Games2win – A mobile games Company I co-founded was mandated by GSK via their agency Media2win (I am a shareholder) to create a best of class cricket mobile game for their popular Brand Boost.
We created ‘Boost Power Cricket’ for Android and iTunes and the game has generated over 90,000 downloads in about 3 months (as on 31st March 2015). The collective engagement in the game has crossed 450,000 minutes and the game has been repeatedly featured by iTunes India in its Cricket Portfolio.
The success of this project revealed 7 insights that could be useful for you if you are considering creating a Branded Mobile Game:
1. The reason to believe
With 70+ million smartphones in India that are doubling every 6 months, there is an irreversible trend to be mobile; very obviously mobile!
Brands like Boost are early trend spotters. Their investment in creating a game like Boost Power Cricket validates the fact that in a country like India, where over 1 Billion consumers under the age of 30 are rapidly rushing to own a mobile phone, the first Brand mover who leverages this massive consumer trend will win.
Learning : Go where the Consumers are. Don’t get fooled into believing numbers and statistics of any ‘media’ (like digital OOH) that is just not happening.
2. Games are what people love!
On the 2 major app stores of the world – iTunes and Google Play store, almost 1 out of every second downloaded app is a game! Games are the new format of snacky, anytime, anywhere, any place fun. Brands like Boost recognize the power of this format and leverage it to work for themselves.
Learning : Accept and leverage consumer behaviour rather than trying to change it!
3. Brand first or Game first?
In the late 90’s, the first set of ‘advergames’ (advertising concealed as games) were awash with brand messages and their logos. Consumers hated them because they weren’t games that were fun to play. Brands did not care and put themselves first.
In a game like Boost Power Cricket, the consumer comes first. S/He is the Hero! The Brand is the cheering crowd.
As the game was being developed, the Boost team, Media2win & us (Games2win) were in complete sync to keep branding succinct and classy – not loud and ugly.
Learning : Say “NO” to the Brand Manager who wants a Bigger Logo everywhere possible. Don’t make a mobile game for a Brand owner. Make it for the consumer.
4. Messaging meets Game Play
Boost wanted to communicate its core attribute, i.e. Stamina. Boost gives you 3X stamina when taken regularly for 120 days.
The Boost Power Cricket Game has a “Stamina Shot” feature that allows the user to hit cracking shots like Sachin, Dhoni and Virat, which almost magically synced the Brand communication with the Game play.
Learning : Don’t ‘force’ Brand messaging in a game or an app. If there is a natural fit, place it there skilfully. Else just avoid it. Ps – When was the last time you wore a Brand new shirt with the price tag still on it?
5. Making Brand Ambassadors bat for you!
In both the famous app stores, over 1 million unique apps jostle for attention. In a country like India, over 10,000 Cricket Apps scream out loud to be downloaded by consumers.
99% of apps are either downloaded or abandoned on the landing page based on the screenshots consumers view before they hit the ‘download’ button.
The clever, subtle use of the Brand Ambassadors Sachin, Dhoni and Virat, in the screen shots of the Boost Power Cricket game created an instant connect with consumers. Those who clicked to check the app were stunned to see the picture of their favorite cricket stars.
Learning : Leverage the Brand’s best assets at the point of first consumer contact. In the case of Branded Mobile Games, it’s when the consumer checks out the screenshots of the game on the app store (featured above – Android and iTunes respectively)
6. Easy to Play; Impossible to Master
The Boost Power Cricket Game starts off easy. But just when the Consumers think they have the game under control and winning is almost a given, the difficulty level in the game increases. The art of a great game lies in how many times a player tries again and again to play a level and win it, instead of abandoning it. This helps weave in the core proposition of Brand Boost – “Winning doesn’t come easily, not even to your Boost Heroes.”
We appreciate the foresight of brand Boost that allowed its partners to decide on brand integration without disrupting consumer experience. This also helped us the game developing agency, to create an exciting game level design with seamless user flow that results in high brand engagement.
Not so easy to master levels!
Learning : If you are making a game, engage the consumer the same way you would, irrespective of a Brand or not. Don’t let a Brand compromise on the core values of any digital asset (in this case a game)
7. Video Ads meet games
A great Brand has great ads, but consumers often skip them. In the Boost Power Cricket Game, video ads have been cleverly embedded as hot spots to launch and view for players to earn the much desired “Stamina Shots”
Clever Gaming stops the ad skip. In Boost Power Cricket, consumers happily watch Brand Ads because these are rewarding as much as they are entertaining and informative.
This was an innovative implementation of adding ‘incentivised’ video ads, where the videos were of the Brand itself!
Learning : Push technology to the limit and create solutions that make consumers WIN. The Brand will win automatically!
Enjoy the Boost Power Cricket Game available on Android and iTunes !
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