作者：Simon Newstead

對(duì)于新成立的游戲公司，品牌的意義是什么,？

不久以前,，我從資深技術(shù)企業(yè)家那兒汲取了一些經(jīng)驗(yàn)。他們都創(chuàng)立過成功的公司：

所以他們的意見肯定有道理,。

為什么樹立品牌,？

在一個(gè)山寨和盜版在應(yīng)用商店中橫行的時(shí)代，強(qiáng)大的品牌顯示出前所未有的重要性,。

品牌價(jià)值上升,，意味著消費(fèi)者生命周期也延長(zhǎng)。

強(qiáng)大的品牌有助于交叉推廣,，彌補(bǔ)上漲的每款游戲的CPA,。據(jù)供職于某大游戲工作室的朋友估計(jì)，品牌創(chuàng)造的價(jià)值超過20%,。

build-your-brand(frombloggingpro.com)

基本的品牌建設(shè)并不太費(fèi)成本,，所以新工作室也可以在這方面有所投入。

然而為什么我們總是最后才想到品牌建設(shè),？

6個(gè)月以前,，我還是主張“產(chǎn)品是唯一重要的東西”，但現(xiàn)在,，我改變立場(chǎng)了……

the race vs dead already(from iteratingfun)

這些可能是好游戲，但玩家知道它們出自同一家公司嗎,？

tap paradise cove vs tap pet shop(from iteratingfun)

另一方面,，喜歡《Tap Paradise Cove》、喜歡可愛動(dòng)物的玩家怎么會(huì)不想玩《Tap Pet Shop》,？

從何入手,？

所以品牌是重要的，但我們這些工程師或設(shè)計(jì)師,，要從何入手,？

在經(jīng)歷了《Me Girl》項(xiàng)目后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)解決以下5個(gè)問題是樹立品牌的關(guān)鍵：

1,、目標(biāo)玩家/市場(chǎng)是什么,？

2,、你的核心品牌特質(zhì)是什么？

3,、你的品牌立足點(diǎn)是什么,？（情感聯(lián)系）

4、什么能讓玩家想到你的品牌,？

5,、什么游戲和特點(diǎn)能強(qiáng)化品牌？

我們依次解答以上問題：

1,、目標(biāo)玩家/市場(chǎng)是什么,？

這是最簡(jiǎn)單的一個(gè)問題！當(dāng)你做游戲時(shí),，你應(yīng)該考慮到主要受眾是哪些人了,。也就是：

如果是策略游戲，那么目標(biāo)受眾是年齡超過25的高收入男性,。

如果是生活類游戲,，那么目標(biāo)受眾是成年女性。

如果是賽車和運(yùn)動(dòng)游戲,，那么目標(biāo)受眾是14歲以上的男孩子,。

kids playing games(from iteratingfun)

如果你相信你正在做的游戲?qū)⒊蔀椤稇嵟男▲B》第二——一款幾乎受所有人群歡迎的游戲，那么會(huì)怎么樣呢,？

做這樣一款游戲是很困難的,。雖然不排除運(yùn)氣的成分，但如果你能根據(jù)目標(biāo)玩家設(shè)計(jì)游戲和建設(shè)品牌,，成功的機(jī)率總是會(huì)大大提高,。甚至像《Temple Run》和《Words with Friends》這種在所有玩家中熱門的游戲，也有他們的主要市場(chǎng)（青少年和成年女性）,。

挖掘并確定目標(biāo)玩家的特點(diǎn)：

1,、目標(biāo)玩家是哪些人？

2,、他們什么時(shí)候玩游戲,？

3、他們的游戲設(shè)備是什么,？

4,、他們還消費(fèi)什么媒體？

5,、他們關(guān)注什么問題,？

6、他們?cè)谏钪忻媾R什么挑戰(zhàn)？

……

以上問題是下一個(gè)問題的基礎(chǔ)：

2,、你的核心品牌特質(zhì)是什么,？

如果你必須挑選品牌的兩三個(gè)特點(diǎn)，換句話說,，你的品牌靠什么脫穎而出,？

我們先看看主流案例：

brands(from iteratingfun)

