I think that all of the seemingly random and strange things Microsoft has been doing with Xbox Live lately has been a carefully coordinated test-bed to truly launch Natal as a content creation mechanism supported by a network that will share it with the browser based web.

Apparently, Set on Stun and every other blog on the planet has been writing (and writhing) furiously about the Apple iPad announcement.  In the past few days, my partner Shawn and I have produced a few of those articles as well.

While I’m hesitant to add yet another article in the current cacophony of critical and complimentary yet credible connoisseurs of computing culture, I feel that I have yet to put my finger on why I simultaneously love and hate the Apple iPad.  I hate it because of what it is, yet I love it for what it could potentially be.

Why I Love the Apple iPad:

As my friend, mentor and former boss Thom Kozik noted in a past article, about my skepticism towards the Apple iPad, the revolution of the iPhone was not in the technology, the same could be said (and is being said) about the iPad.  He makes the point that

There’s an old adage in product design & marketing that the mass market will never recognize they need and thus will not demand, truly innovative products. I would challenge anyone to argue that they would have specified in some 2006 survey or focus group that what they *really* wanted was the kind of capabilities/functionality an iPhone user takes for granted (nay, is *addicted to*) on a daily basis. Design by committee doesn’t work here.

He goes on to describe the nearly imperceptible learning curve and its ability to “just work”.  In a sense, he described the brilliance of the Apple strategy.  They make products that they control to give people technology that fits the way they consume media (games, blogs, the internet, music, movies and more).  With the nit-picking of the iPad due to its lack of GPS, media outlets, Adobe Flash capabilities and many more, I realized that in my mind, I am looking at this device with the perception of a media creator.  I create things all day long, analyses, spreadsheets, articles and more.  I sit at my PC and I think, I work and I create.  With those lenses, I have judged the iPad and found it wanting.

However, after a brief IM with Thom and reading his response, I took a look at how I use my badly damaged iPhone and realized that the things I create with my iPhone is minimal.  The emails, texts, tweets and updates are minimal.  However, the media that I consume compared to what I create is staggering.

I sent 12 emails via my phone yesterday, read 12 blog posts, viewed 20 pictures, played 6 games, listened to music for 7 hours and watched over 10 videos.  The iPad would allow me to do that, and more (multitasking aside).

The iPad as a Media Consumption Product is Amazing.

As a content consumption device, it has flaws, but what I think Apple has figured out is not just what people consume on a mobile device, but how they consume media on that device.  The iPad version 1 will always be a test, it will find out what works and what doesn’t.  Patches will be added to update and upgrade the firmware, apps will be created to supplement and work around some of the idiosyncrasies.  Don’t even start talking to me about hating the iPad because of the “walled garden”  each gaming console is itself a walled garden.  I agree in principle, but the reality is that every popular manufacturer of content consumption (games, ebooks, music and movies) have some level of that baked into their process.

Why I Hate the Apple iPad

Simply put, for me, it’s superfluous.  I have consoles, both mobile and static… I have an iPhone, I have a laptop and the iPad is just one more piece of beautiful technology that doesn’t replace any of these items, doesn’t really do anything that these things do significantly better and has some drawbacks that I just don’t have to live with in the context of my current digitally mobile life.  I hate it because I’m attracted to it.  I want it… I want to play games, experience what I’m sure will be a new way to perceive and experience games.

That’s the crux.  All I see now is potential, the iPad is a platform that has a beautiful, yet flawed architecture that holds an incredible potential.  I can see that potential and I can see how Apple has designed this product to be iterative, to blend in with digitally mobile lifestyle and I can see how good it can be.

There’s very little question at this point about the ubiquity of mobile integration with digital life.  On a broad scale of the mobile market, the phrase Apple’s adopted for their App Store is “There’s an App for that”.  On September 28, 2009, Apple claimed that 85,000 apps have been downloaded  from Apple’s iTunes over 2 billion times.  This alone is not new information.

That’s the App marketplace for just the iPhone, not counting RIM Blackberry, Android or any other smartphone.  Analysts predict that the total smartphone penetration will reach 28-30% of the market, with an estimated number of users reaching 1.6 billion smartphones.

