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Likely most people under the age of 35 know the awkwardness of consuming R-rated content around their parents. These ads for HBO Go convey the problems of that generation gap perfectly, taking aim at the younger consumers who love to consume HBO content in private, away from their parents.
Some interesting things are happening behind-the-scenes at Zynga.
The company behind such popular games as the FarmVille franchise has reported a loss of $61 million in the first quarter of 2014, which is down 36 percent year-over-year. However, it did manage to exceed Wall Street’s expectations.
“In Q1 our teams delivered a solid start to the year against our strategic frame of growing and sustaining our franchises, creating new hits and driving efficiencies. We have established a strong base for 2014 and believe we are pacing well for a year of growth,” said Don Mattrick, CEO of Zynga. “For the first time in two years, our teams delivered sequential growth across our key performance metrics including bookings, Adjusted EBITDA, mobile bookings mix and audience. We believe these indicators demonstrate our strategy is working and the focus, rigor and discipline of our teams is showing up in our results.”
He added, “I am particularly proud of the FarmVille team’s commitment to franchise growth, especially as it relates to last week’s worldwide launch of FarmVille 2: Country Escape. Since the launch, we have seen more than 4 million installs of the game and received great feedback from our players. We are pleased with the team’s execution and encouraged by the early indicators we are seeing.”
In addition to the profit report, the company has shuffled the exec team quite a bit this week. Founder Mark Pincus has stepped down from his role of Chief Product Officer in order to focus as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
However, some new hires has been made as well. Alex Garden, a former general manage of Xbox Live and founder of developer Relic Entertainment, as joined Zynga as the President of its studio division, along with Henry LaBounta, who has 30 years worth of experience between such companies as EA and Microsoft. He joins the company as its first Chief Visual Officer. Jennifer Knuckles, working with brands such as Clorox, has also joined on as the Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to COO Clive Downie.
Source: GamesIndustry International
Like clockwork, the Skylanders are back in action.
Following landmark sales of the latest release in the series, Swap Force, Activision has announced the newest entry in the franchise, Trap Team, which will release on October 5 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Wii and Nintendo 3DS.
In this chapter, players will seek out and defeat the most wanted villains in the world, using magical traps that tie in with the new Portal devices that will be sold with it. From there, new traps can be placed, and the villains can actually be heard inside the traps. Players will also be able to switch between heroes and villains at any time, using a “tag team” element.
“When we created Skylanders, we invented a new category of play and, in the process, disrupted two industries – video games and toys. With each new Skylanders game, our commitment to continuous, disruptive innovation has led to surprising and delightful new ways for kids to play with toys and games,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “With Skylanders: Trap Team, we’re no longer just letting kids bring their toys to life inside the game anymore. This time, we’re letting them pull their toys out of the game as well. We are confident this installment of Skylanders will once again redefine what’s possible at the intersection of the physical and virtual worlds.”
Toys For Bob, the developer behind the original Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, will once again be at the helm for the game.
Source: Activision {link no longer active}
eSports has come a long way over the years – and soon, it will get its first official building to signify its success.
Major League Gaming, or MLG for short, has announced that it has teamed up with Lai Fung Holdings Limited and eSun Holdings Limited to build the first-ever MLG Gaming Arena in the “V-Zone,” a video game destination that’s being planned as a centerpiece for the Renminbi “Creative Culture City” development in China. The “V-Zone” will be placed in Hengqin Island, located off the coast of Macau, as a tourist attraction.
The arena will be devoted to both video game and eSports activities, and will also provide an area for game developers to feature new and upcoming games, as well as gaming-themed restaurants and retail shops.
“MLB has been at the forefront of the global eSports phenomenon for over a decade and we’re taking our leadership position to new heights with this expansion into the world’s fastest growing eSports market – China,” said Mike Sepso, president and co-founder of MLG. “We’re very proud to partner with eSun Holdings Limited and Lai Fung Holdings Limited to build the first MLB Gaming Arena in Hengqin Island’s V-Zone to house MLG Pro Circuit competitions where we will welcome our fans 365 days per year and broadcast globally via MLG.tv. This is yet another step in our plan to make eSports and MLG a part of mainstream culture worldwide.”
“We are very pleased and excited to be working closely with MLG and we hope to crystalize the MLG Arena in the V-Zone and bring it to fruition,” said Chew Fook Aun, Chairman of Lai Fung and executive director of eSun.
The building will comply will all relevant PRC regulation, although there’s no word on when it will officially open. More details will be available over the next few months.
Source: MLG
Want to view HBO content outside of subscribing to the channel Previously, there really wasn’t a choice in the matter – but now there is.
HBO has scored a major deal with the team at Amazon, which will bring several of its hit shows to the Amazon Prime service – a move that could be a major blow to Netflix. Such shows that are involved with the deal include The Sopranos, The Wire and Deadwood, as well as chosen seasons of more recent series, including True Blood and Boardwalk Empire. Typically, this will be for shows older than three years, and some of the most popular shows like Game of Thrones won’t be included at all.