Toms：社會(huì)道德（游戲邦注：TOMS是一家制鞋公司，他們承諾每賣出一雙鞋子,，他們就會(huì)向貧窮國(guó)家捐獻(xiàn)一雙鞋子）

Nike：個(gè)人成就

Walmart：種類豐富,，價(jià)格低廉

對(duì)于《Me Girl》，經(jīng)過頭腦風(fēng)暴和一個(gè)異常艱難的過程,，我們確定了3個(gè)品牌特質(zhì)：

me girl(from iteratingfun)

個(gè)人化——游戲與我的個(gè)人生活有關(guān)

游戲性——可以自我調(diào)侃的游戲

靈感——積極的游戲可以啟發(fā)我

雖然我們的第一個(gè)項(xiàng)目是一款時(shí)尚類游戲,，我們還是決定不要走像LV或美洲虎這樣太高端的路線，因?yàn)榭赡軙?huì)被某些玩家排斥,。比如,，最吸引Ashley、Christina和我本人（我們?nèi)齻€(gè)均為該項(xiàng)目組成員）的品牌其實(shí)是Ellen：

Ellen(from iteratingfun)

“如果你的游戲是一檔電視節(jié)目,，或汽車或時(shí)裝品牌……那會(huì)是怎么樣的呢,？”應(yīng)該先提這樣的問題。

一旦你確定品牌的特質(zhì),，就相當(dāng)于在迷途中找到了北極星,；它將指導(dǎo)你前進(jìn)的方向。

3,、你的品牌的立足點(diǎn)是什么,？（情感聯(lián)系）

強(qiáng)大的品牌往往讓消費(fèi)者與之產(chǎn)生超越邏輯和理性的情感聯(lián)系。

在印尼,，哪怕是工廠里廉價(jià)的橡膠和布料也能讓人們聯(lián)想到“Just Do It”,。人們會(huì)幾天幾夜排除買最新的蘋果的產(chǎn)品。人們買天價(jià)的Beats耳機(jī),，為了感受它所傳達(dá)的城市潮流和自由氣息,。

我們從中得到啟發(fā)—-當(dāng)我們A/B測(cè)試《Me Girl》的標(biāo)語時(shí)，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)情感性短語如我們最后選擇的“Fabulously Me”的效果比不帶個(gè)人色彩的“Games with Style”要好,。

“Fabulously Me”概括了我們的意圖：讓女性在玩我們的游戲時(shí)感覺良好,，似乎可以拋開年齡、長(zhǎng)相,、體型、生活狀態(tài),、挑戰(zhàn)……一切,。

這就是我們的品牌的立足點(diǎn)。

如果一個(gè)品牌能傳達(dá)某些東西，比如自由,、挑戰(zhàn)自我等,，那么玩家更可能關(guān)注這個(gè)品牌。

4,、什么能讓玩家想到你的品牌,？

當(dāng)你確定了目標(biāo)受眾、品牌特質(zhì)和情感聯(lián)系,，那就可以將品牌形像化了,。

設(shè)計(jì)圖標(biāo)、版式,、顏色,、聲音、UI元素和動(dòng)畫,，并通過吸引人的體驗(yàn)傳達(dá)品牌的價(jià)值觀,，這就是目標(biāo)。老實(shí)說,，說得容易做得難,，但我們只是直覺得認(rèn)為經(jīng)過這個(gè)過程，總會(huì)得到一些成果,。

模擬人生(from iteratingfun)

《模擬人生》的思路和它們的主題“Play with Life”就與視覺設(shè)計(jì)配合得非常好,，可以讓人一眼就辨認(rèn)出來。音樂和聲音將游戲里的古怪語言融入其中,，強(qiáng)化了獨(dú)特的個(gè)性,。

正如我們?cè)凇赌M人生》中看到的，品牌元素必須能夠結(jié)合到之后的游戲,、擴(kuò)展和續(xù)篇中,，特別是對(duì)于現(xiàn)在這個(gè)手機(jī)游戲?qū)映霾桓F的時(shí)代。

對(duì)于我們而言,，“Dance Me Girl”或者“Me Girl Dancer”就可以通過交叉推廣,，完美地嵌入相同的游戲系列中。

style me girl(from interatingfun)

5,、什么游戲和特點(diǎn)能強(qiáng)化品牌,？

一致性是關(guān)鍵——無論是美術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)、劇情,、機(jī)制,、幽默元素等。

如果谷歌把你的個(gè)人信息出賣給黑市,，你會(huì)作何感想,？

Google(from )

