MARKETING PLANRyan Worcester

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

• To increase awareness for our game, “Snake Escape”.

• To gain good reputation for our development team Trinity Game Studios.

• To help create more revenue from the game to help create more games in the future.

• To create a decent fan base and audience for our game.

THE 4 P’S OF MARKETINGProduct, Price, Place and Promotion

WHAT IS MY PRODUCT?• My Product is the video game

“Snake Escape”, a game my group and I made using the program Gamesalad.

• The game is to be available on iPhone and can also be played via a web browser.

• The game falls under the horror/puzzle game genre category.

ABOUT SNAKE ESCAPE

• It is a top-down, puzzle/horror game set in a snake enclosure.

• Jimmy, the playable character, is a little boy who has gotten himself trapped within the enclosure along with many deadly snakes.

• Left with only a lantern to light his way, he must find the key to unlock the door that will take him to freedom.

• The game is split into 10 levels/rooms, each room progressing in difficulty and complexity.

GAMEPLAY VIDEO

PRICE?Will the game be free or will

it cost to download?

SHOULD SNAKE ESCAPE BE FREE-TO-PLAY?

I had the decision as to whether I should make our game free-to-play but would have the inclusion of banner ads on the top/bottom of the screen (basic way of making revenue for free-to-play games), or if it should be a paid game, competitively priced. There are both advantages and disadvantages to each option, and so I thought it would be best to ask my target audience what they would prefer.

TARGET AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

“I would pay a small price if it meant that there would be no annoying adverts you tend to get with mobile games as accidentally touching them and getting redirected can be frustrating” - Beth F

“Mobile games don’t exactly cost much, and so i’d rather pay a small price straight up than bother with banner ads distracting me from the game” - Mel R

“It might be difficult to sell your game at a price if no one has heard of it, so i’d say make it free-to-play” - Josh M

“I have no problem paying a small price if the game is enjoyable to play” - Jacob F

“ Indie developers sometimes make free games to get more people to play their games, but as long as the game is fun, I have no issue with buying it” - James B

WHAT IS A COMPETITIVE PRICE?

Looking at Puzzle games from the App Store, prices range from £0.69 up to £3.00. Seeing as Snake Escape is not an AAA title that plenty of people have heard of, I would price my game to compete, meaning £0.69 is probably the ideal price to sell my game at.

PLACE?The App Store

AGE RATING!

Drugs (4+): No drugs are seen, used or encouraged in Snake Escape. !Copycat Behaviour (4+): No anti-social behaviour or any negative behaviour which would be encouraged or copied in Snake Escape. !Language (4+): There is no abusive or offensive language present in Snake Escape. !Nudity (4+): No nudity is present within Snake Escape. !Sex (4+): No sexual nature is present within Snake Escape. !Threat (12+): Music and sound effects are scary and can cause anxiousness, limited field of view and dark, eerie maze can be frightening and scary for the player. !Violence (9+): The character (Jimmy) flashes as though he is hurt when in contact with a snake or a plant. Loss of player’s life (present on the life bar) may be deemed violent. !

Snake Escape’s Overall Rating: 9+

PROMOTIONWhat will be my promotional products?

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTSThe promotional products that I have decided to design and use in my marketing plan:

• App Icon (In-direct Advertising)

• Poster (Direct Advertising)

• T-shirt (Promotion)

• Sticker Collection (Direct Advertising)

• Twitter Page (In-Direct Advertising)

These product’s design process and final designs will be shown in detail later on in the slideshow

MARKET RESEARCH

TOP COMPETITORS

TYPES OF GAMERSThe majority of gamers playing Snake Escape will be explorers, as the main concept of the game is to

explore the area in search of the key and the exit, and so gamers who like to explore will mostly enjoy the game. The next biggest segment is Achievers. With challenges, time limits and awards

implemented in the game, achievers would enjoy playing the game. A small percentage of killers may also play the game as an implemented leader board of fastest time completing levels may entice

killers to play the game. There are virtually no social aspects to the game and so socialisers may not feel the need to play the game.

MARKET SEGMENTATIONWhere does Snake Escape fall on the chart?