Those seeking episodes of newer shows like Silicon Valley and the uber-popular Game of Thrones will still need to subscribe to HBO Go to access those services. In addition, shows that are tied in with other deals, such as Sex and the City and Entourage, aren’t included. HBO Go will be coming to the Amazon FireTV later this year.
Still, this is a major move that will bolster Amazon Prime’s userbase – and may leave Netflix execs wondering what move they should make next.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
First Amazon Prime teams up with HBO to offer streaming content to its customers, and now AOL is taking a similar route with classic films from the Miramax studio.
The company struck a deal with the studio to steal movies from its library onto its AOL On video website, and users can also stream the content through their TV and mobile apps as well.
Specific films weren’t mentioned in the deal, but fan favorites like the Kill Bill movies, the musical Chicago and There Will Be Blood are likely to be included, among others.
The films will be at no cost, but will feature advertising, another move in AOL’s recent online video ad campaign. It’s been a huge success thus far, with 3.8 billion video ads seen by U.S. viewers for the month of March alone, according to a report from comScore.
Could more movies follow the Miramar deal? Only time will tell, but it definitely sounds like a serious competitor to Sony and its Crackle streaming.
Source: GigaOm
Ronald McDonald has been the face for the popular McDonald’s restaurant chain for years – but now he’s taking a bold new step into social media.
The iconic figure debuted his new look on Twitter this week, doing away with his classic clown duds in favor of a more contemporary jacket-and-jeans combo, although still with his trademark colors. He’s also taking a new approach to social media, urging customers to use the hashtag #ronaldmcdonald when it comes to his new appearance.
Although Ronald won’t have his own Twitter handle, McDonald’s will post photos and videos of him using its existing social media accounts, as well as the hashtag. He’ll also be making his appearance in new TV ads later this year.
“His iconic big red shoes will remain the same,” said McDonald’s in a statement.
“Selfies…here I come! It’s a big world and now, wherever I go and whatever I do…I’m ready to show how fun can make great things happen,” said the fictional clown in the same statement.
After pressure from a group called Corporate Accountability to retire Ronald McDonald in regards to bad marketing for children, CEO Don Thompson believes that the mascot can do great things with social media.
“Ronald is not a bad guy – he’s about fun, he’s a clown. So I’d ask all you to let your kids have fun too,” said Thompson.
Source: Dallas News
The game industry’s marketers gathered at the 2014 Game Marketing Summit in San Francisco yesterday for a day packed with interesting speakers and networking, capped with the Game Marketing Awards. The event was focused on the changing landscape of game marketing, and some of the top marketers in the game business explored what’s changing and how marketers can take advantage of the opportunities afforded by these changes.
Carolyn Feinstein, SVP Global Consumer Marketing for Electronic Arts, and the co-chair of the GMS board of governors, started off by saying “I’m pretty sure I’ve never been on a stage with this many women at a gaming event.” At least in one area of the game industry there’s a good gender balance. Feinstein went on to note that the massive changes in the game industry from digital ,mobile, livestreaming and more, requires changing tactics and strategies to engage consumers and drive business.
Brian Cooley, CNet’s editor at large, used his keynote address to present a series of technologies to watch for the near future: Wearable tech, connected cars, connected home, the next billion mobile customers, and television. Cooley noted that smartwatches, fitness devices, and what he called “glassware” are all likely to be major categories, driven by a growing array of inexpensive sensors. The smartphone will be an important hub device for all of these wearables, and thus games may be able to take advantage of some of these platforms and their capabilities.
While connected cars and connected homes don’t hold much potential for game makers, the drive to get the next billion people on mobile devices does, as the $25-$50 smartphone arrives with tremendous impact around the globe. Finally, while 4K TV just represents an image quality upgrade (similar to the difference between DVD and Blu-ray), the potential for TV content to be delivered “over-the-top” instead of bundling into cable packages is already affecting the Xbox One and the PS4, as Microsoft and Sony begin producing original content.
Next up was a panel on Livestreaming: Your Next Generation Marketing Platform, with SOE president John Smedley, Marcus “djWheat” Graham of Twitch, and Bart Koenigsberg of Hi-Rez Studios discussing the vast impact livestreaming has had. ” It’s nothing short of a revolution,” proclaimed Smedley, noting that SOE is investing heavily in livestreaming. Graham talked about the impact of Twitch Plays Pokemon, and how the developers of Daylight were inspired by that to include some crowdplay features in their upcoming game. Streaming continues to expand, and as Graham points out, “It really is easy — the fact that we’ve had 5,000 to 10,000 streamers shows that.” The panelists agreed marketers should jump on livestreaming. “Embrace it, and embrace it now,” advised Smedley. “Where else are you going to find this concentration of qualified and interested buyers ,” Koenigsberg asked rhetorically.
