Академия Интернет-Маркетинга #1


Стань экспертом в интернет-маркетинге!

Юлия Галынская

90000 What it means to be a ‘whale’ — and why social gamers are just gamers 90001
90002 The «whales» of the social-gaming world are a mystery to most of us. As the biggest spenders, they make up a tiny group (think about 2 percent of audiences) that drives most of the revenue for publishers of these games. But the word «whale» is not a flattering term, and neither are the numbers associated with it. These are people, not just customers. 90003
90002 It’s easy to think of whales anonymously because we’re not quite sure who they are or how they think — they’re often elusive due to the stigma that surrounds them.We know they play social games, but are they social? Are their habits casual or obsessive? What kind of people are they? 90003
90006 ‘Whale’ has many meanings 90007
90002 Whales existed in online and mobile video games long before they started appearing in the West. Longtime game analyst Michael Pachter told GamesBeat that Asia has used free-to-play with microtransactions for 15 years, but it still feels like a relatively new phenomenon here as we wonder whether the business model holds a place in our future.90003
90002 Today, the idea of ​​a «whale» carries a different weight for each company. 5th Planet Games, a developer of social games for both casual and hardcore audiences, starts classifying its players as whales when they spend $ 100 or more a month. That’s a big jump from whales on Facebook, for instance, where social gamers could drop $ 25 per month to meet the same qualification. 90003
90002 5th Planet chief executive Robert Winkler revealed at the Game Developers Conference Online in 2012 that with its game Clash of the Dragons, 40 percent of revenue came from 2 percent of players who spent $ 1,000 or more.Ninety percent came from those who spent $ 100 or more, and the top whale had spent $ 6,700. 90003
90002 Other companies, like social casino developer Blitzoo, defines various categories of whales based on a combination of factors: total money spent, playtime, experience points earned in-game, and so on. Play sessions tend to be three or four times longer than what an average player’s would be. 90003
90002 But these are all still numbers, not faces or personalities. Winkler told us that a strong sense of community is important for encouraging whales to not only engage but also monetize, and that’s a clue to who they are as people.90003
90002 «We’ve found that most players are more willing to spend money to help out their fellow gamers than to try to defeat them,» he said. «As an example, players who take part in our ‘guilds,’ or groups of players who come together to accomplish communal missions, are 8.5 times more likely to monetize than players who do not belong to a guild, and the ARPU [average revenue per user] of players in our guilds is 53 times higher than other players. » 90003
90002 For that reason, building community is a huge priority for 5th Planet.It’s a way to attract more whales and monetize more successfully. 90003
90002 «This could be by participating in your forums, by running contests and giveaways, by forming special guilds or councils, or simply by talking directly with your players and showing that you’re listening,» said Winkler. «When players feel like they’re part of community, they become more invested in the outcome of game. And when they’re more emotionally invested in the game, they’ll invest with their wallets as well. » 90003
90002 5th Planet declined to inform us whether their whales receive any special benefits, and as for whether these players subsidize the game for others, it only said, «As with any free-to-play game, there are a group of paying players, including whales, whose in-game [spending] allows game houses to bring new, fresh, and updated content to all players.»We were unable to acquire responses from the other companies we spoke with for this article. 90003
90006 Are whales different from ‘normal’ gamers? 90007
90002 Talking to whales is not easy; their habits and relationships with social-game publishers are touchy subjects. But as I found with one player, who goes by the handle «Bludex,» all you have to do is disarm their defenses a little. Aside from the amount he spends every month ($ 100 on average and sometimes as much as $ 400), he shares many of the same interests and concerns of regular gamers.90003
90002 Like many whales, Bludex prefers to stick with one or two games — in his case, 5th Planet’s Clash of the Dragons (a free social massively multiplayer online role-playing card game) and Legacy of Heroes (a free collectible card game). He does not stray much into other platforms. 90003
90002 «To me, a game is only as good as its following and associated community,» he said. «Without quick queue times for competitive events and a bustling forum, games tend to lose interest with me.» 90003
90002 He’s not exactly glued to his computer screen, though.Bludex says he plays for roughly 20 minutes in the morning and one to three hours in the evening. Just because he spends a lot of money does not mean this routine conflicts with everyday living. 90003
90002 90037 «90038 When I’m at work, I barely have any time to think about games,» he said. «However, most of my social time with friends involves lots of gaming. Board games, card games, going to a casino, playing Magic [the Gathering], etc. So gaming is very important to my social life. » 90003
90002 That’s social life outside of games, not necessarily in them.Bludex supervises a network operations center for a large company and enjoys active pursuits like hiking and eating out at restaurants. That’s part of why he does not prefer single-player experiences. 90003
90002 «I’m a social being at heart,» he said. «When there’s nobody to share my experience with — whether it be some friendly trash-talking or a virtual high-five of an accomplishment — the games just become less interesting.» 90003
90002 He does not leave those friendships solely online, either.»I have friendships going on 10 years or more with people I game with online that I’ve almost all met in real life at some point or another,» he said. «I would definitely say gaming has been the main driver in my social life both online and offline.» 90003
90002 Like most dedicated gamers, Bludex actively follows news announcements related to the titles he plays, but frequent content additions are what keeps him coming back. With each break he took from Clash of the Dragons, for instance, he returned to check out a new update.And when he played World of Warcraft, he would quit for as long as a year — until Blizzard released a new expansion. 90003
90002 The more we talked, the more Bludex opened up about his passions and thoughts on current issues in the industry, but one question remained: How does it feel to be called a «whale»? 90003.90000 General Management — What is Marketing? : MarketingProfs Article 90001
90002 We’ve noticed that on a well known marketing web site (actually, it’s on the ClickZ.com web site), there is an article with a similar title — just what is marketing? This is a very good question and the answer typically ends up (as it is in the aforementioned article) being a lot of tactics, like advertising, brand management, sales, service, pricing, email marketing, etc. That’s a good start, but far from complete.90003
90002 And that’s one of the problems with the web. There are lots of web sites out there with people claiming to be knowledgeable about marketing. In fact, if you go to search engines like Google and type in marketing, you’ll come up with over 16,000,000 web pages! By the time you’ve got that many people claiming to be experts in marketing, it’s difficult to even know what marketing means. 90003
90002 90007 MARKETING IS NOT TACTICS 90008 90003
90002 When most people think of marketing, they think of marketing tactics.People associate marketing with tactics, partly because they’re fun. Advertising is fun, promotions are fun, and so is sending out email campaigns and every other similar tactic. But tactics, while the most salient aspects of marketing, are similar to the tactics of sport. They’re very important, but useless without having a sound basis of knowledge. 90003

