LOS ANGELES-Like fans at a rock concert shouting to be heard above the din, game publishers are trying just about anything to rise above overcrowded carrier decks and present their wares-and their names-to consumers.
Multi-layered decks have long been a problem for mobile content producers, often requiring users to click a dozen or more screens to find specific offerings. And unlike content from a noted artist such as Eminem, which can often be found within a few clicks, games typically require users to browse through listings of titles and publishers with which they may be completely unfamiliar.
So game-makers are working with carriers and handset manufacturers to make their offerings more visible and ease users into the process of downloading games. Namco Networks America Inc., which specializes in producing mobile versions of classic arcade video games, has teamed with Sprint Nextel Corp. to preload a demo of a Ms. Pac-Man on phones since 2004.
Users can play a 90-second trial of the game without having to download or purchase anything, and can play two more brief demos before the application becomes inaccessible. Several times during each trial, gamers are invited to purchase the title and download it to their phone.
“A very large portion of our Ms. Pac-Man downloads” are sparked by the preloaded demos, said Scott Rubin, Namco’s vice president of sales and marketing. The company hopes to expand the program to other carriers and offer bundled trials, allowing users to get a taste of a few different games before buying.
Other publishers, including Hands-On and Glu Mobile, are hoping to complement their on-deck strategies by leveraging their brand partners and go directly to consumers. Such efforts not only allow game-makers to capitalize on blockbuster brand names, they also provide an opportunity to tap into multimillion-dollar, cross-platform marketing campaigns by film studios, TV networks and other media giants.
InfoSpace Inc. also has outlined plans for a direct-to-consumer play, but is working with European carriers to offer a kind of hybrid. The Internet search and mobile content company is working to build “m-sites,” managing branded mobile storefronts that can be accessed through carrier decks.
“In Europe, we’re seeing a gradual move with the operators from guarding the portal with their lives” to more flexibility on operator decks, said Alan Weisman, vice president of marketing for InfoSpace Inc.’s European mobile media business.
The strategy couples the prime real estate of deck space with the ability to present InfoSpace’s name and offerings directly to users. And while U.S. operators generally have been loathe to surrender any control or branding of their decks, some believe American operators are warming to such partnerships as well.
Motricity, by contrast, is hoping to entice users to do the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing mobile games. The company last week announced a cross-carrier mobile community service, allowing gamers from Sprint Nextel’s Game Lobby to challenge other players and recommend titles to subscribers of Motricity-powered communities from other operators.
“(Carriers) are really using this as a marketing tool” to push content, said Dov Cohn, Motricity’s vice president of market solutions development. “They’re letting consumers do the legwork.”
Still other publishers are looking to carriers to push games and other content at brick-and-mortar sales counters. While such efforts have met with mixed success in the past-both InfoSpace and I-play launched retail initiatives that largely fell flat-many continue to see an opportunity to expose users to wireless data at a very personal level.
An engaging, interactive retail experience could help consumers come to see their phones as multimedia entertainment devices instead of simple voice communicators, said Greg Ballard, chief executive officer of Glu Mobile.
“One of the greatest untapped resources in the carrier ecosystem is the retail store,” Ballard said during a panel discussion at E3. “You walk into a Verizon retail location and you might as well be walking into a dental store. It’s the most non-entertainment store you can imagine. It’s harsh; it’s ugly.”
Of course, those adjectives can also be used to describe on-deck storefronts. But while the virtual shelves increasingly become overstocked with mobile content, publishers will continue to look for innovative ways to attract consumer eyeballs without overwhelming them with offerings.
“If you look at the stack in general, we’re far away from a user experience” that’s both engaging and easy to navigate, said Gina Centoni, senior vice president and general manager products of Hands-On Mobile, during last week’s E3 Expo. “We’re looking at a variety of different channels.”