The keynote address on creating contagious content was fascinating, given by Wharton Business School marketing professor Jonah Berger. He gave an overview of the ten years of research that went into his book Contagious: Why Things Catch On, and discussed the science behind creating viral content. He boiled down his findings to six key STEPPS: Social currency, Triggered, Emotion, Public, Practical value, and Stories. As he put it, the goal should not be getting 10 million views on a viral video, but getting ten to twenty percent new customers. He noted that word of mouth can be up to ten times more effective than advertising, and gave examples of how this works in practice. It’s important to note that while we often focus on online channels, most of our actual communication with others is offline — only about 7 percent is online (perhaps 10 percent in younger people). More info can be found at his web site, and it’s well worth a look.
The panel on Gaming Evolved: The Changing Landscape went right to the heart of what this year’s Game Marketing Summit was all about. Panelists Tony Key, SVP of sales and marketing for Ubisoft, Guy Longworth, SVP of PlayStation brand marketing for SCEA, and Albert Penello, head of product planning for Xbox, discussed the topic with Greg Short, the chairman and cofounder of EEDAR. The panelists noted that despite the increasing importance of digital distribution, retail continues to be primary. “I still have to create demand for that product,” said Key. “The distribution mechanism is not changing that, and it’s not helping me make cheaper games.” The panelists agreed that blockbusters will still drive sales in the future, though indies are of increasing importance — it’s the mid-range publishers that have disappeared. “There are no AA publishers any more,” said Key.
The next keynote, Marketing Worth Sharing, was delivered by marketer/cartoonist Tom Fishburne, CEO of Marketoon Studios. Naturally, his talk was copiously illustrated by cartoons, and he talked about why it’s never been a better time to be a marketer. The technology available is fantastic, Fishburne pointed out, but “we get excited about technology and sometimes forget about the big idea.” He noted some important things to keep in mind while crafting marketing strategy and tactics: Technology can’t save a boring idea, but it can amplify a remarkable one, Fishburne said. Preach to the choir, and don’t try to appeal to everyone. He also said that these days, “Everyone works in marketing.” Get ideas from all parts of the company, and you may find some surprising successes.
The panel on Influencing with Intent: Building Your Social Strategy included EA VP of media and marketing Chris Thorne, 2K’s director of PR Ryan Jones, Revolt’s VP of audience insights and strategy Jake Katz, and Treyarch’s direcotr of communications John Rafacz, moderated by Rogers & Cowan’s SVP Wendy Zaas. “Marketing is going to change more in the next five years than it has in the last 100,” said Zaas, leading off. The environment has changed the relationship between customers and companies, and it’s still shifting fast. How do you create strategies in that context “Most of the time we don’t have a strategy, we just have a conversation,” said Katz. “We don’t have the luxury of enough time.”
The final panel was The Persistent Dialogue, about communicating with gamers 24/7. Mike Lu, VP of product for Gree, was joined by John Heinecke, senior director of global brand management for Blizzard, and Lincoln Hershberger, VP of product marketing for Electronic Arts. Hershberger pointed out how they have integrated the messaging approach for both the community and PR teams. While Gree is new to building community teams, they have some special customers to pay attention to. ” We have guys who have formed groups of twenty or thirty who have spent more than $1 million in our games,” said Lu.
The importance of streaming is growing. “Hearthstone became the #2 game stream on Twitch because beta keys were so rare,” Heinecke said. “It’s a way to learn the game. Major crowdswell happened because of that.” Heinecke talked about the importance of the community and the company’s responses. “We look at marketing as inviting people into the Blizzard family,” Heinecke said. “You have different types of people in the family. You have to listen to all of them because there’s passion behind everything, they wouldn’t be posting if there wasn’t. You have to listen but not necessarily respond.”
The Game Marketing Summit for 2014 was an important and useful day for game marketers. Key takeaways from the sessions are that massive changes have occurred in game marketing and will continue to occur. Livestreaming is not just a consumer phenomenon, it’s becoming an important marketing tool as well. User-generated content is not just something that occurs in games, but we’re seeing it occur in marketing as well — those livestreams of game playing, or YouTube videos discussing game strategies, those are marketing that’s arising from the community. The pace of marketing is picking up so much you can think of it as real-time marketing, without the leisure time to plan out long campaigns you have to jump in and make things happen. As with games, marketing not just one shot — marketing needs to be a continuing process, just as games have become a service in many cases. You can’t count on just one thing — keep marketing!
Ayzenberg is launching a new place for storytellers, the ION community. We are now offering rewards designed specifically for [a]list daily readers.
Rewards and winners will be announced during our summer Influencer Summit at SLS Hotel. The top 5 winners will be very happy with the prizes, and the 10 runners-up will not be disappointed. All participants will get additional rewards and the opportunity to work on fun creative projects. Be sure to watch the latest video {link no longer active} by created by ION and RocketJump for World of Tanks. You can sign up to participate here {link no longer active}.
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