Oh, the games women play…
Once upon a time it was thought the typical social gamer was a fuzzy-faced pre-pubescent sprawled out on his parent’s plaid couch, doing battle with wizards and others of that underworld ilk. Seems the category’s come a long way, baby.
Get this, fellow marketeers: The average online social gamester is 43-years-old. And of the female persuasion.1 In fact, according to Flurry, a mobile app analytics provider, 53% of all mobile and social gamers are women. Consider that 200 million people play social games every month,2and that’s a lot of femme fun to be had!
So who are these women, and what do they play? They’re everyone from high-powered CFO’s to multi-tasking stay-at-home moms…to young girls attending St. Sebastian middle school. They love their Wii. But prefer flocking to Facebook from their smartphones to tend imaginary plots of land in FarmVille. Or run eateries in Restaurant City. Or fight a war of words in Scrabble-type settings.
Bottom line: Get in on the game. Brands that play to women in the social gaming arena are raising their buzz level. Case in point: Stouffers capitalized on the FarmVille craze with “Farmer’s Harvest”, which let players grow wholesome ingredients and earn exclusive items. They jumped 60 places at NBC Universal Media’s Brand Power Index.
Something to really think about.
http://burnsent.com/blog/escapists/
About Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing:
The objective every business hopes to achieve is…more business. With over 40 years of expertise in consumer analysis, pop culture and matching celebrities with brands, we’ve helped our clients galvanize sales, share and profit. We invite you to read our success stories. And become one of them. Please visit http://burnsent.com/case-studies and/or contact CEO/COO Bob Williams at Bob.Williams@burnsent.com.
Sources:
1GigaOm 2/17/2010
2The Washington Post 8/3/2010
Intensity Over Complacency
Intense physical and sensory experiences give life, brands and products deeper meaning. Today’s consumers seek out the rush of speed and the intensity of immersion in all aspects of their lives, and the implications for brands are massive.
Of course you already know this, because your brand embodies a “lifestyle” more than the mere “benefits” your product offers. But check some of this stuff out –
Extreme’ holidays are exploding in popularity — 26% have been skiing or snowboarding, 12% on a watersports holiday, 6% mountaineering or rock climbing and 5% scuba diving. An additional 16% say that they “have not been on one of these holidays but would like to”
20% of all injury claims from skiing, diving and mountain climbing are made by folks over the age of 70, suggesting this yearning for “experience” is hardly confined to the youth
High school gym classes throughout the UK are now offering Parkour and Muay Thai as part of their curriculum
Consumers everywhere are seeking an escape from — and a solution to — the fast-paced, high-speed intensity of modern life, and they are looking for ANY way to reawaken their dulled senses. Some brands — through brilliant marketing and communications, are providing just that solution.
Here at Burns, we work with brands across the spectrum, from Axe to Joe Cuervo to Nicorrette, 7-Up and Magnum Ice Cream. And as we’ve delved deeper and deeper into the psyche of “today’s consumer”, it’s clear they want an escape from — and a solution to — the fast-paced, high-speed intensity of modern life; they are looking for away to ESCAPE and reawaken their dulled senses.
Here are a few more tidbits we’ve uncovered that you might find interesting:
- Bakayarou Restaurant in Japan invites customers to throw plates against the wall and break bottles over people’s heads, to experience their meals in quite a different way from the norm
- Demand for greater sensory exploration extends beyond physical exertion, driving companies to deliver more memorable products, experiences and ad campaigns. 3D films have exploded onto the scene, attracting a 30% price premium over standard 2D films… the two blockbusters of 2009 — Avatar and Up — took 79% and 60% of their gross in 3D.
- Because we have become so visually fixated, there’s been a counter movement towards exploring the power of touch, taste and smell as an alternative. Even the most mundane products are being sensitized
Palmolive Sensations and their tagline ‘Springtime Every Time You Do the Dishes’.
Singapore Airline’s and their new corporate fragrance
Cadbury and their chocolate-infused newspapers in Australia
Dans le Noir restaurants in Paris, London and New York feature meals served in a pitch-black dining room — all the better to hone the diner’s sense of taste and smell
Brands that are associated with strong sensations — thrills, speeds, color, and taste — are most likely to win out. Yet where this trend develops next may not be through thrill seeking, but through forms of intense relaxation — or even visual relaxation, providing our screen-stressed eyes a break and letting our other senses bear the brunt.
Consumers’ desire for exploration and pleasure informed the ‘experience economy’ in the 1990s and 2000s, through areas as diverse as extreme sports, travel, cuisine and culture.
This ‘leisure economy’ did take a knock from recession, but our need for visceral, intense experiences, be they holiday escapes or things that stimulate our sense of touch or taste, endures due to a number of factors.
Our increasingly urbanized and automated existence is reinforcing our desire to de-stress through physical activity and also to reconnect with nature, and with our physical and organic selves.
In regard to sensory stimulation, the dominance of screen culture has led to a cacophony of ‘visual noise’. As a result marketers are increasingly seeking to stimulate the senses of touch, taste and smell to deliver more memorable products, services and even advertising campaigns.
Watch a TV spot from our ultra-successful BF Goodrich campaign featuring Shaun White, which almost doubled the brand’s online traffic.