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Superstar Session: Unlocking Gaming's Potential as a Media Channel
Gaming has evolved into a dominant global media channel, currently reaching an audience of over three billion players.
- Gaming has reached a global scale of over three billion players, positioning it as a primary media channel for long-term brand building.
- The industry is shifting from fragmented, custom brand activations toward a scalable, automated infrastructure that integrates ads natively into gameplay.
- To ensure sustainability, the model prioritizes non-intrusive, native ad formats over disruptive, performance-based advertising to protect user retention.
iOS 15 Upcoming Changes & Impact on ASO
The iOS 15 update marks a fundamental evolution in App Store strategy, transitioning from a static user-centric model to a dynamic environment that empowers developers with sophisticated marketing and conversion optimization tools.
- iOS 15 introduces three major App Store Optimization (ASO) features focused on conversion: Custom Product Pages, In-App Events, and native A/B testing for store assets.
- Custom Product Pages allow developers to create unique landing pages for specific ad campaigns without requiring a new app binary submission, though all assets still require Apple's review.
- In-App Events can be targeted to specific user segments—new, active, or lapsed—and will be discoverable via the app's product page, search results, and Apple's 'Today' tab.
The Big Lie of User Acquisition: Strategies That do not Work in 2021
The mobile marketing landscape has undergone a fundamental shift following the deprecation of the Identifier for Advertisers and the implementation of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework.
- The deprecation of the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) and the implementation of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework have rendered traditional, granular tracking-based user acquisition strategies ineffective.
- Developers must prioritize a holistic marketing approach that integrates App Store Optimization (ASO) with paid acquisition to stimulate organic search intent and improve conversion rates.
- Rigorous A/B testing of visual assets, such as icons and screenshots, is a prerequisite for scaling paid campaigns and ensuring a positive return on advertising spend.
Levelling Up Your Mobile Gaming Strategy on Snapchat
Snapchat has established itself as a robust ecosystem for mobile gaming, leveraging a massive base of 500 million monthly active users that increasingly spans beyond younger demographics to include a significant 35-plus audience.
- Snapchat provides access to a monthly active user base of 500 million, which now includes a significant demographic of users aged 35 and older.
- Developers can use the Snap Kit toolkit to integrate social features like Bitmoji avatars, leaderboards, and authentication to improve organic user retention.
- The platform supports a full-funnel user acquisition strategy through immersive, full-screen ad formats including Snap, Collection, and Story ads.
Superstar Speed Panel: Rethinking InGame Advertising
The gaming industry is undergoing a fundamental shift in monetization, moving away from intrusive, disruptive ad models toward immersive, non-interruptive integrations.
- The gaming industry is shifting from intrusive, disruptive ad models toward immersive, non-interruptive integrations to protect player retention and long-term revenue.
- Monetization strategies must be integrated during the early stages of game design rather than treated as an afterthought to ensure placements feel native to the virtual environment.
- Measurement frameworks are evolving beyond basic viewability metrics to prioritize meaningful engagement, attention, and tangible real-world impact.
Still No Great Video Game Movies - Protagonist Pitfalls - Extra Credits
Despite the increasing popularity of comic book adaptations and the maturation of video game-based cinema, the industry has yet to produce a critically acclaimed video game film that achieves the cultural impact of major cinematic franchises.
- The primary narrative flaw hindering video game adaptations is the insertion of generic, brand-new protagonist characters intended to serve as audience surrogates.
- Producers utilize these bland surrogate characters to act as access points for general audiences, but this strategy frequently sidelines iconic source material characters and dilutes the narrative.
- Films such as Assassin’s Creed, Rampage, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mortal Kombat demonstrate how relying on artificial outsiders can weaken the impact of established game lore.
Taking a Stand on Social: How Brands Can Tackle Racism in Sport
The primary purpose of this analysis is to provide a strategic framework for sports brands to address and combat systemic racism within their digital communities.
- Sports brands must adopt proactive, anti-racist stances in digital communities, as silence is increasingly viewed as insufficient and brands are expected to prioritize human rights over avoiding public backlash.
- Hate crimes at UK football fixtures reached over 10% of matches in the previous season, reflecting a broader trend of rising racial abuse that has migrated into high-traffic digital spaces.
- The industry-wide social media boycott from April 30 to May 3, 2021, serves as a benchmark for brands willing to sacrifice traffic and engagement to demonstrate a unified commitment to anti-racism.
PR Success.gif: How to Get Your Game Across in 5 Seconds
Animated GIFs serve as a critical, low-cost marketing instrument for independent game developers, functioning as essential tools to capture the attention of players, press, and publishers in an era defined by fleeting digital engagement.
- Animated GIFs significantly outperform static images, with one developer reporting that GIFs were shared 10 times more often than screenshots.
- A 'main GIF' should act as a mini-trailer that highlights the game's core hook within the first one to two seconds to capture the attention of scrolling users.
- Recycle existing trailer footage by cutting it into smaller 10-second clips and teasers to generate multiple marketing assets without additional production work.
Panel: Are Influencers the Future of Game Marketing?
Influencer marketing has transitioned from a supplementary tactic to a foundational pillar of modern game promotion.
- Game marketing strategy has shifted from prioritizing raw follower counts to focusing on a creator's ability to drive measurable actions within niche audiences.
- Successful campaigns now utilize a hybrid model that balances large-scale celebrity partnerships for initial visibility with long-term micro-influencer relationships for sustained community growth.
- Publishers are increasingly integrating influencers early in the development cycle to move beyond transactional product placements toward authentic, collaborative content.
Superstar Session: Best Practices & Pitfalls to Avoid When Creating Game Videos
Effective game video production requires a structured, multi-stage pipeline that balances creative vision with platform-specific requirements.
- The primary objective of a game video is to convert viewers into users, requiring a clear alignment between the video's purpose and the target audience's cultural and gaming background.
- Adhere to the 'one feature, one scene' principle to prevent narrative overload and maintain focus on the game's core value proposition.
- Use storyboarding as a diagnostic tool to identify resource gaps, such as the need for custom art or engine-based captures, before committing to expensive animation.
15 Minutes on 15 Seconds: Breaking Down a Hit Hypercasual Ad
Successful hypercasual advertising relies on a strategic, gameplay-first approach that captures user attention within the first few seconds.
- Successful hypercasual ads must establish the game's objective within one second and demonstrate the core gameplay loop by the two-second mark.
- Creative assets should prioritize authentic gameplay footage over non-gameplay or deceptive content to ensure marketing remains representative of the actual user experience.
- Ads should feature a mix of perfect, satisfying play alongside moments of intentional frustration to psychologically motivate viewers to install the game.
Dear Influencer Agency
Securing and maintaining successful partnerships between game publishers and influencer agencies requires a foundation of meticulous professionalism, strategic alignment, and data-driven execution.
- Agencies must demonstrate deep product knowledge and provide error-free, tailored introductory materials rather than relying on generic, high-volume outreach.
- Successful partnerships require agencies to provide transparent, performance-based metrics—specifically cost per install (CPI), cost per click (CPC), and engagement rates—to justify strategic decisions.
- Agencies must conduct thorough due diligence on influencer talent to mitigate brand risks and ensure alignment with the publisher's standards.