Wireless Expertise forecasts that the global mobile app market – including games – will be worth $4.66 billion in 2009, rising to $16.60 billion, in 2013.

With this said, the emergence and subsequent potential domination of the mobile market will become highly competitive, potentially lucrative and absolutely exciting.  Since this is a blog about video game marketing, I want to take a step back and specifically focus on the mobile gaming market.  Currently, the top mobile gaming platforms are:

• iPhone/ iPod Touch
• N-Gage
• Android Phones
• Sony PSP/ PSP Go
• Nintendo DS/ DSi
• Game Boy

Some of these are devices, like the Sony PSP or the iPhone, some of these are application platforms that are loaded onto phones like the N-Gage.  Nevertheless, while the iPhone has done much to launch the mobile game revolution, its success is based on older platforms like the PSP and Nintendo’s Game Boy and DS devices.

Enough with the history, on with the measurement:

There are several critical, interdependent aspects to mobile game marketing.  In marketing anything, especially to a group as tech-savvy, vocal and opinionated as gamers, the product has to come first.  The game design document must be clear and focused.  Is the point of the game to have fun (Witch’s Workshop), be social (iMob/ iVampire), inform (Horoscopes) or recreate an interactive experience around a known property (Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles).  Once the direction and characteristics of the game have been agreed upon, the features need to support the overall goal of the mobile game.  From that point, the marketing can really begin.

The first thing to consider is the mobile gaming marketspace.  When you combine the ubiquity of mobile platforms, the affordability of the games, the ease of entry and the growth potential and profitability, you’ll end up with a cluttered marketplace.  This is true with mobile games and to some extent, 3rd party Wii games.  When marketing a mobile video game, the first thing to do is cut through the clutter.

• The Game

The game itself has to stand out, there are hundreds of Peggle clones out there.  When playing iMob, iVampire or any other mobile MMO, there’s a lot of replication.  In terms of iMob and iVampire, it’s the same damn game.  There’s some imagery and text differentiation, but the core structure is identical.  Games like iMob rely on peoples’ impatience in leveling up to entice a microtransaction to purchase items, energy and other things.  If the game you’re making is a clone, marketing that game will boil down to, “Did you like iMob?  Then try iVampires, it’s like iMob, but with Vampires!”.  Not a particularly strong value proposition to the user.  It’s ok if a game is like another game, but cloning other popular games diminishes the marketing efforts to cut through the clutter and almost guarantees a short game life.

• The Price

The price of the game is critical.  Naturally the goal is to make a profit on the game itself or drive interest and revenue to another property.  If it takes $100 to make and market a mobile game, then at the price of $0.99, after Apple’s 30% cut on the sale, you’ll have to sell just over 150 apps at that price to start making a profit.  When you consider that the mean price of apps on the Apple store is $2.65 and that the average price for apps are on a steady decline from $3.15 to $2.55 determining the price point can be tricky.

the market for anything more expensive than that will be a tough sell for most application users.  While these numbers may indicate a reason to despair, according to Flurry mobile analytics,  setting the price point at the right spot (with a free trial version) can actually increase revenue once you lessen the price point barrier.

When marketing a mobile video game, it’s important to balance the numbers of installations with the price in order to maximize installations and profits.  Sometimes, just giving the application away can be a way to capitalize on the user’s activity in order to cross-sell, create ad supported units or create partnerships with other businesses to make up the development and marketing costs.

• The Key Performance Indicators

Simply put, KPIs for mobile applications are slightly different than for traditional web analytics.  The strong indicators for the success of an application is the number of installations over time, the rate of application usage, the rate of application deletion and if the game has any social network integration, the number and rate of social network contributions.  I need to look at how often people are using the app, are they using it daily, weekly, monthly or do they just download and forget about it?  If I find that it takes about a month before most people delete the application, I’d consider pushing small updates to the application once every 3 weeks.  If the abandonment is generally after a week, then there may be a core flaw with the application itself.  At its core, the KPIs for mobile applications are about loyalty.  Once again, Flurry has an excellent chart to show users’ loyalty to different types of applications.

We see here that mobile video games have a higher than average rate of use, but they fail to deliver on the retention rate.  Finding creative solutions to enhance the retention on the mobile application can transform further application marketing, monetization and renewable revenue from the app.