90002 And so it is with marketing. Marketing is far more than tactics. Marketing is analysis, and a sound marketing strategy is based on this analysis.90003
90002 90007 OBVIOUSLY, MARKETING IS ABOUT CUSTOMERS 90008 90003
90002 What type of analysis are we talking about? Well, analysis about customers, for example. Having a solid understanding of customers means having a solid understanding about how customers behave, their motivations, their perceptions and preferences. It means segmenting the market correctly and not in the way that most companies think about segmentation (if they ever do). 90003
90002 It means having a profound understanding of their attitudes, their knowledge and their emotions.Without having this knowledge, the tactics of marketing are just blowing in the wind. You’ll hope that the tactics work, but be blissfully unaware about whether anyone would want to pay attention or listen. 90003

.90000 Information and facts about whaling 90001
Skip to content

90002

Search

90003

90004

90005 90006 About us 90005 90006 The team 90009 90006 How we spend your money 90009 90006 Our Achievements 90009 90006 Jobs 90009 90006 Volunteering with WDC 90009 90018 90009 90006 Contact us 90005 90006 Press & media 90009 90006 Enewsletter 90009 90006 Website feedback 90009 90018 90009 90006 News & Blogs 90009 90006 Policy & Advocacy 90005 90006 WDC Publications and Reports 90009 90006 Whale culture 90009 90006 The Green Whale 90009 90018 90009 90006 90043 90009 90006 90043 90005 90006 Australia 90009 90006 USA 90009 90006 Deutschland 90009 90018 90009 90018

Donate

Adopt

90057

90005 90006 Home 90009 90006 About whales & dolphins 90005 90006 Whale and dolphin species guide 90009 90006 How we help 90009 90006 Facts, figures & multimedia 90009 90006 Educational Resources 90009 90006 Whale and dolphin watching 90009 90018 90009 90006 Our 4 goals 90005 90006 End captivity 90009 90006 Stop whaling 90009 90006 Create healthy seas 90009 90006 Prevent deaths in nets 90009 90018 90009 90006 Support our work 90005 90006 Adopt a whale or dolphin 90009 90006 Make a donation 90009 90006 Shopping and Lifestyle Giving 90009 90006 Fundraise for us 90009 90006 Payroll Giving 90009 90006 Remember WDC in your Will 90009 90006 Charity Partnerships 90009 90006 Raffle 90009 90006 Philanthropy 90009 90006 Charitable Trusts and Foundations 90009 90018 90009 90018

Donate

Adopt

90005 90006 About us 90005 90006 The team 90009 90006 How we spend your money 90009 90006 Our Achievements 90009 90006 Jobs 90009 90006 Volunteering with WDC 90009 90018 90009 90006 Contact us 90005 90006 Press & media 90009 90006 Enewsletter 90009 90006 Website feedback 90009 90018 90009 90006 News & Blogs 90009 90006 90009 90018.90000 What is Marketing? Marketing definitions. 90001
90002 90003 90004 90005
90006 Marketing definitions 90007
90002 There are many marketing definitions. The better definitions are focused upon market orientation and the satisfaction of customer needs. 90005
90010 90002 Marketing is the social process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging value with others. 90005
90002 Kotler and Armstrong (2010). 90005
90015
90002 The definiton is based upon an a basic marketing 90017 exchange process 90018, and recognises the importance of 90017 value 90018 to the customer.90005
90010 90002 The process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships in order to capture value from customers in return. 90005
90002 Kotler and Armstrong (2010). 90005
90015
90002 Kotler and Armstrong develop their orginal definition to recognise the importance of the longer-term relationship with the customer. This is achieved by relationship marketing and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). 90005
90010 90002 Marketing is the management process for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.90005
90002 The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Accessed 2012. 90005
90015
90002 The CIM definition looks not only at identifying customer needs, but also satisfying them (short-term) and anticipating them in the future (long-term retention). The definition also states the importance of a 90017 process 90018 of marketing, with marketing objectives and outcomes. CIM is recognised as being one of the most influential marketing 90039 bodies in the world. It is the professional body for marketing in the United Kingdom.90005
90010 90002 Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (Approved October 2007) 90005
90002 American Marketing Association Board of Directors. Accessed 2012. 90005
90015
90002 Again, in common with Kotler and Armstrong above, the AMA focuses its definition on value creation and delivery, and the longer-term retained customer. 90005
90010 90002 The enigma of marketing is that it is one of man’s oldest activities and yet it is regarded as the most recent of business disciplines.90005
90002 Baker (1976). 90005
90015
90002 Baker introduces the elephant in the room. Marketing has always been part of business, and it is a myth that it is purely a contemporary idea. 90005
90002 Also see the Philosophy and Theory of Marketing 90005
.