類似地，如果你經(jīng)常在Play First上玩《Bubblez》，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)網(wǎng)站向你推送硬核地下城MMO游戲,，你可能會(huì)感到困惑不解,。

當(dāng)然，這是極端的例子,，但我們每天都面臨無數(shù)個(gè)選擇：

1,、我應(yīng)該給UI添加一個(gè)功能，但減少模擬游戲的自由度嗎,？

2,、游戲平衡應(yīng)該傾向于免費(fèi)玩家還是高級(jí)付費(fèi)玩家？

3,、在免費(fèi)游戲中,，應(yīng)該做哪種類型的廣告？

4,、我應(yīng)該在PVP模式中添加一個(gè)功能,，讓玩家花真錢嗎？

5,、下一款游戲要做什么,？

6、……

知道你的品牌價(jià)值通常有助于解決上述問題——當(dāng)你朝著錯(cuò)誤的方向前進(jìn)時(shí),，就會(huì)對(duì)你發(fā)出警報(bào),。

例如，我們可以添加競(jìng)爭(zhēng)系統(tǒng),，允許玩家在這個(gè)系統(tǒng)作用下有組織地詆毀其他玩家的聲望,。雖然這從游戲設(shè)計(jì)的角度看是有趣的，但與我們的“積極和靈感”的主張并不一致,。

另一方面,，騰時(shí)間做品牌建設(shè)，可能不會(huì)直接在數(shù)值指標(biāo)上顯示出成效,，卻在無形中促進(jìn)玩家對(duì)游戲品牌產(chǎn)生感情,，這就值得了。

堅(jiān)持不懈的努力

我們都知道,，樹立品牌絕非一日之功——這是一個(gè)從游戲設(shè)計(jì),，到開拓市場(chǎng)，再到客戶服務(wù)的不斷努力的過程,。

當(dāng)然,，好品牌不可能拯救壞品牌。能否將寶貴的時(shí)間花在沒有做過的東西上,，總是一件難以抉擇的事,。

但假設(shè)你在做一款好游戲,，從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)看,，品牌建設(shè)確實(shí)能增加成功的砝碼,。

游戲邦注：原文發(fā)表于2012年10月29日，所涉事件及數(shù)據(jù)以當(dāng)時(shí)為準(zhǔn),。（本文為游戲邦/編譯,，拒絕任何不保留版權(quán)的轉(zhuǎn)載，如需轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)聯(lián)系：游戲邦）

Creating a game brand – 5 questions to ask

by Simon Newstead

For a startup game company, does brand matter?

A while back I sought wisdom from a group of experienced tech entrepreneurs, all of whom had built successful companies:

That makes sense.

Why build a brand?

In an age of clones and cluttered app stores, having a strong brand for your portfolio is more important than ever.

Increased brand equity correlates to increased customer lifetime values.

A strong brand will convert better in cross promotion and organic adoption of apps from the same company, offsetting rising CPAs to individual titles.  A friend at a large mobile studio with many games, estimated the brand uplift factor to be over 20%.

And basic brand building doesn’t cost that much, making it startup friendly.

Yet why is branding is usually the last thing on our minds?

6 months ago I would have counted myself in the “product is the ONLY thing that matters” camp, yet now I’ve switched camps…

These may be great games, but would players know these are from the same company?

On the other hand, how could a player who enjoyed Tap Paradise Cove and loves cute animals NOT want to play Tap Pet Shop?

How to do it?

Ok, so it’s important, but for us engineers or designers, where to start?

Having gone through the process with Me Girl, I found working through these 5 questions was very helpful:

Who is the target player & market?

What are your core brand attributes?

What does your brand stand for? (emotional connection)

What will identify your brand to players?

What games and features strengthen the brand?

Let’s go through them one by one:

1.  Who is the target player & market?

Yes, the easiest one!  You’re making a game, you should have a primary audience in mind.  eg-

We’re making strategy games for high income males over the age of 25

We’re making lifestyle games for adult women

We’re making racing and sports games for boys up to the age of 14

What if you believe you’re making the next Angry Birds, a game that will be popular with literally everyone?

Creating a game like this is difficult.  While you might strike it lucky, your chances for success and monetization go up if you create games designed and branded for a target group of players.  Even mega hits like Temple Run and Words with Friends have their primary markets (teens and adult women).

