Marketing in the Age of Microtransactions

Julien Wera - ICO Partners

Who is speaking ?

• Julien Wera

• You ?

Free-to-Play Model

• Over 10 years old in Asia, significant for about 5 in the West

• More profitable than traditional business but…

• … also more difficult to get right

Free-to-Play vs. Retail Model

Online F2PDirect to Consumer

« Indie »-friendlyGame as a Service

Long-term acquisitionGame evolution (10+ years lifetime)

« Niche is Rich »Etc.

RetailIntermediaries

Dominated by publishersGame as a Product

Launch effectSequels/FranchisesBlockbuster-driven

Etc.

Free-to-Play Model

• Two main challenges:– User Acquisition

• Most online free-to-play titles can’t benefit from the added visibility given by retail channels

• Requires skills that are difficult to find for now

– User Monetization• Not the focus of this talk, but not to be forgotten

Free-to-Play Marketing : The Plan

• Marketing/Advertising– Data-Driven– Built for the long term– Flexible

• PR• Community Management• And also : Talent management, Retail, etc.

Marketing/Advertising

Marketing in the age of microtransactions must be :

•Data-Driven

Data-Driven Marketing

• Digital distribution allows for data collection and gives more control over the user acquisition process

• Metrics allow risk reduction, but do not remove it, nor replace creativity

USE METRICS RESPONSIBLY

Uncreative Data-Driven Marketing

Without creativity : it works, it’s relatively safe, but it won’t differenciate you from the competition.

Creative Data-Driven Marketing

Data-Driven + Creativity : Data gives you the foundation, of your marketing, creativity brings this little extra that will make you special.

Data-Driven Marketing

• Favour direct marketing channels that provide detailed metrics (digital)

• Be careful with « Premium » partners

• Use the data provided to you

Ex : Marketing Budget PC F2P

Marketing/Advertising

Marketing for a free-to-play game must be :

•Data-Driven

•Built for the long run

Marketing in Traditional Model

Month -2

Month -1

Launch Month

Month +1

Month +2

Month +3

Month +4

Month +5

Traditional

Free-to-Play vs. Traditional Model

Month -2

Month -1

Launch Month

Month +1

Month +2

Month +3

Month +4

Month +5

Traditional

Free-to-Play

Free-to-Play vs. Traditional Model

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Traditional

Free-to-Play

Long-term Marketing

• No game is « mature » at launch

• No marketing campaign is optimized at launch

THERE IS NO « QUICK WIN »(But there is a « Quick Lose »)

Marketing/Advertising

Marketing for a free-to-play game must be :

•Data-Driven•Built for the long run•Flexible

Evolve… or else

Flexible Marketing

• Experiment– Data can only tell you what has already happened, experiments will

allow you to discover new opportunities

• Learn from your failures

• Inertia is your worst enemy

(Not a valid business strategy)

PR for Free-to-Play Games

• Good for long-term brand and community building

• Direct, aimed at relationship-building

• Requires regular newsworthy content

Ex : League of Legends

Ex : Battlefield Heroes

Community Management

• Even more important than in traditional business

• Can initiate and/or support PR/Marketing rather than drive it

• Requires ongoing coordination with marketing/advertising and PR

• Can reuse most advice and best practice from other business models

Talent is Key

• Unrelevant old habits (ie: Senior staff coming from retail world) can be counter-productive, expensive, and dangerous

• Long-term strategies are best led in-house

• Your company’s destiny is in the hands of your staff : Take care of them.

And also…

• Don’t translate : localize

• Small improvements can lead to large revenues in the long run

• Retail can still be of use for visibility, but will only represent a tiny portion of your userbase

Ex : F2P Titles at Retail

Conclusion

• Players invest time and money in your game, you need to invest time and money to attract them

• Work is never done : Always experiment, iterate, improve

• Evolution doesn’t stop or wait

Thank you!

julien@icopartners.com

www.linkedin.com/in/juwera

www.icopartners.com/blog/

www.facebook.com/icopartners

@icojul