Angry
Birds is a simple puzzle video game developed by Rovio Mobile in 2009 that took
the world by storm and has ever since been extremely popular. It is a mobile
app whose franchise is expanding towards toys, board games, cookbooks and video
game consoles. The goal is to retrieve stolen bird eggs from hungry pigs
(enemy) and eliminate these pigs by killing them. The players launch wingless
birds into the air using a slingshot to destroy pigs and structures housing
them. These structures housing the pigs are made of different materials like
glass, wood, and stones that resemble toy building blocks of children. If
players can complete the first mission successfully, (by eliminating all pigs
within the given time and number of birds), they proceed to the next level
whereby different pigs await to be killed as well as structures to be
destroyed. New types of birds as well as features including explosives become
available to the players as they progress through advanced levels. Some birds
have special abilities that can be activated by players when they are airborne
while others are very effective against particular material. However, what
makes consumers hooked on this game is the plethora of holiday promotions,
additional content and free updates.
Angry
birds is most probably one of the most popular apps out there despite the
availability of other numerous apps (over 2 million) worldwide. Angry Birds is
downloaded over a million times a day and is played for a total of over 200
minutes a day! It’s apparent that the global market for “apps†is already
humongous yet this rate continues to grow rapidly. Regarding sales, the global
app market accounted for $ 6.8 billion in sales in 2010 only. Analysts
projected that this digit would double up to $25 billion by 2015. In 2015, the
global mobile app revenues amounted to $69.7 billion ("Mobile
app revenues 2015-2020 | Statistic", 2016). These mobile apps are
expected to generate $188.9 billion in revenues by 2020 through stores and in –
app advertising. According to the Global games market report of 2016, gamers
worldwide were projected to generate revenue totaling to $99.6 billion in 2016
alone with 37% of it being generated by mobile apps ("The
Global Games Market 2016 | Per Region & Segment | Newzoo", 2016).
$99.6 billion is up 8.5% compared to the previous year (2015). North America is
said to produce the most revenue in the app market while Asia maintains the
highest total of app downloads. Several factors have helped propel Angry Birds
to immense success. These are;
•
The company
made the game simple to use and thus increased its addictive power.
•
Engagement
of the company in customer relationship management and maintaining
communication with consumers via social media
•
The game
received a boost from celebrity endorsement
•
The game’s
unpredictability that lures in consumers
•
The Apple
platform where the game started which opened the company up for innovation and
gave them an enormous market.
The
Angry Birds franchise continues to expand and engage with customers through
developing innovations and partnering with other organizations. The company is
planning to get special game features soon as a function of their location and
offer Angry Birds merchandise for assorted electronic devices. Rovio, the
company behind Angry Birds, has joined hands with BirdLife International to
help save threatened birds from extinction as part of cause-related marketing.
Rovio helps raise awareness of bird extinction issues through the in-game
directing players to BirdLife International web pages so as they can learn
about their programs. Likewise, for players who visit BirdLife’s site, there is
a trivia question about the extinction of birds that rewards a secret level of
Angry Birds for them (P. 261-262).
Q4. Angry Birds and many other apps are
available in numerous countries. What are some of the factors that app
designers should consider when entering into a foreign market?
Global
reach is a concept that was unheard of for entrepreneurs before the digital
age, but today, it’s a reality and the only realistic way to maximize revenue.
Moreover, applications especially smartphone apps are a hotter digital
commodity that is growing in demand, on a global scale at a very fast pace. One
can truly go global with their product in this era in a historical manner. App
downloads are soaring worldwide, and customers have unprecedented access to
information at their fingertips. For instance, the Apple App Store now hosts
over 500,000 apps, across more than 40 languages from tens of thousands of
particular developer teams. Today’s technologies such as mobile technologies
led by Apple are available globally and therefore mobile app developers have an
opportunity to reach foreign markets with ease. The following are factors app
designers should consider when entering a foreign market;
•
Turnaround Time
The
Apple app store may take around five days on average to get an app approved.
But once the initial app is approved, getting localized versions of the same
app approved becomes easier. Apple loves localized apps and therefore this
faster turnaround time allows app designers and developers to reach untapped
markets faster. App designers should be prepared to release new localized
versions of their app in the Apple app store of another country.
