107235 - MARKETING

Subject type: Basic

Coordinator: Ana Beatriz Pérez Zapata

Trimester: Third term

Credits: 6

• Catalan
• Spanish

Materials (articles, videos, guides, etc.) in English and Spanish are used during the course. 

Developing video games, as well as in other creative and cultural industries, means design and technical capabilities, but also the creation of products and services that need to be distributed and collected. Making video games profitable in an increasingly competitive and changing market can mean turning that passion into our way of life. The subject of Marketing addresses this exciting professional field as a science and as an art, without losing sight of the fact that it is a piece of something bigger called business.

The knowledge and skills covered by the subject are acquired from the different sessions of theory, teamwork, group discussions, research, etc. It is for this reason that the evaluation system rewards constant teamwork and the acquisition of theoretical knowledge on an individual basis.

1. THE ROLE OF MARKETING YESTERDAY AND TODAY
1.1 What is Marketing and what is it for? 
1.2 Strategic Marketing vs. Operational Marketing
1.3 When does marketing intervene? GaaP VS GaaS orientation
1.4 Phases
1.5 Professional profiles.
1.6 Alternatives for the video game developer.
1.6.1 Self-publishing
1.6.2 Publishing
1.6.3 Third party services

2. STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL MARKETING
2.1 The business-product-market fit:
2.1.1 The value proposition (company / product)
2.1.2 Value delivered and perceived
2.1.3 Hooks vs. Points of Sale
2.2 Branding
2.2.1 Brand image
2.2.2 Brand strategy and brand tribes
2.2.3 Personal Branding
2.3 The Market and the Importance of Market Research

3. MARKET RESEARCH PHASE
3.1 Market Analysis:
3.1.1 Concentration, Competence, Maturity and Life Cycle.
3.1.2 Analysis tools (red oceans / blue oceans, trends, benchmarking)
3.1.3 Indie market situation
3.2 Market testing
3.2.1 Value and growth hypothesis.
3.2.2 Validation methods.
3.3 STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)
3.3.1 Segmentation. User Research, secondary data, qualitative data mining
3.3.2 Targeting. What is? Strategies
3.3.3 Positioning. Steps. Static and dynamic components

4. PREPRODUCTION PHASE 
4.1 Games as a Product and the 4 P'S or Marketing Mix
4.1.1 Product (benchmarking)
4.1.2 Place (platforms, stores, date, metrics and algorithms, analysis tools, etc.)
4.1.3 Price (cost / benefit, revenue models)
4.1.4 Promotion (hook and pitch)
4.2 Games as a Service (GaaS) and the 7Ps of the Marketing Mix
4.2.1 Physical Evidence (quality evidence for intangible products)
4.2.2 People (HR required to provide GaaS)
4.2.3. Process (processes required to offer GaaS)
4.3 Market testing
4.3.1 Crowdfunding and Early Access
4.3.2 Geographical tests

5. PRODUCTION PHASE 
5.1 Traditional vs. Modern Communication. Inbound vs Outbound
5.1.1 Public Relations (PR). Types of Audiences, Audience Creation, Agencies, Community Management, Buzz Marketing, Influencer Marketing.
5.1.2 Advertising. Historical note, Determinants, Agencies and Ads Campaigns.
5.1.3 SEO / SEM and ASO positioning.
5.2 When to communicate? 
5.2.1 Time of year
5.2.2 Type of consumer
5.2.3 Customer Journey and Touch Points
5.3 Creation of Materials.
5.4 Communication tools.
5.5 The Roadmap.

6. PUBLICATION AND POST-LAUNCH PHASE
6.1 Release Hype and Timing
6.2 Distribution and Platforms
6.3 Earned Media
6.3.1 Types of Press
6.3.2 Types of Coverage 
6.4. POST-LAUNCH
6.4.1 Press Reviews and Follow-up
6.4.2 Social Networking, Support, Community-driven programs and Pricing game
6.4.3 Updates, content extensions and series
6.4.4 Others: Awards, Merchandising and technical back catalog
6.4.5 Post-mortem: Budgeting and Learning Reports

The grade of each student will be calculated following the following percentages:

• A1. Exercises to do in class or at home: Exercises 10%
• A2. Group work: Market Analysis 15%
• A3. Group work: Marketing Plan 25%
• A4. Partial exam: Partial exam 20% 
• A5. Final exam 30%

Final grade = A1 x 0,1 + A2 x 0,15 + A3 x 0,25 + A4 x 0,2 + A5 x 0,3

Considerations:

• The exams (partial and final) must be passed with a minimum grade of five (5) to pass the continuous assessment.
• An activity not delivered or delivered late and without justification (court summons or medical matter) counts as a zero (0).
• It is the student's responsibility to avoid plagiarism in all its forms. In the case of detecting plagiarism in any activity, regardless of its scope, it will correspond to having a grade of zero (0). In addition, the Department Management will be notified of the situation so that applicable measures can be taken in terms of the disciplinary regime.

Recovery:

• Students with a grade of less than five (5) in the grade of any of the exams (partial or final), may retake the subject by taking a single exam that will collect all the contents of it. The mark of the resit exam will be the final mark of the subject.
• Students with a grade of less than five (5) in the weighted mark of the evaluation activities of the first call, will be able to recover the subject by carrying out a single exam that will collect all the content of the same. The mark of the resit exam will be the final mark of the subject.
• The maximum grade that can be achieved in an extraordinary call or second call is a five (5).

DRESKIN, Joel (2016). A Practical Guide to Indie Game Marketing. FL: Taylor & Francis.

Kotler, Philip (1999). Kotler on Marketing. NY: The Free Press.

ZACKARIASSON, Peter, & DYMEK, Mikolaj (2017). Video Game Marketing. A student textbook. NY: Routledge.

by BONO, Edward. (2016). Six Thinking Hats. Life.

HOLIDAY, Ryan (2014). Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising. NY: Penguin Group.

KLEIN, Laura (2018). UX for Lean Startups: Faster, Smarter User Experience Research and Design. US: O'Reilly Media Inc.

NAGLE, Thomas, & MÜLLER, Georg (2017). The strategy and tactics of pricing: A guide to growing more profitably. Routledge.

DRACHEN, Anders, MIRZA-BABAEI, ​​Pejman, & NACKE, Lennart (Eds.). (2018). Games User Research. Oxford University Press.

FUTTER, Michael (2017) The Gamedev Business Handbook: How to build the business you'll build games with! Bithell Games: London, UK.

FUTTER, Michael (2018) The Gamedev Budgeting Handbook: How to finish your game on time and on budget! Bithell Games: London, UK.