BETA TESTINGI beta tested the game to a group of 15 people aged 10-24, 15 people aged 25-30 and 15 people aged 30-40. This

was to be able to conclusively narrow down the aged group of my target market. !!

Q: Do you think this game fits the age group you fall into? !!!!!!

Q: Would you buy this game?

Age Group Yes No

10-24 14 Votes 1 Votes

25-30 4 Votes 11 Votes

30-40 2 Votes 13 Votes

Age Group Yes No

10-24 12 Votes 3 Votes

25-30 4 Votes 11 Votes

30-40 2 Votes 13 Votes

WHAT APP MARKETPLACE IS BEST?

There are 3 main mobile app markets, the App Store (iOS), the Play Store (Android) and Windows Store (Windows). Our aim is to get as many people playing our game, whilst also trying to make enough revenue to support our marketing campaign. From statistics found on the Forbes article below, Apple’s App Store does not have as many users as android, but it generates more revenue per app with much more revenue paid to developers. This confirms our choice to create the game for iOS devices and to sell it on the App Store.

source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tristanlouis/2013/08/10/how-much-do-average-apps-make/

My market research suggested that more people download and play more free games than paid, which isn’t usual, however from the feedback I received from my target audience, more people would rather pay a small amount than to have banner ads in-game.

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTSThe ideas, processes and final designs of my marketing assets

APP ICON

5 CHARACTERISTICSTHAT HELP MAKE AN APP ICON SUCCESSFUL

1. Use complementary or suitable colours. !!2. Include assets from the game. !!3. Add a 3D effect to the icon. !!4. Make the game genre known from the icon. !!5. Keep the icon clean and understandable even at a small size. !

TARGET AUDIENCE’S IPHONE

IPHONE MOCKUPA typical iPhone homepage of my target audience

APP ICON ANALYSISHere are examples of app icons belonging to games that have been successful on

the app store.

APP ICONSMy Initial Rough Ideas

ROUGH ICONS FEEDBACK

“I like the snake’s head icon, I think that the close up of the snake’s head would work in identifying the game.” - Beth F

“I quite like the “S” icon logo, simple but effective. Also the snake icon also works well.” - Jacob F

“I like the close up of the lantern, as it is an iconic part of your game. I would avoid the “Snake Escape” icon as I think it would be hard to read what it says when the icon is small on a phone.” - Mel R

“I think that if you developed the snake’s head icon further, you could come up with a great icon design.” - James B

DESIGN PROCESS

APP ICON DESIGN

• Here is the finished vector, I now need feedback on the design.

DRAFT FEEDBACK

“I really like the idea of the flame being also the snake head. All I would say is to add colour as black and white doesn’t work well in my opinion.” - Beth F

“Unique idea using the snake head/flame, really like it. Would definitely add some colour, possibly orange and red to show it is a flame?” - Jacob F

“I would suggest adding colour, also maybe add something to the background as the whole icon isn't very interesting, but the vector art is good.” - Mel R

“Add colour and I think this will be a really good app icon, everything else about it is good.” - James B

!

FINAL APP ICON DESIGNUsing the feedback from my initial idea, this is my final app

icon design.

T-SHIRT DESIGN

Existing T-shirt Designs

Existing T-shirt Designs

T-SHIRT DESIGN IDEA

• Here is the design I came up with. It uses the vector art from the app icon as I feel that it would be more beneficial to advertise the icon on the t-shirt.

T-SHIRT FEEDBACK

“The t-shirt design looks really good, as it is the app icon for the game, fans will recognise the shirt straight away, which is good as fans will only buy/wear the shirt. The black and white colours work nicely but maybe you could try adding colour to the design? Even though it looks good already, adding colour may make the t-shirt even better. Other than that, the t-shirt is looking good.” - Jacob F

!

MAKING CHANGES

UPDATED DESIGN

UPDATED T-SHIRT FEEDBACK

“The added colour really makes the t-shirt stand out a lot more, I think it really looks nice. I think you should stick to the colours you have chosen as they are the same colours you used on your app icon, which helps link all of your designs together and makes it easy for people to identify Snake Escape as a brand. I think the overall logo design is really great.” - Jacob F

!

