MxMIndia

Tag: mobile gaming

  • Mobile gaming has become the big deal of the year, Zapak Digital's Chaitanya Prabhu tells MxMIndia.

    Growth expected to be in video: Chaitanya Prabhu, Zapak

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Despite the challenges being presented, the year 2012-13 was a decent one for Zapak Digital as business grew by a significant amount. In fact the digital player is very bullish going forward as it readies itself for opportunities on the medium of mobile.

     

    Chaitanya Prabhu, Business Head – India, Zapak Digital Entertainment reveals to MxM India that its primary focus is to build up the mobile gaming business by offering high quality mobile games that can be enjoyed by casual gamers across platforms and across the world. Along with that, he reiterates, the agenda for this year is also to focus on Advergaming & SMM by reaching out to brands with refreshing ideas and pitches.

     

    How would you summarize 2012-13 for Zapak Digital in India? Were you able to achieve growth targets as per expectations?

    The year 2012-13 was challenging and exciting for us, as the business landscape was changing rapidly with the focus moving to mobile. We see great opportunities on mobile and that is why we altered our strategy to ensure that we maximize this big opportunity that will be the focus area going forward. We managed to grow our business in 2012-13 and we are going to be very bullish going forward as we prepare ourselves for the opportunities on mobile.

     

    How has the digital market evolved in India over the past few months given that new trends get thrown up almost every day?

    The online advertising market in FY12-13 has represented a growth of approximately 30 percent, and the share of advertising on mobile and social media is expected to grow dramatically this year too. Although search advertising still constitutes majority share (approximately 38 percent) of overall digital advertising spends, we expect this year, social media, video and mobile to increase share of marking spends which are still a smaller pie. As a trend for last year, definitely 2012-13 will be a year which will be remembered for companies in India officially taking the social media plunge, embracing Twitter, Facebook and advertising on social networking sites as an integral and crucial part of their marketing plans, and using demographic information to target their ads appropriately.

     

    How has the consumption pattern of the audiences changed with respect to accessing content on the digital platform?

    We have seen a massive burst of app downloads. The app economy in India is growing month on month. We are seeing 200 million app downloads every month in the country and we see this only grow considering that the Smartphone penetration in India is just 11 – 12 % and expected to grow to 15 % in 2013 and continue growing YOY. Rich media with video is gradually ramping up in mobile advertising industry and advertising in Gaming apps are also helping with greater reach and conversions.

     

    The next upcoming trend on mobile will be display to include rich use of rich media with banner ads which have capability to expand, offering advertiser larger space to communicate. We will also soon see relevant targeted Games that can also be placed within a banner to make user’s experience more interactive and engaging in smartphone devices.

     

    How have the various verticals under Zapak delivered on the growth front?

    We have the following verticals under Zapak including Advergaming, Zapak Portal on PC & Mobile, and SMM & Activations.

     

    Advergaming – This is a big focus as we are seeing that brands need engagement activities that continue to build the brand. We are working very closely with companies like HUL, Cadbury, Hyundai, Maruti etc so that they can keep interacting with the target user group through the concept of Advergaming.

     

    SMM and Activations – We estimate total social spend in India to be approx 300 cr in FY 2012-13. Social media spends has nearly doubled in last 2 years. Growth area this year is expected to be on video. At Zapak, being aware of this we have made video as a key component of social media strategy and have worked on multiple client delivering them sharable videos which helps us develop an organic reach and better recall of digital campaigns. As brands keep asking for activations as part of their digital strategy, our activations team YOY keeps exciting brands with the way they are doing Phygital. With digital at its core, we have successfully executed couple of Phygital campaigns this year and were a runaway hit instantly with TG and were highly appreciated by clients we cater to in social media space.

     

    Zapak Portal on PC & mobile – While we see inventory sales in PC grow as we keep seeing an increase in the number of visitors on the portal, we are seeing a multi fold jump in users accessing the Zapak portal on mobile.

     

    What are the challenges you foresee for the growth of digital in India?