Defining player personas, who you’re building for, lets you really dig in and understand:

Who are they?

When do they play?

What do they play on?

What other media do they consume?

What issues are important to them?

What challenges do they have in their lives?

etc

This will provide your base for the next step…

2.  What are your core brand attributes?

If you had to pick (and you do!) what are the 2 or 3 things that are unique to your brand.  Put another way, what makes you different from everyone else out there?

Let’s look at some examples from mainstream:

Toms – style with a social conscience

Nike – personal achievement

Walmart -  large selection and low prices

In our case with Me Girl, after brainstorming and a surprisingly difficult process we settled on 3 brand attributes:

Personal – games that relate to my life

Playful – games that can laugh at themselves

Inspirational – positive games that inspire me

Even though our first title was a fashion game we decided not to go for the high-end aspirational position ala Louis Vuitton or Jaguar, which we felt could exclude some players.  In fact a brand that appealed to Ashley, Christina and myself (our little branding crew) and seemed most in the Me Girl spirit was Ellen:

It helps to ask “if your game was a TV show, or car or fashion brand… what would it be?”

Once you have gone through this and settled on your brand attributes, it’s like you’ve found your North Star. It will help guide you in decisions from here on out.

3.  What does your brand stand for? (emotional connection)

The strongest brands form emotional connections with consumers that often override logic and reason.

Low cost rubber and fabric stitched in a factory in Indonesia can inspire people to “Just Do It”.  People will queue for days for the latest iDevice.   Overpriced headphones from Beats convey urban cool and freedom from authority:

It opened our eyes – when we A/B tested taglines for Me Girl, we found emotional phrases like our final choice “Fabulously Me” converted much better than impersonal choices like “Games with Style”.

“Fabulously Me” sums our mission: to make women feel fabulous while playing our games.  Regardless of age, looks, body shape, status in life, challenges…everything.

This is what our brand stand for.

If a brand stands for something – Freedom.  Challenging yourself etc., chances are players will care that much more in return.

4.  What will identify your brand to players?

Once you’ve locked down your targets, brand attributes and emotional connection, it’s time to bring that to life visually.

Creating a match of logo, typography, color palette, audio, UI elements and animations in a cohesive experience that conveys your values is the goal.  Honestly, it’s easier said than done (we have a ways to go)  But we just consciously going through the process will often result in something good.

The venerable Sims line and their “Play with Life” proposition does it extremely well, with consistent visual elements that a random 20-something on a street could identify in a second.  And their music and audio right including their quirky Simlish reinforces a unique personality.

As we’ve seen with the Sims, branding elements that anticipate and can weave into future games, expansions and sequels is also important.  Even more so in the age of mobile with more releases more often.

For us a future “Dance Me Girl” or “Me Girl Dancer” would fit nicely into the same family from a cross promotion perspective.

5.  What games and features strengthen the brand?

Consistency is key – whether in art, storyline, mechanics, humour etc.

If Google decided to sell your personal info to shady direct marketers, how would you feel?

Likewise if you’re someone who enjoys Bubblez on Play First and returned to find them pushing a hardcore dungeon raiding MMO, you’d probably be confused.

These are extreme examples of course, but there are plenty of choices that we all face every day:

should I add a feature to simplify UI but reduce freedom in my simulation game?

should the game be balanced to encourage free players or heavily favor paid users?

what types of ads should I be showing in my freemium game?

should I add a feature that lets you lose a lot of real money investment in PvP?

what should my next game be?

etc..

Knowing your brand values often helps in these questions – ringing an warning bell when you’re heading down a wrong path.

For example we could add competitive systems where you systematically tear down the reputation of others. Whilst “fun” from a game design perspective and helping short term numbers, it wouldn’t align with our “positive and inspirational” feel.

And on the flip side, carving out cycles to do brand building features that might not directly boost metrics but help players fall in love with your game brand can be worthwhile.

An ongoing endeavour

As we’re understanding, it’s not a one time activity – building a brand is an ongoing sustained effort that spans from game design, to engineering to marketing and even customer support.

Of course a great brand can’t rescue a bad game and it’s always a tough call to put precious cycles into something you haven’t before.

But assuming you are making good games, investing in brand building can add up to huge wins in the long term.(source:iteratingfun)