STICKER COLLECTION

EXISTING VIDEO GAME STICKER CAMPAIGNS

INITIAL IDEAS PROCESS

DRAFT STICKER DESIGNS

• Here are my initial ideas. I decided to use some of the assets from the game as I feel that these represent the game’s identity and work really well as stickers.

Note: The black boxing around the stickers is there to show the white borders of the stickers.

STICKERS FEEDBACK

“I think that the stickers would work well in promoting the game, but only if they were stuck all in the same place. There isn’t any link between the snake and the Jimmy character, not even colours. For the sticker campaign to really be successful, the stickers need to be linked with each other in some way so that people know that the stickers are characters from the same game” - Jacob F

!

STICKER DESIGN CHANGES

From the feedback I received on my sticker designs, these changes needed to be made:

• Keep the stickers the same colours to create a link between them.

• Use the snake’s skin pattern on the Jimmy sticker to add even more of an obvious link between the two stickers.

UPDATED DESIGNS

UPDATED T-SHIRT FEEDBACK

“I think that the stickers look really great, the added snake pattern on the character’s shirt helps unify the stickers together. The logo sticker looks fine as it is, but maybe try to add the dark red colour found on the other stickers somewhere to link them altogether even more? This may not work however but I would give it a try. Also, maybe add the logo to the character’s shirt to make it clear he is apart of the Snake Escape game?” - Dave H

!

UPDATED IDEAS CHANGES

FINAL STICKER DESIGNS

POSTER DESIGN

EXISTING VIDEO GAME POSTER DESIGNS

DRAFT POSTER DESIGN PROCESS

DRAFT POSTER DESIGN

• Here are my draft poster design. I included the information that is required on a poster, such as where it is available.

DRAFT DESIGN FEEDBACK

“I like the fact that you have included a number of the game assets on the poster to create a link with the characters and the game title. I like the position of Jimmy behind the plant, but I think the snake needs to be moved somewhere else as it looks like everything is crammed into one corner of the poster. Instead of the “Search the App Store” text, you could possibly use a QR code instead to direct people to download your game? Also, maybe add small screenshots of the gameplay to show what the game looks like when playing?” - Mel R

!

STICKER DESIGN CHANGESFrom the feedback on the poster, these were the key changes I needed to make:

- Add a QR for easy accessibility to the game on the App Store.

- De-clutter the bottom right corner by moving/removing the snake.

- Add screenshots of the gameplay to give a the viewer a better idea of what the game is like.

UPDATED POSTER DESIGN

DRAFT DESIGN FEEDBACK

“I definitely like this design more than the last one. The poster seems a lot less cluttered in the bottom right corner of the poster and the use of the QR code and the screenshots like I suggested work really well. I think it looks a lot better laid-out and I like the fact you have made the character and plant more darker” - Mel R

!

TWITTER PAGE

TWITTER PAGEI created a Twitter page for the game for extra advertisement. Interacting with video game related twitter accounts could lead to receiving retweets from them, which opens us up to a whole audience of gamers who follow these accounts.

It also allows us to interact with any fans we may pick up throughout our marketing campaign and can be a platform that we can use to host competitions for such fans.

FINAL MARKETING ASSETS

MARKETING SCHEDULE

WHY IS TIMING IMPORTANT?

Timing can be essential as to whether an app or a mobile game is successful or not. If you release the game at the wrong time, it can quickly get buried on the App Store by high-budget games.

The timing and placement of your marketing can also affect how well a game does. If you promote the game in the wrong area at

the wrong time, the marketing campaign may completely fail.

2014 EVENT CALENDAR

Here is a calendar labelled with all of the major gaming events and conferences coming up in 2014.

17TH JULY 2014

• My Twitter campaign officially starts. This will include using the Twitter page to promote the game and to gain a decent following. Competitions can also be held via the page to create more attention.

• Interacting with other indie developers and game related Twitter accounts can really be an effective way of gaining a following fast. When these Accounts retweet you, all of their gamer following we be able to see it.

Around one month before Gamescom

13TH - 17TH AUGUST 2014

• Gamescom will be a great opportunity to expose the game to a large number of hardcore gamers.

• Gamescom is where my marketing assets will first be used.

• This is probably the most important event within the marketing schedule.

