Brand AnalysisBy

Christian Gregertsen

Images: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b2/Blizzard_Entertainment_Logo.svg/375px-Blizzard_Entertainment_Logo.svg.png

• Blizzard Entertainment – Subsidiary of Activision Blizzard

• Founded in 1991• Located in Irvine, California• 2,700 Employees

Company Profile

Data: http://www.blizzard.com/us/inblizz/profile.htmlImages: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b2/Blizzard_Entertainment_Logo.svg/375px-Blizzard_Entertainment_Logo.svg.png | http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/2626457869_eb4f9aab39.jpg

• Blizzard Entertainment is a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard.

• Activision Blizzard is publically traded on NASDAQ under stock sticker ATVI.

Ownership

Data: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/dynamic_charting.aspx?selected=ATVI&symbol=ATDTV&symbol=ATVI&timeframe=1y&charttype=line

Annual Revenue

• $1.2 Billion USD in 2007– Up 58% from 2006

• Driven by continued momentum in World of Warcraft as well as its release of the first World of Warcraft expansion “The Burning Crusade”.

• $760 Million USD in 2006

Images: http://adsvalue.com/images/Google_AdWords_Red_Arrow.jpg

Product/Brand Portfolio

Data: http://www.blizzard.com/us/ Images: http://www.demonsoflight.net/AreaGiochi/Download/Immagini/starcraft-logo.gif | http://lastshepard.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/index-world-of-warcraft-logo.jpg | http://www.lightreborn.com/FanSites/war2logo.gif

Target Market

• Target Market– Casual Gamers to Hardcore Gamers.

• Demographics– Quantcast.com [results for Blizzard.com]

• Biased towards Males [56% Male]• Biased towards Teens [28% 12-17/44% 18-34]• Mostly Caucasian [81% Caucasian]

– Quantcast.com [results for WorldOfWarcraft.com]• Biased towards Males [51% Male]• Biased towards Teens [29% 12-17/43% 18-34]• Mostly Caucasian [81% Caucasian]

• Psychographics– Interested in Multiplayer Gaming.– Interested in Technology.– Interested in Online Communities.

Data: http://www.quantcast.com/blizzard.com#demographics | http://www.quantcast.com/worldofwarcraft.com#demographics

Branding Components

• Logo -----------------------------------------------------------------------^• Color [blue] -> The color of the sky, often associated with depth, stability

and leadership.• Words Owned -> Blizzard, Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming.• Type -> Wordmark.• The logo is protectable. It is unique as well as Trademarked and

Registered. It is also actively used.• Branding Laws:

– Law of Advertising [Followed]: Showing ads on TV in order to maintain the brand.

– Law of Color [Followed]: Blue represents leadership. Blizzard is the leader in online gaming with over 10 million subscribers in World of Warcraft alone.

• Advertisement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKAU18LUPZs

Data: http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html | http://www.logodesignsource.com/types.html

Mission Statement

• Blizzard Entertainment does not have a mission statement.

• Corporate Philosophy: Focusing on creating well-designed, highly enjoyable entertainment experiences and maintaining an unparalleled reputation for quality.

Data: http://www.quantcast.com/blizzard.com#demographics | http://www.quantcast.com/worldofwarcraft.com#demographicsImages: http://www.blizzard.com/images/inblizz-header.jpg

Archetype

Data: http://www.brandhouse.com/Web/EN/Archetypes/The+12+archetypes/The+Creator Images: http://www.americajin.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ss631.jpg

The Creator

Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done. [Blizzard imagined and created online worlds]Goal: To realize a vision. [Blizzard realized the vision to become the number one provider of Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming with over 10 million subscribers to WoW alone]Strategy: Develop artistic control and skill. [Blizzard models virtual 3D worlds, characters and item models through their skilled art team]

Brand and Customer Stories

• Blizzard uses celebrities to advertise “customer” stories through the television media vehicle:– Steve Van Sandt (Silvio):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXeyYdGoLCU– Mr. T: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bsOKH3_DNo– Ozzy Osbourne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT8maUTzE48

• They are effective because celebrities influence the general public. If they are playing then the people who watch the commercials want to play as well.

• Blizzard users customer stories in order to promote sales of their games. A lot of people sign up for their games from word of mouth because they have friends playing the games.

– Blizzard helps promote this by giving “friend passes” with retail copies of their games, letting the purchasers friend try out the game for 10 days before purchasing.

• Blizzards lets users post their customer stories at the

[http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/index.html?sid=1 ]

• The community forums are an effective tool for the

customers to get customer service, report bugs, get technical support, discuss their games with other players, make suggestions to Blizzard, and talk about their achievements. The communities are very important. They give customer feedback to Blizzard so they know what changes they need to make in order to improve their product.

Brand Community and Interactivity

Images: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/images/wrath/en_US/header-forums.gif

SWOT Analysis

Images: http://www.blizzard.com/images/inblizz-header.jpg

Strengths

The Law of Advertising: They advertise on TV to maintain their brand.The Law of the Category: They own the category for MMO gaming. They are number one with over 10 million subscribers.The Law of Shape: The shape of their logo is rectangular and horizontal.The Law of Color: The color of the their logo blue represents leadership and stability.

Weaknesses

The Law of the Common Name: Blizzard is a common name. If you Google it weather related articles will also come up.

Opportunities

The Law of Globalism: Even though they have expanded to foreign markets with game clients in localized languages they can always expand to more foreign markets.

Threats

No apparent threats. The Blizzard brand has established itself as a category leader and all attempts to throw it off the throne have failed so far.

Sources

• Anonymous, (2008). Blizzard entertainment - Company profile. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Blizzard entertainment Web site: http://www.blizzard.com/us/inblizz/profile.html

• Anonymous, (2008, December 7). Nasdaq stock market charts - Free stock charts - stock interactive charts. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Nasdaq Web site: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/dynamic_charting.aspx?selected=ATVI&symbol=ATDTV&symbol=ATVI&timeframe=1y&charttype=line

• Anonymous, (2008). Blizzard entertainment. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Blizzard entertainment Web site: http://www.blizzard.com/us/

• Anonymous, (2008, December 7). blizzard.com – Quantcast audience profile. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Quantcast Web site: http://www.quantcast.com/blizzard.com#demographics

• Anonymous, (2008, December 7). worldofwarcraft.com – Quantcast audience profile. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Quantcast Web site: http://www.quantcast.com/worlfofwarcraft.com#demographics

• Anonymous, (2008). The creator | brandhouse a/s. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from Brandhouse.com Web site: http://www.brandhouse.com/Web/EN/Archetypes/The+12+archetypes/The+Creator