• The Virality

How does your game spread?  Is it because it’s a featured app?  Is it because it connects to social networks like Twitter or Facebook?  Does it have the ability to email or text your contacts?  If it’s a social game, how can your game leverage your existing network to spread the game?  This is a tricky question that has a crappy answer, it depends on the game.  This is a question that needs to be answered during the design and documentation phase of the game development.  Games like Doom really don’t have a mechanism for social spread, however, Spore might benefit from posting your critter on your Facebook profile.  Allowing your impressive high score to populate a Twitter post could entice other people to try to beat that.  When its appropriate for the game, it’s important to find relevant and natural ways for that game to replicate itself and become its own marketing machine.

• The Social Networks/ Community Management

When putting out a mobile video game, whether its on the PSP or the iPhone, leveraging the community is an essential function.  First and foremost, it provides a place for people to connect and ask about tech support, resolve issues and provides a place for people to share their scores, tips, cheats and experiences with other people.  One of the better successes for this type of mobile game marketing is the community that surrounds the game Pocket God.  It’s a game that combines cool and unique gameplay with a fun, personable and responsive community around it.  If the platform allows it, such as the iPhone, the game can integrate with any of the networks you’ve joined.  A few months ago, I was working on a mobile game project in the works and had a fantastic chat with the smart and attractive guys at Spark Plug Games about how to integrate and leverage social networks into a game, at what points should those social triggers happen and using the mobile game to feed the web game, and how to use the web game to feed the mobile game.  Talking to them was one of those experiences for me that revealed to me how absolutely big the potential for social gaming across platforms, social network integration (such as the gaming network GamerDNA) can be for not only marketing the game, but community creation and other aspects that gamers find standard in console or PC games.

• The Cross Marketing

Cross marketing should always provide value for the click.  In fact, it’s critical to think beyond the click.  There are several ways to cross market in a mobile video game, that generally apply to demo or free applications.

1. In the game iMob and iVampire (I keep using them as an example, don’t i?), they have a bar that’s below the character information screen and above the game information section that promotes their other games.  It has creatives like “Download Fighter Jets and get 10 points and a free spiked sword”.  When a game like this relies on the microtransactions of their points, the appeal for a few free points is pretty high, you already know that you’ll be able to play the game and of course, when you’re all out of energy points in one game, you can play another game to get your fix.
2. If I’m playing a free game that’s level based, the loading screens can become dynamic landing pages for other apps, sites, events or pretty much anything that fits with the demographic that plays the game.  This is essentially the ad-supported method.  I’m playing a free platformer game on the iPhone, I go from level 1 to level 2, and since the game is about zombies, my load screen could be a geo-tagged ad to go see the new movie Zombieland.  As a marketer, I know that my load times could be anywhere between 10 and 20 seconds, that’s a good way to engage a captive and interested audience with a locally relevant, interesting way to promote other things through the application itself.  My personal feeling is that if you’re selling an application or charging for a service, it’s probably not the best thing to advertise to them too.  (It’s like how I would like to see a free ad-supported Xbox Live or a paid ad-free Xbox Live… that would just make sense).
3. Capitalize on a game that already has a planned obsolescence.  This would make sense for a more media oriented campaign.  When the new Star Trek movie came out, I noticed that there was an app for it, and they wanted me to pay for it.  While I understand that it had “extra” material, extra content and it was a neat comic prequel mini-series, it just seemed to me that it was, at its core, an ad that I had to pay to see.  Essentially, I couldn’t find a single person who had it, we all thought it was B.S. to pay for what was essentially an advertisement.  If this app would have been free, the options for SMS, email, regular and phased updates, media delivery could have kept people eager for more information and a level of cool interactivity could have kept the Star Trek brand, movie and products in front of more eyeballs.  Yet, they chose to sell the fancy ad.

So, there you have it.  For me, it’s a small step in a very big world of mobile gaming.  I know that I’ve only touched the surface of mobile game marketing.  As always, in marketing, the devil is in the details.

I’ve waited for a while to actually bring this article to life.  It’s a massive topic and it’s full of complexity and dynamic technologies with companies working feverishly to push the limits of the platform in order to create more compelling mobile experiences.  The next aspects I want to explore about mobile game marketing is how search and media marketing online and through offline partnerships can affect the sale and download of mobile apps.

