2. Product
‘Squidiverse’ is a puzzle arcade platformer game,
featuring an interesting theme that mixes Sci-Fi
and underwater imagery and a pixel art graphic
style.
Gameplay features the player controlling a small
Squid boy, and guiding him on his adventure
through different worlds, each holding different
challenges.The gameplay is platformer styled,
with Squid being able to move, jump, and throw
rocks to navigate a side scrolling world.
The environment offers enemies to defeat and
puzzles to solve as you have to explore each new
sprawling world to collect clues that lead you to
the next step.
It’s about reflexes, exploration, puzzle solving, and
trial and error.
3. Competition
Some of the games which are in
competition with us are not free to play,
which gives Squidiverse an edge over
them.
What also makes Squidiverse stand out
from the competition is its unique
combination of themes, and it’s main
character.
4. Place
The app will be available on the virtual store: Apple
App Store for iOS devices. There’s a huge range of
games on the app store that will serve as our
competition. Most of our main identified competition
is not on the app store, however there are plenty of
other platformers available on the store, so we still
face competition.
A majority of the games on the app store are
free.All the top grossing games are free, but
with in-app purchases.
In-app purchases mean once you have the
game you can make further purchases to
access additional content.Through this
method customers are drawn in with the
initial free purchase, and then will later be
willing to pay for additional features.
This cost will be a general expectation among
app store shoppers.
Anything that does cost is low priced, with
nothing in the top paid apps section being
above £5.
5. Price
• The app will be free, this will be one of our main selling points so it will
be important to identify this in our marketing campaign.
• There will be in-app purchases released later on, that expand the game
with new worlds. This way it will not feel like a part of the game is
missing, as it’s not power ups or anything necessary to be better or
stronger in the game, It’s more like you get the first installment free but
have to pay for the sequel.
• A majority of the identified competition games are paid for, making
Squidiverse free will help it compete more strongly.
6. ISFE Data
Looking at data collected by the
ISFE we can see that in apps which
can be downloaded from the app
store, the majority of downloaded
apps are free, this is important
information as our game will be a
free game with eventual DLC
Also using more data available from the
ISFE we can see that genders in gaming
are almost equal, this is means we
shouldn’t need to really gear our
campaign towards a specific gender.
The ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe) was
founded in 1998 in order to protect the interactive software sector
in Europe, it aims to protect the video game industry and
individuals from the threat of piracy.
7. Target Audience
• Aged between 14 and 20.
• Our target audience will be casual
gamers but the game can also
appeal to core gamers.
• Will be fans of humorous, zany,
and vibrant cartoon worlds and
characters e.g. Mario, Carton
Network
• The iOS app store has more
casual gamers than core so it is
ideal for us to release our game
to this platform.
• Indie gamers will be an important
audience of our game. The game
has mechanics and story and
design more common in Indie
releases then big AAA titles, like
features that reference back to
older video games e.g. the pixel
art style and platformer gameplay.
8. Audience Segmentation
• Casual Gamers - This is also a wide audience as there are many
casual gamers, though it would be more effective to advertise to
this audience than iOS device owners.
• Indie Gamers – These will be people who have a love for indie
games and also use Rock Paper Shotgun a lot in order to keep up
to date with the latest indie games, we will target this audience by
having a DevLog written on Rock Paper Shotgun.
• iOS device owners - This is a much wider audience and less specific
as many people use iOS devices for different reasons, some use it
for business and don’t game on them at all. It would not be ideal for
us to advertise mainly to this audience as it is to vast and less
focused on one subject such as indie games.
9. CORE
CASUAL
MAINSTREAM
NICHE
Our game is placed between core
and casual, going more towards
casual, but just tipping into core.The
game is mainly accessible and fun to
play, with only a few simple controls
used in gameplay. However some
more challenging parts of the game,
and the way you have to master the
simple controls to overcome levels,
tips it just over the edge into core.
It’s not complex enough to go up
into core any more. It’s more Niche
because of the offbeat theme, and
gameplay very specific to the
platformer genre. However the
cartoonish tone and memorable
character open it up to the
mainstream a bit, so it can slightly go
over to that side.
What is shown here is that
‘Squidiverse’ is at heart a casual
niche, however it’s just slightly
breaking out of this.
MARKET
SEGMENTATION
10. Marketing Aims
• Grow an audience through our promotions such as the DevLog, banner
ad and advert.
• By the end of September we want to get at least 500 followers on the
Twitter account, to really show the marketing is getting out there.
• Raise awareness for the game we want to build up hype for the game, get
people excited for Squidiverse.
• Get at least 3 Youtubers to do Let’s Play videos by game release.
11. Promotions
• Squidiverse will have a Twitter page to show the progress of the game
and keep people updated with information on the game.
• We want to advertise our game at “REZZED” which is an indie games
convention, we will be giving away a few shirts at this event also.