    The biggest challenge in digital media is understanding of key metrics which are relevant and should be set as an end goal; second major challenge is Diversity- East to West, North to South, planning for a nationwide campaign or at a regional level, the interest, culture and tastes vary and is very visible in any digital platform. This is a debatable issue, as people use internet in the universal language English and covers the educated middle and upper class. True, but local flavours rule the roost. Thirdly it’s about getting it Integrated: Any digital campaign with its well defined goals have many platforms- e-mailers, SMS, ad words, special promotions on Social media and SEO and ORM which area long-term affair and many more to come in future. Each of these platforms has its own perils and should be approached with its own expertise.

     

    Despite its prominence and ease of availability, digital has not found much favour with brands who fail to splash out sufficient budgets on the medium. What will it take for brands to take a proportionate liking to the medium?

    Marketers should aim to provide innovative concepts that are relevant to the brand and have the capabilities to sustain consumer interest for a longer period. In case of the digital medium, the return of investment for any brand is user’s engagement. Once that is achieved, brands will be more open to exploring the digital medium and leveraging the abundant opportunities available.

     

    What is the growth plan for Zapak Digital for 2013-14 in India?

    Our primary focus is to grow our mobile gaming business by offering high quality mobile games that can be enjoyed by casual gamers across platforms, across the world. Along with that, the agenda for this year is also to focus on advergaming and SMM by reaching out to brands with refreshing ideas and pitches.

     

  • The slow death of console gaming and growing dominance of mobile gaming was among the issues discussed at the session on Gaming.

    @FF12: ‘Console gaming in India is in big trouble’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Console gaming today has become only an urban phenomenon, in the small towns it is the mobiles which has become a primary source of entertainment. Women too in large numbers are exploring gaming and access to mobile gaming in India is expected to further increase. In a country like India, content needs to be contextually and culturally relevant. These were some of the points raised at the Day 2 session of FICCI Frames 2012 – ‘From East to West: The Next Big Thing in Gaming.’

     

    This session was moderated by Mr Rajesh Rao, Founder and CEO, Dhruva Interactive. The panel members included, Mr Jithin Rao, Producer with Ubisoft; Mr Ray Sharma, Founder and CEO, XMG Studio Inc;  Mr Howard Donaldson, President, DigiBC; Mr Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO IndiaGames; and Mr Ninad Chhaya, COO, Playcaso.

     

    One of the heated topic during this session was the slow death of console gaming and how mobile gaming will play a dominant role. Unlike Mr Ray who strongly believed that the Console market was in deep trouble and that there is a massive value shift happening from console to mobile gaming, his co-panelists Mr Jithin Rao and Mr Howard Donaldson believed that console gaming was here to stay and could still play a dominant role in the Country. “I don’t see the console market going away, it may still have a dominant presence despite the ongoing digital revolution” said Mr Donaldson. Mr Rao of Ubisoft said, “I don’t see console gaming going away even in the next five years because there are still hard core gamers in India. In fact we believe that every platform has its own experience to share with the consumer whether it is big screen or small.”

     

    Another interesting points raised during the session was the importance of mobile in the rapid growth of gaming in India. According to Mr Chhaya, “The change has been that phones are getting smarter. Consoles have become more of an urban phenomenon but, in smaller towns it is the mobile phones which have become major source of entertainment. The people in small towns are fast adapting to mobile internet. Internet on access through mobile is fast growing and the change which has come is that people have not only become more aware but, the fact that the apps system has also changed the entire environment. I would say for the better.”

     

    Mr Gondal observed, “Even women are exploring gaming in a big way. We are expecting four to five million Indians accessing Internet from mobile and expecting atleast 50 per cent of them playing games. In a market like India, local IP will do much better that global. On the production values, consumers are looking at higher production values with the best of the breed of contents and I believe that the consumers will not settle for anything less.”

     

    Mr Rajesh Rao summed up the session stating that while there are many ideas and lots of opportunities and potential in the market, the industry needs to explore them.