Gamescom

PLAN OF ACTION

• I will stick the Snake Escape stickers around the surrounding areas to create curiosity between the gamers travelling to the event.

• I will then use large stickers of the Snake and randomly place them around the event. This will create more curiosity, especially for the gamers who saw the stickers whilst travelling in to the event.

• The snake’s random locations could also act as a stunt, that “Snakes have escaped” which ties into the game.

• There will then be posters directing people to our booth that we will run, where people can look at the game in more detail, win the t-shirt and so on.

• The posters will be all around the event, not just at the booth.

28TH AUGUST 2014

Two weeks after the marketing campaign at Gamescom has ended, the game would be

released on the App Store. Two weeks should be enough time for any indie game blogs or

websites to write reviews, and also it isn’t too long that gamers

forget about the game after Gamescom.

Game Release Date

BUDGET

• Gamescom Booth - ~$2000 Flights - ~$1000

• 200 printed T-shirts - £840

• 100 Posters (Gloss, 130 GSM) - £51 excl. VAT

!

• 1000 Stickers - ~£120

• Twitter Advertising - £1000 budget

HOW WILL I MONITOR MY SUCCESS?

• I will monitor the Twitter account, seeing how many followers I gain over the marketing campaign. This can also tell me what parts of my plan worked the best (if I gain loads of followers on 15th August, this tells me my Gamescom marketing campaign is succeeding).

• I can monitor followers and retweets, and get updated charts and graphs by using services such as retweet.co.uk

HOW WILL I MONITOR MY SUCCESS?

• Order numbers for t-shirts can also indicate how well the marketing plan has done as if I have to order more t-shirts, the game must be well received and that people are interested in the game.

• I will also monitor the comments section of blogs who write articles about the game, to get a better understanding of how well the game has been received.

• The number of app downloads is probably the most direct way of measuring how well my marketing campaign worked. This can be monitored by services such as appfigures

EVALUATION

POTENTIAL CHANGES TO MY MARKETING PLAN

I received client feedback on my marketing plan to determine if they felt it was a good one or not.

POTENTIAL CHANGES - SMART TARGETS

• The first possible change mentioned was the fact that I should be more specific with my marketing aims (SMART Targets).

• This means that I should work out, say how many new followers I should gain over a period of time, or the amount of t-shirts I should ship over the duration of Gamescom in order to consider the marketing campaign a success.

POTENTIAL CHANGES - MAKE TARGET AUDIENCE MORE SPECIFIC

• Secondly, my client suggested that I should make my target audience more specific.

• At the moment, my target age group is 10-24 year olds, which in fairness is a huge age gap. Marketing a product for a 10 year old would be a lot different from marketing a product for a 24 year old.

• 10-15 year olds would rely on parents to pay for paid games such as Snake Escape, whilst 16-24 year old most probably have a job and so can pay for the game themselves.

• This means that I should either market my game for the parents (35+) of the 10-15 year old group, or for 16-24 year olds themselves. Due to the game’s art style, I would probably choose to market at 10-15 year olds, meaning I may need to revise some of my designs in order for them to be fit for purpose.

10-24 Year Olds

10-15 Year Olds 16-24 Year Olds

POTENTIAL CHANGES - APP LOGO AND T-SHIRT DESIGN

• The next potential change I could make would be the app icon and the t-shirt design.

• This is because these designs do not necessarily fit with the game’s art style, along with the stickers and the poster design. The logo may convey the game to be different than it actually is, my client even suggested that the logo looks a bit like a core FPS logo, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts logo, than a puzzle/horror game.

• Also, as my target audience would now be 10-15 year olds, maybe a logo more “kiddie-friendly” would be more appropriate?

=

POTENTIAL CHANGES - IDENTIFY ACTUAL BLOGS + WHEN TO CONTACT

THEM• The last feedback I received from my client was

that I should include specific blogs/review sites in my marketing plan that I would contact and at what point of my marketing schedule I would contact them.

• I would include sites such as Indie Game Reviewer, IndieLove and Indie Game Mag in the list of blogs and sites that I would contact about a potential article/review being written.

• I would contact them before Gamescom, and maybe even at the event as representatives from these sites usually go to these events. This would give them enough time to write and publish their reviews before the game is released.