• We will have shirts for people to buy, which is a away of indirect
advertising for our game.
• We’ll get RPS (Rock Paper Shotgun) to a write a DevLog on our game
with a link to the trailer of our game also, we’ll have banner ads on the
site also.
• A banner ad will go out on a few select websites, mainly ones which host
or talk about indie games in order to hit our target audience.
• We’ll have adverts on YouTube videos, with YouTube you can select the
types of videos the adverts will go over.
• We’ll send out betas of the game close to the release date to YouTubers
to get them to make videos of them playing our game, this will help build
hyper before the release of the game.
12. Twitter
The Twitter will be the first part of the marketing
to launch.Twitter can be used as a great baseline to
the marketing campaign, the first point of
communication to the audience. Any promotions,
events, or progress will be advertised through the
twitter account and vice versa.Twitter is the easiest
way of communicating and building a relationship
with our audience.
We want most of our tweets to include visual
representations of game progress and characters,
because first it will give people an idea what the
game is so they can get excited about it, and second
because tweets with images typically get more
attention and re-tweets.
We will promote the account, and by extension the
game, by involving ourselves in the game
development community that exists on Twitter.This
can be done by re-tweeting and following other
developers, and using established hash tags like
#gamedev
13. Publicity Stunt
Indirect advertising, where we get someone to
dress up in the Squid mask and run around
public places.This will strengthen and use
previous marketing – so for example the
banner add, will not efficient in getting game
downloads, will have got the image of Squid in
peoples heads, so that if this stunt comes to
their attention they will make that connection.
Of course it also works the other way around.
This is a big part of growing our audience, and again the focus is on the character, his visual
look as well as his personality.
This also links heavily with the advert, as it’s the same sort of concept of the live action
Squid, so the link between the two will be easily made.The advert is almost a budgeted
version of this stunt, that will explain the meaning of the strange Squid man when it is later
released.
14. EGX (REZZED)
“REZZED” is a popular indie games convention which draws in thousands of people
wanting to see the next big indie game.
“REZZED” will be a great opportunity for us to market our game to people
interested in indie games, this way we can directly advertise our game to our target
audience.
Also at this event we will be giving away a limited amount of shirts and hoodies to
attract people to our booth and also work as a way of indirect advertising.
15. T Shirts
The shirt designs are made to promote the game, and to push the Squid character
forward.To this aim the T Shirts have been designed around Squids character, showing
his distinctive head.
The shirts are promotional tools, so we would give them out at game conventions
attended, and we would also want to push them close to the release to generate a
spike in interest.
Our target audience are the kind of people who like to show off that they like specific
cartoons, games, or films through branded clothes.
The designs fit in with the themes of the game, so they connect with the fans.
16. Devlog Watch
The DevLog Watch is a feature that looks at upcoming indie games that are being
developed. This would be good exposure for the game and would also bring it to
the attention of the kind of audience we want.
17. Banner Ad
Banner ads will advertise the game around the internet, and is our
biggest form of direct advertising.They can be posted up on various
websites and pull in new audience members without them having to
seek the game out.
The banner needs to be placed on appropriate websites, sites which we have
the kind of audience we are targeting.
-Rock Paper Shotgun: a site that targets up and coming indie games.
-JayIsGames:This site hosts video games including indie made games.
18. Banner Ad
According to a Google study in 2013 the chance of someone clicking our banner ad is a 0.04%
chance, for every $2 we spend on advertising we will receive 1000 views on our ad.
So if we price our ad campaign on RPS or JayIsGames at $2000 we would receive approximately
400 clicks on our ad.Then we must also take into account the amount of people that will
download our app after being directed to it, for example if 1% of people downloaded it we
would receive 4 downloads for a $2000 ad campaign.
But if we look at it in a different light,
for $2 we receive 1000 views on our
ad, with a $2000 ad campaign that’s
the 1000 views on our ad multiplied
by 1000 which would mean 1,000,000
people would have seen our ad and
now recognize Squidiverse if they see
it somewhere else. Our main
objective is to grow our audience so
this is an effective way of doing so.
19. Advert
The advert will be distributed onYouTube and be styled more after a short comedy sketch
rather then an advert, so it’s almost indirect advertising.This is because it links with our target
audience of a 14-20 age range, as people who would go onYouTube and enjoy comedy. It’s also
more memorable, as it promotes the character in a funny way which people will remember,
rather then just showing gameplay footage.The comedy andYouTube platform also helps
increase the changes of the video being shared around and gaining more exposure.
21. YouTube Let’s Plays
Sending an early access version of our game to
successfulYoutuber asking them to review it or
record a “Let’s Play” video, will advertise the
game further onYouTube as well as promoting
it to the already existing fan bases of the
Youtubers.