One of the most common ways for marketers, and not just video game marketers, to promote their services is to connect with relevant and influential bloggers.  As a marketer, I’ve developed relationships with bloggers, offered to let them try out a product that I think their audience would enjoy, then wait for feedback from them, their audience and the community at large.  More often than not, I try to remove myself from the inherently biased system to make sure that my “marketing input” remains separate from the blogger.  In other words, I’m generally looking for honest input from that blogger.

As a blogger myself, I’ve been contacted by marketers to try a new product or service out and then review it.  There are even times where they’ve asked to review my blog post as a condition of accepting the product.

The FTC has just changed its policies on endorsements to include blogging and social media.  With popular bloggers and celebrities getting some sort of compensation for promotion, it’s clear that there will be some abuse of the public trust.  So, with the best of intentions of transparency and clarity, these new rules create a nearly unenforceable set of conditions for bloggers who review products, then put a fine of $11,000 upon conviction of the violation of those rules.

For me personally, I know that transparency is the key to maintain any kind of credibility.  If and when I receive things that could be considered promotional, I add either a disclaimer (as when I’ve posted things about my work with Tecmo) or I clearly state that I’ve not received any kind of compensation for my work.  I know that when a “marketer” promotes something, there’s a rightful skepticism for that endorsement.

At the heart of this is the concept of “material connections”.  This implies that something is given to the blogger in exchange for promotion.  It could be money or it could be barter.  There needs to be clear rules for violation.  If I attend E3, pick up some swag, then recount my experience and express my excitement for that particular game, does that swag become a “material connection”?  In the document, there doesn’t appear to be a clear definition of “endorsement” either.  Does my personal excitement translate to endorsement?  Does the inclusion of a critique make it more neutral?  Do I need to reveal the monetary value of the swag?

From the FTC document:

[The new rules] address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

Overall, I think it’s a good way to maintain and attempt to reach a level of transparency, and I think it’s a good step.  However, I think there are a few exploitable holes in the rules and some of the key concepts remain unclear.

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There was a particularly interesting and succinct article about video game marketing from Industry Gamers the other day.  The Ayzenberg Group, with some well known clients like Turbine, Konami, Lucas Arts, Ubisoft and Microsoft has built itself on marketing to the most advertising adverse audiences.  They’ve done some fantastic work with some pretty highly known video games, they know their audience and I’ve got a considerable amount of respect for them.

Steve Fowler, the current VP of Strategy and Client Services at the Ayzenberg Group presented a very cool, high level piece about the 5 Keys to Successful Video Game Marketing.  For the most part, it’s a good distillation of what’s known and what’s already being done.  However, what sets this apart from most of the video game marketing pieces I’ve read is that it goes beyond the channel and gives some excellent, short, snippets of wisdom and reasoning behind just the channel.

1: Identifying Emerging Trends

This is the core of video game marketing.  It’s well known that gamers, geeks and the tech-native crowds are early adopters, early abandoners and can intuitively find the value and usefulness of pretty much anything they put their minds to.  For example, when Twitter first came out, it was primarily a haven of tech-heads talking amongst themselves.  An essential and primary function of marketing to gamers is to understand where they are, where they migrate and to be absolutely embedded in that community.

2: Utilizing Social Media

When Myspace, Facebook started to boom, most advertisers looked at uniques, pageviews and the number of active users.  The immediate reaction was that it was a place to drop new banners to reach them.  However, as time passed, it was obvious that the click throughs were down, conversions were down and there was a tremendous amount of fraud.  One campaign that I ran in the early days of social media marketing, I found that over 20% of my conversions and sign-ups were inactive users, UGC farms and for the most part, absolutely useless.  We paid quite a bit of money to learn that mistake, yet what grew out of that failure were the core aspects of marketing through social media that Steve Fowler reiterates.