•
Smartphone Penetration
Deciding
which languages to localize the app in is a crucial decision for app designers.
It is equally important for them to understand the device ownership profile of
their target audience in the foreign country. OS dominance and smartphone
penetration have an enormous impact on virality as well as return on investment
(ROI). For instance, India’s smartphone is trivial as compared to South
Korea’s. It’s important for app designers to know their market size potential
before investing money in localization.
•
Mechanical Aspects
Having
an intention of going global saves app designers time and money to build the
app. All content “speaking†to the user will need translation. This will also
happen for every error message, every graphic containing text, and every
button. Any spoken text in audio form relaying a message to the user will have
to be re-recorded in the appropriate language of the foreign markets. The
layout of the mobile app will also need to be changed so as to provide room for
texts that will expand when translated to another language. This will make the
localization process easier and increase discoverability of the app.
•
Cultural Acceptability
Mobile
games may be popular in one country while informational apps may be more
popular in the next. Similarly, not all apps well received in English-speaking
markets will be well received in markets that do not speak English. App
designers can determine what is culturally accessible through checking the app
ranking charts in each target market or country. This way, they get an
opportunity to capitalize and deliver a unique product since they get to know
what is popular and what doesn’t exist. When it comes to translating mobile
apps, the smallest details can make a big difference between cultures. For
instance, date and times (formats) are displayed differently worldwide. It’s,
therefore, important for app designers to use the appropriate international
date and time functions when coding their app
•
Discoverability and Distribution
App
designers can consider using external help to increase the visibility of their
app in a foreign market and drive downloads if they want to supercharge
revenue. Companies such as Moolah, Papaya, Tapjoy and AdMob among many others
have insights into the international market and can help increase app sales and
generate new consumers. There are specific companies that help mobile game
developers enter foreign markets and offer deals with major app stores and
handset companies that create a one-stop shop for distribution (Clavin, 2011).
Q5.
Angry Birds is Appealing to young children because of its simplicity and
cartoonish quality. Clearly, children are one of the market segments that Angry
Birds is targeting. It is involved in, or is planning such initiatives as
clothing, toys, and Angry Birds Happy Meals. Chapter 6 discusses marketing to
children and the consumer socialization process. What ethical concerns does
Rovio consider when marketing to children?
Marketing
ethics mainly deals with moral principles behind operations and regulations of
marketing and is an area of applied ethics. Ethics of advertising and promotion
are some of the areas of marketing ethics that overlap with media ethics. Market
ethics may also apply to different spheres such as in pricing, promotion, and
advertising. Children significantly affect the products their parents buy which
is why marketers use a lot of money to target children. Children are a target
market audience for fashionwear, unhealthy food, and entertainment goods as
they are a lucrative market. Children aged 12 and below spend more than $11
billion of their own money while influencing family spending decisions worth
another $ 165 billion. However, children do not understand marketing tactics
and cannot resist at younger ages. They don’t understand persuasive intent
until they are around nine years old. This explains why marketers are taking
advantage of this situation. In 2007 alone, approximately $2 billion was spent
on advertising to children.
Despite
the potential returns children can give to manufacturers, there are key ethical
issues that frequently arise in this type of discussion. For instance, do
children possess the final buying power? Are children able to understand some
of the intricate marketing tactics? Do kids know the negative effects of some
of the goods advertised to them? And do marketers need to get permission from
their parents? (Smith, 2010) While many
criticize, the move to target children in advertising, the issue might not be
as clear-cut and one-dimensional as it’s portrayed. Rovio seems to try to prove
critics wrong through responsible child – targeted marketing and advertising.
The company seeks to serve the best interest of kids as much as it does serve
the business objectives of the clients. It aims to establish a notion that
marketing to children is ethical if it balances commercial sale with the
promotion of positive behavior. Rovio does this by placing products in the
appropriate context for use as meal components, to promote age and theme
appropriate entertainment, and to encourage play as well as developmental
skills.
Rovio
has been successful in the industry and “done well by doing goodâ€. The whole
team especially marketers and advertisers have done a terrific job that has
propelled Angry Birds to the position it is today. They have used a marketing
and communications expertise that has sold out products and has enriched the
bottom line to new messages that balance product desire with responsible
product practice. It’s interesting to see what developments will take place
over the next few years and what the future holds for the issue of marketing to
children.
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