Here is a list ofYoutubers we will send betas
to:
• Penguinz0 – He is known for playing games no one has heard of and he often finds games
to play from Kickstarter, he has a unique comedy style which draws in audiences of the over
100,000 views a video
http://www.youtube.com/user/penguinz0
• CreepsMcPasta Plays – AnotherYouTuber known for playing games no one has heard of.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheresTwoOfUs
• IndieStatik – Only plays indie games and his videos draw in a big audience, he also discusses
new games in development.
http://www.youtube.com/user/indiestatik
22. Schedule
Our release date is the 20th of November, as it’s a nice distance from any of the big game
conventions, and it doesn’t clash with any holidays to avoid the competition. It’s also a Thursday
which is known to be a good release date for the app store, as it’s when customers check for
new games, and because of how close it is to the weekend; customers will be winding down and
looking for entertainment.
23. Monitoring
Twitter will be a key way of monitoring the success of the marketing. Progress
can be seen through the interaction going on Twitter, how many people are
following it, using Squid hashtags or tweeting at the account etc.
A clear way to gauge the success of the marketing is to look at the followers on
a monthly basis, even setting target goals for each month.
By using theYouTube platform we can see the views each video has received, and
also gauge reaction through comments left on the videos.
With the banner ads we will be able to see the number of clicks the ad has got
with statistics, sites you advertise on may charge you with the amount of clicks
the ad has received, with this we will be able see how many clicks it has got.
When running adverts onYouTube it runs on a pay per click system, so like most
websites it will charge you based on the amount of clicks a video has received,
this is done through a site called AdWords which allows you to set a limit to the
amount of click an advert will receive then stop the ad.
24. Budget
Youtube add costs £140 max for 2 weeks of advertising
T Shirts cost - 250 - £362.50 aprox
Hoodies cost - 100 - £699 aprox
Banners cost - £1178.56
Single screen booth slot at REZZED - £589.28
Estimated Total Budget - £2969.34
25.
26. Feedback
Do you think the promotions link in with the Target Audience?
- What’s the big launch of the campaign? Using the advert or the publicity stunt at the beginning for
example would help launch off the game.
- Give examples of the twitter account tweets, pictures, videos, and links to other promotions.
- Expand on the publicity stunt and explain how it will be effective as a publicity stunt. Filming it and
uploading it toYouTube would be the best way, and this evokes the popular video ‘Batman in
Cambridge’.We should have reference the Batman video and how many views it has got in the
presentation to back up the Squid Stunt.
How effective do you think the Devlog Watch on Rock Paper Shotgun
will be in growing our audience?
- How many people actually read the Devlog Watch? Should find out what kind of views the Devlog
gets to accurately estimate this.
Do you think the time frame of our promotions for Squidiverse is effective?
- Quite a long lead in time, especially on things like selling t-shirts a few months before the game is
even available for download.The shirts need to be able to stand on their own, to appeal to people
who haven’t played the game.Then the shirts become in-direct advertising. For this we might need to
re-focus and design some T shirts that are funny or particularly interesting in design, without linking
specifically to the game.Think of some Squid puns.
- We could use the July start time to focus on the summer holidays, use the beaches and the crowded
streets to do the publicity stunts.Also our target demographic will be more active on the internet due
to the holiday from education.
27. Amended Schedule
The release date has now been moved a month closer to the campaign start, just to shorten
the marketing and bring everything closer together, so it will work more effectively as a whole.
The advert has now been moved right to the start, firstly so it can tie in with Summer and the
sunny beach mood, and secondly so it can act as a launch event; something big that announce
the game and kick off marketing.
28. Filming the Publicity Stunt
An amendment to our publicity stunt
would be to film the Squid running
around as well, and then uploading it onto
YouTube.This gives the stunt a longer life,
as now it would have the potential to be
shared and spread around, rather then
just be confined to the people who were
there at the time.This also allows for it
to tie in more with the campaign overall,
as it can link withYouTube and Twitter.
A good reference point is the “Batman in
Cambridge” video, which features a man
dressed as Batman tearing through
Cambridge. Most of the exposure the
video has gotten is through the internet.
We know about it because we saw the
vide, not because we were there when it
happened.
The view count on “Batman in
Cambridge” shows there is a strong
viewership for this kind of video, as well
as the amount of exposure something
like this can get overYouTube.
30. DLC
DLC – Downloadable Content, is a form of In-app purchasing. In-app
purchases are commonly things needed to progress in the game, but are held
back until the player pays for them, while DLC will be whole new aspects of
the game, new levels or new missions that continue the play.
In-App purchases can often leave customers feeling cheated, as the game was
advertised as free, but once bought needs payment to unlock the whole
experience.
An example of an app that has DLC is “Plague Inc.”, in
this game you must start your own infection to destroy
the world. You can get expansion packs that let you
have new diseases or more challenging gameplay. For
example you can download the “Mega Brutal” pack
which adds a new hardest difficulty over “Brutal”
