Transcript The user as a source of inspiration

The user as a source of inspiration
Game On! 2007/08
Marketing college
Hogeschool van Amsterdam
Interactieve Media
Agenda
 Learning goals
 About me
 What is marketing?
 The user as a source of inspiration
 Summary
Hogeschool van Amsterdam
Interactieve Media
Learning goals
 By the end of this college you should
 Have learned a bit about me and how I see marketing and
user centred development as subjects
 Have learned the difference between needs and wants
 Have learned how you can use this difference to develop a
better offer for your target customer
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Interactieve Media
About me
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Interactieve Media
Charlie Mulholland
Education
 Philosophy (not marketing!)
Other stuff
 Language
 Okay Dutch, but…
Career
 Sony
 Accent
 Grammar
 1985 - 2000
 UPC
 Favourite Dutch word is
gezellig
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 2000
When I am enthusiastic I…
 Speak quick
 Use “idiomatische uitdrukking”
 Freelance
 Chello, WdKA
 Teaching
 HvA since 2005
Hogeschool van Amsterdam
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I love music
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I support Liverpool (sorry) and I
love cricket (really sorry)
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I am a vegetarian (in case you
want to buy me lunch)
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What is marketing?
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What marketing is not
 Marketing is not advertising
 Although advertising is an essential part of marketing
activities
 Marketing is not selling
 Although “selling” is usually the end goal of marketing
activities
 Marketing is not in itself a bad thing
 Although it sometimes is done in a way that is not good
 And marketing is not boring
 Although sometimes it can be practiced (and perhaps
taught) in a boring way
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So what is marketing
 Marketing is:
 An activity that puts a target group (or target groups) at the
centre of an organization’s activities
 An activity that involves working with groups of people to
meet the needs and wants (behoefte en wensen) of the
target customer / user in a better way than other options
 Marketing is a creative activity
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What does marketing do?
 The job of marketing is to help organizations create
mutually beneficial (wederzijds voordelig) exchange
 The idea of exchange is essential to marketing
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Exchange?
Ah, happy
shareholders
!
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That’s better!
I’m thirsty
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Exchange is the process
where you willingly give
something of value to
another, in return for
getting something of value
to you
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Exchange does not have to be
financial
 Exchange can also apply to other things such as
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Barter deals (I’ll give you this DVD player for that iPod)
Ideas and knowledge
Gossip
Support (e.g. political)
 The key is that both parties feel the exchange is
valuable for them and both exchange willingly
 Both get something they need or want
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Marketing secret number 1
People and organizations do not
buy or use things that they do
not need or want
(or at least believe that they need or want)
Marketing is therefore about
needs and wants
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Interactieve Media
A definition of marketing
(not the definition)
Marketing is a creative activity that aims to create
mutually beneficial exchange by developing offers that
meet the needs and wants of a target group(s) better
than the offers of alternatives (the competition)
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The user as a source of inspiration
Or how can marketing help you with this
assignment?
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Interactieve Media
What (I think) is important for Game
On!
 Your assignment is to develop a turn-based game
(gezelschapspel) for groups of children aged 12 that
allows them to get to know interactive media
 In order to do this you have to meet their needs and wants
for a game better than other options (your competition)
 So you have to have to understand what needs and
want are
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Needs and wants
The basis of all marketing activity
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What is a need?
 A need is a basic feeling of missing something
 When people have a need they will either
 Look for something to satisfy that need
OR
 Reduce the feeling by ignoring it or looking for something else that
will reduce the feeling
 Needs are basic to humans
 Physical needs: food, clothing, warmth, safety
 Social needs: belonging and affection
 Individual needs: knowledge, self-expression
 Basic needs such as food and safety are fairly consistent for
humans (and indeed other animals)
 Other higher level ones are not experienced by all
 There are various models to help understand this
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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
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In het Nederlands
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Wants as expressions of needs
 Wants are human needs that have been shaped by things
such as
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Culture
Sub-culture
Personality
Interests and concerns
Family and upbringing
Particular situations
 For example
 Hunger is a basic need
 However how that need is satisfied if the person has the
opportunity will depend on the factors above
 So I need to eat, but I want a vegetable curry (since I am English
and vegetarian)
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From needs to wants
Mmm…doughnuts
I’m hungry
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TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Culture
Personality
Family influence
Nationality
What’s available
Situation
Mood
Need
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QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Want
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So this means
 You first have to understand the needs of your target
group and then understand how these needs are
shaped into wants by culture, personality, etc.
 This process will allow you to develop insights into
your target group so that you can create an offer
that meets their needs and wants
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Analysing needs and wants
 Obviously a turn-based game cannot satisfy all the
needs and wants of the target group so firstly you
must ask: which can it satisfy?
 Once you have done this, you need to do some
research into the target group
 However, is the target group clear?
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Spot the similarity
You’re right - there is none
But in the old-school market segmentation
we are the same
Male and around the same age
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Game ON! target group:
children aged 12
 They probably have similar basic needs
 But some may be on different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy
 Even if they are on the same level they will certainly
not have the same wants since they have different
personalities, etc., etc. etc.
 This means they will have different ways of satisfying these
needs
 But how can you handle this?
 The golden rule in marketing is to group customers
together who have similar needs and ways of satisfying
these needs
 This is called segmentation
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Segmenting the target group
 In reality the Game ON! target group is too
undifferentiated
 In order to get better insights you need to break your
group into smaller segments
 This will allow you to group children with similar wants
 You should then target one of these groups
 This will help you understand how their needs are turned into
wants by culture, personality, etc.
 You achieve this by research
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Research?
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Tomorrow you must do two bits of research
1. Find out what needs and wants can be satisfied by playing
games (WiiAM)
2. Find out about the target group / user
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Find out about the target group cannot be done
behind a computer
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Go out into the world and look around…
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Some research tips
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Talk to members of the target group
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But be careful not ask them directly what they want
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Watch the target group
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TV, magazines, websites
Talk to people who deal with the target group
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Especially when they are playing
Look at the media the target group uses
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Generally we do not know until we see it - thinking of better offers is the one of the most
creative aspects of marketing
Parents, teachers, etc.
Be the user group
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Play games
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Imagine situations and write / tell stories (scenarios)
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Look at the competition
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What needs and wants are they trying to meet
Google for research (last option BTW)
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For example this age group is sometimes called “tweenagers”
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Your goal
 As a team you need to get beyond having a target
group of 12 y.o.
 Use your research to think about what group of
users might help you
 Girls / boys maybe but this is still not good enough
 What more might help (blind, deaf, Ajax fan, love painting
 The most successful games are targeted at the
needs and wants of a clear target group
 Your goal is to define a clear target group for this
coming Friday’s mood board.
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Summary
 Marketing is about creating exchange by satisfying
needs and wants of your target group
 In order to understand the needs and wants you
have to know your customer / user
 The user is therefore a great source of inspiration
 Get out there and get to know them
Hogeschool van Amsterdam
Interactieve Media