Responsive Games – Digital Marketing Opportunities

Most progressive marketers are aware of the value of gaming content as part of their digital marketing portfolio. With games like Candy Crush and Angry Birds, game playing is now a mass market entertainment activity, enjoyed equally by both male and female players. Generation Y and millennials have all grown up with games – they love them, especially the free ones!

However, with a proliferation of digital devices available to consumers, it can require considerable effort and cost to get your game and brand out to the mass market. Responsive games offer a solution to this problem. Using a HTML5 platform, Fierce Fun have developed a responsive gaming system that ensures your game can be played on almost any device.

We developed the game I C Words as a demonstration of the cross-platform capabilities of our system. Play it on your PC, Mac, laptop, iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet…anything with a Web browser.

Fierce Fun responsive games

Play I C Words here

For more information on the digital marketing potential of responsive games, please drop us a line …. we love to talk!

Bespoke Custom Games for business – Works every time.

As the gaming community has known for a long time, a game is not just about winning or losing, its far more important than that. Games are increasing in complexity all the time and are now firmly rooted in our everyday lives. Recent daily news reports about the invasion of PokemonGO players to such diverse locations as The White House to Ayers Rock, causing mayhem in their wake, are proof of this. To ignore the power of games to influence people and create market share would be a mistake for business especially those involved in building their brand. The future of marketing is complex and apps and games are a very useful vehicle and tool to drive business forward. This is not surprising to us at Fierce Fun, but what does surprise us, is the amount of companies both large and small, that are completely unaware of the marketing potential a bespoke game can have to their bottom line. Not only do games have the power to influence our lives but they are a powerful force for marketing and in the area of education and learning.

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Generation Z and Social Media

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In a recent U.S. college survey by Fluent marketing and insights, conducted in March 2016, students between the ages of 17-24, (a.k.a. Gen Z)  were asked about the social media platforms they use most. The results are not surprising with Facebook getting a resounding, 67%, Snapchat at 51% and Instagram at 50%. Predictably the Snapchat phenomenon is continuing unabated with the steady rise of this platform worrying the Facebook executives.  33% of respondent stated they have increased usage of Snapchat and no major increase in the use of  Facebook.

However, it was found that Facebook retains its dominant position in the social media sphere, being the favoured platform for friends, family, and brands. But the findings indicate it needs to keep evolving if it is to keep its position as the default social media platform of choice. Snapchat and Instagram appear to be used by Gen Z for tighter close-knit friendships or groups.

The survey’s most interesting findings revealed what the platforms are being primarily used for.  

Facebook is the Daddy. Primarily being used for general digital profiles and regarded as necessary. Regarding advertising on Facebook, respondents indicated they preferred display ads as opposed to news feed ads. Despite Facebook heavily promoting  video lately, respondents still favour using specific video platforms like You Tube.

Snapchat & Instagram: The good buddy platforms. These platforms are used several times a day by the respondents and are used to communicate with close friends and their campus community. They are open to ads on these platforms if they are brief and not pretending to be content which is perceived as disingenuous.  

YouTube & Pinterest are brand central. Respondents follow brands and celebrities on all channels, but they seem to favour interaction with  brands on Youtube and Pinterest. They also like following celebrities on these platforms. Twitter is also popular for following celebs. Respondents expect  ads on these platforms, as they seem more brand oriented.  Adverts that service a need or address issues they care about are usually clicked on. The quality of visual content in Snapchat and You Tube, promote repeat visits, in contrast,  branded stories or celebrity endorsements do not engage respondent enough to buy a product.

Time is of the essence, but video is king.   Most respondents (74%) spend more than two hours a day on social media with just under half  (44%)  spending more than four hours a day. Video is popular on all platforms with You Tube, as expected being the top provider. Two-thirds of respondent watch up to two hours of video a day for entertainment, this may happen over several visits during this time. Unusually live streaming video conversation were not as popular as these figures would suggest, with in-person contact being the preferred method of communication.

 

Online Games for Digital Advertising

gameads-300x196I am still surprised when I have to convince people how useful games are as advertising tools. For the last 2 decades in the US, games have been successfully used by companies such as McDonalds, Coca Cola and Ford to promote their brands and products. With the massive growth of casual games (social and mobile), more or less everyone is now a gamer.

So why are games effective advertising tools? Like hot toffee, they are sticky. Sticky content is the holy grail of online content – keeping users engaged for much longer than traditional text or image content. Better still, games are interactive so it is much easier to impart lasting brand messages. For any Irish digital advertiser, I would recommend consider using a game in your next digital marketing campaign. They are cost effective as you can re-use digital assets from other elements of your campaign. Also Ireland is a nation of video game players so you will have a receptive audience.

Contact us to find out how online games can boost your digital marketing campaigns