• Be authentic: It’s ok to be a marketer, just don’t try to hide who you are.
• Be a part of the conversation: Gamers will know if you’re one of them, if you’re an authentic gamer, then that will show through.  Your excitement and enthusiasm will translate to the conversations with other gamers.
• Add value: Don’t just sell shit.  Don’t just try to make people buy shit.  That will piss off more people than it’s worth.  Give gamers the things they want, they want media to share and consume, they want information, they want transparency and they want to be a part of the experience.  This is the value that gamers crave.
• I would add the following: Crave criticism and feedback.  If something sucks, you will be told, other people will be told, entire networks will be told.  Your reaction to that criticism will be a defining factor in how you’re perceived.  If you take that feedback and change it to suck less, then you’re adding value and being a true part of the gaming community.  If you try to spin what sucks into something else, you’re done.
• Lastly: Be Active: Don’t just post a few statements, drop a few links and expect hordes to come following you.  Engage people, don’t just be a marketer, be a person, be a geek, engage other users & not just other industry people.  If one of your followers sends you a message, do your best to respond to them, re-tweet them or engage them in a real conversation.

3: Think Beyond the Click

I particularly like this principle.  When dealing with an agency, sometimes they can be an oppositional force to your goals.  Most agencies rely on automation, replication and procedures to run campaigns.  Make sure you have transparency in the data, make sure you work closely with them before the campaign is launched so that you have clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).  Secondly, work with the agency or professional.  Understand that the campaign may not go as well as planned.  The time to find out about that is before the campaign is over and before the money’s spent.  Allow the agency to re-work and optimize the campaign.  Hold the agency accountable, but understand that it’s a partnership where both parties are working for the same goals.

4: Activate Your TV Spots

Commercials are difficult to get hard data from, most of the information can be correlative and there are often (especially if you are running online campaigns) other variables that can affect spikes or dips in the KPIs.  When running a campaign, give the viewer an action.  Go to a microsite, find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter.  These steps turn an otherwise passive activity into something that can be directly measured.  If you know that your TV spots are running at certain times, track the time of the following notifications to show if there are significant spikes in people engaging in your call to action.

5: Trailers are Important

From the teaser trailer to the preview to the ad to the gameplay trailer.   It’s critical to produce good trailers on a regular basis.  I look to the success of the marketing campaign of The Saboteur, their trailers are well produced and themed.  Know that your audience is actively searching for and spreading these trailers, the better they are, the more excitement and engagement you’ll create.

6: Adding Value to the Marketing Message.

This is probably one of the most important and most elusive aspects to video game marketing.  The value can come in packages (as the NVG’s for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) or they can come in bundling (as The Orange Box).  The can come in exclusive in-game items from GameStop (something that I don’t particularly like as a gamer… but it can be effective).  Bridge the campaigns from the digital to the real-space.  Participate at events, create your own events and find ways to cross over the game to other media.  This last one gives an incredible amount of freedom and creativity to explore.

I’ve expanded upon Steve Fowler’s excellent summary of video game marketing principles.  I enjoyed its brevity and clarity and absolute spot-on message.  However, I would add just two things.

1: It’s no longer true that just being talked about is successful marketing.

With EA’s “Sin to Win” jackassery at ComicCon, and the pathetic apology following, it’s clear that context matters.  Dante’s Inferno looks like a fantastic game that’s had a particularly stupid marketing campaign.  If the goal is to sell the video game, then just getting people talking about it will no longer accomplish that.  Understand that gamers are voracious content consumers online.  Chances are, we know about the game.  Chances are, we’ve consumed some media about it.  So there’s very little value in just getting the name out there for its own sake.  What matters now is the context of that message.

The movie Bruno had a massive marketing push, yet within a single day of release, the twitterverse immediately panned the movie and it saw that no matter how much marketing, no matter how many people were “talking about it”, the movie failed expectations because the context of the conversation mattered to people.

2: Embrace the Mobile Platform

With smart phones becoming ubiquitous, it’s absolutely critical to have a mobile component to any video game marketing campaign.  The campaign could be simply SMS, it could be a mobile site, it could be an app.  Understand that most of the tech-native audience now owns and uses a smart phone for games, utility, entertainment and communication.  This new trend is not changing anytime soon.  Create compelling experiences that can engage users in an entertaining and useful way.  The experiences you give them on the mobile platform can become bridges between the marketing, the game and the overall experience.  A simple free application can become a marketing tool as well.  If I download a free application, and between levels, the loading screens can be modified to promote a microsite, a Twitter account, a new game or anything else you want.