This post is something I have in my TODO list since a long time ago. It’s about how a company can make the best and the worst at the same time, in addition analyse their contradictions.
Few months ago, Burger King took the top ten game lists by storm. The secret sauce: promotional content + very low price.
The game was developed for Xbox consoles and offered at a price of $ 3.99 when a game usually cost around $ 70US. The game was based on the Burger King mascot with what the brand exposure was high.
So, promotional content + price reduced by twenty times + consumer choice = success with more than 2 million sales. It surpasses Gears of Wars.

Well, it should be easy to replicate on mobile phones. Well, that's not going to happen. I saw the following announcement in my bag of burger:

Users' choice '? not clear to me because it shows that' applies monthly subscription ', in addition leaving the door open for 'other costs may apply’.
Besides, how they want to charge more for a mobile game that one for XBOX, why not put the game at a price 20 times lower than market? If they do will success, why ruin the idea? Put the price to $ 0.2 without subscription, and you will see how you take the list by storm again.
Now, putting my imagination to work, I could imagine BK headquarters, after 3 months from the mobile gaming launch. The results of downloads will be low or zero. They will have several complaints from customers who did not want to subscribe, they just wanted a game. They will say that the mobile advergaming is not working, that the mobile marketing in games has also damaged their image.

Please don’t following on this path and spend your efforts on other things. Also don’t call a marketing campaign to a mobile business of selling content.

Labels: anti-advergaming

Few days ago I read the Expansion newspaper, as usual, but this time really gets to me emotionally. In particular was one of the Rütten publication survey, the question: Would you buy or hire products or services from a Spanish company? 54% replied that wouldn’t buy or hire services related to the telecommunications sector. The 67% would not buy banking or insurance -these are worse than us-. But we are willing to buy wine, fruit, vegetables or travel services. That's The Beginning Of The End!

It isn’t something that surprised me, is something that we know long time ago -at least the Spanish entrepreneurs who are trying to go international-. Spanish innovation and research is NOT appreciated, but researchers are, therefore many ended up working in the United States, Germany, England, etc..
We are paying the bill of ‘Spain is Different’ concept. After years of selling sun, beach, apartments and party, you can hardly say to this global market that we do technology too.
If you ask for known brands / companies or 'respected' on the outside, you could find El Corte Ingles, and perhaps most prominent outside Inditex –Zara-. What about technology? I think only known is Telefónica, not because of its best of bread products, but because of the market share it has achieved based on checkbook. Then no one else.

I mean we all agree that a country with a little ambition, the first thing we try to do, is to create a business, innovation and entrepreneurship network which will provide a competitive advantage in a global marketplace. If we evaluate the results, Spain has absolutely failed, and we have a few more years of failure, but we will proceed with our sun and beach.
The government has too much work to do in foreign trade, a problem even bigger of our housing market bubble. Something ready for next Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise, milestone: making the country's competitiveness rises.

While newspapers bombard us with Alonso winning formula 1, or Spain trying to win a Eurocup –last time we won was at 1964 in Soviet Union -, and you know we are always favourites.
I just hope that people like Tuenti, and all of us, earn the respect and be proud of Tech Made in Spain.

Labels: strategy

Unkasoft, in particular Jaime will be one of the speakers at IIR's Mobile Advertising 2008. So June 23th will be the moment in Brussels to comment our experiences and listening to the rest panellist. Personally, IMHO, mobile advertising is the future but we must arrange it today.

As the IIR‘s team says: ’2008 certainly looks like being the year when this nascent market finally gears up for growth. The rollout of flat rate data pricing by operators across the globe has boosted mobile internet and content markets, crucially increasing the reach and effectiveness of mobile advertising”. As we commented recently in the MMA’s committees, educating the market - advertisers, the media and the rest of the ecosystem - represents one of the biggest challenges facing the advertising industry moving at the moment. And mind the standardization necessary for a successful market.

Therefore under the IIR am convinced that this is a good forum to rely on the agenda with people like:

Xavier Perret, VP Communication Suite & Digital Advertising, ORANGE FT GROUP

Juhani Kivikangas, VP Content, TELIASONERA

Tanya Field, Head of Mobile Internet, O2 UK

Carl Taylor, Director of Applications & Services, Global Technology Strategy, HUTCHISON WHAMPOA (EUROPE)

Stefaan Van Dyck, Head of Business Development, PROXIMUS

Nuno Lopes Gama, Mobile Internet & New Business Manager, SONAECOM

Giles Rhys Jones, Director Interactive, OGILVYONE & OGILVY ADVERTISING

Alain Heureux, President, IAB EUROPE

Joy Whitehead, Communications Director, ZED MEDIA

Henry Stevens, Director of Media & Entertainment, GSMA

…

Also our friends from Gomo News are one of the media partners, something that I am glad to see.

Last Friday Ricardo told me that Crisis in Latin means opportunity. But I’m opting for representation in Japanese, which means simultaneously two very different things, opportunity and danger. In this Crisis scenario, I see an opportunity in the mobile marketing, but what we must be prepared to avoid possible dangers.

I hope you join us there.

Labels: advergaming, company, events

GameSpace is a new BETA form on non-intrusive advertising. The advertisements are triggered on the internet in the Mobile Internet and within the game. And now fully integrated in your favorite's social network, Facebook.

An easy way to share the best mobile games with your friends. During the presentation at the CTIA Wireless-Las Vegas service opens an opportunity for a global community GameSpace can be found within applications Facebook or at unkasoft.mobi.

Labels: advergaming, gamespace