MARKETING NICHES MOBILE DEVELOPERS MIGHT NOT KNOW

I had a house-load of family in for the holidays; most of them in their mid-to-late twenties or early thirties. All of them “i-peeps.”

My daughter-in-law (DIL) had just been gifted an iPad 2 (actually, she was gifted a Kindle Fire, which her husband managed to turn into an iPad 2, by cutting a deal with the right person at the right store.) My daughter (D), received an iPod Touch for Christmas the year before, and totes it around like a cell. Her fiancé, (DF) is a serious gamer and keeps his iPod Touch or iPad on him whenever he’s away from his other gaming outlets.

As I noticed how the kids used their i-devices over the course of several days, I began to develop some thoughts that might be useful for game developers who build for that market. I’m going to share my observations and see if you can pick up on some of the hints before I drop my insights and advice on you about niche-marketing at the end. Here we go...

Knowing that my DIL is a reader (she’s had a Kindle for a few years now,) and seeing what a charge she gets out of an Amazon gift card in her stocking each Christmas, I went for it again this year. When she arrived with her new iPad 2 and began playing with the features, I could see that she was making a transition. DIL is active on Facebook and enjoys playing FB games when she has time. During the holidays, though, she was completely (in love with or torn up over) Angry Birds…depends on where you are in the game, I guess. DIL really likes brain benders--maybe goes along with being a reader. I recall a visit when she stayed up into the wee hours to finish a puzzle we had out on the dining-room table. She’s smart, and, while her taste in reading isn’t exclusively locked into the thrill/suspense works, she does seem to gravitate to those storylines that involve some mental play.
As the mother of two young children and the owner/operator of a day-care center, I think this is her way of keeping sane.

Anyway, the family has always known that if DIL (like all avid readers) ever gets two minutes to sit down, she’s reading. Only, now, with the iPad 2, DIL is doing more than that. She was Angry-birding and Facebooking. She was passing the thing over to her daughter so she could show off how she could play a piano keyboard. She handed it to her 4-year-old, who could draw pictures on it like an Etch-a-Sketch. The Amazon gift certificate that last year caused DIL to get excited about loading several books right to her Kindle had become a different opportunity. I saw her curled up in the rocker one night, i-surfing and using that Amazon card for things that had nothing to do with reading. She has the Kindle app loaded, so she’ll still be reading, but, I found it interesting that the iPad 2 allowed DIL to bring out more of her personality, enjoy more of her entertainment sources in one place, and, entertain the kids, too. I wonder how many other Kindlers have made this transition and what that could mean for developers.

My daughter loves her iPod Touch for casual games. She’s always downloading funky little games from iTunes. An experienced gamer, she likes challenging and competitive gameplay, but appreciates the fun factor. Something particular to note here; (something, she, herself, pointed out) she does technical work for a living, so it's in her nature to investigate and solve problems.

I wouldn’t call D a social networker, as she's just not that interactive (with humans so much), but, give her a cute little cyber pet to run through obstacles, collect points, and beat down enemies, and she’s one happy gal. Because she (like so many other refugees of the slack economy) freelances -- she's a professional theatre lighting tech, her hours are odd and her gigs can be a few hours away from home. The iPod Touch is her games lifeline.

Lately, D seems to be the kiss of death to laptops, having effectively disabled two in a matter of a few months. Granted, they were probably on their last leg, anyway, but, they may have sensed that D was going to finish them off, and bailed sooner rather than later. In the weeks she was without a computer, she had her beloved iPod Touch to keep her “in game.”

During the holidays, I noticed D most often with the device when in the car traveling…basically, when she had no other source of entertainment and she was either stuck without TV or DVD capability. D is crazy about films…horror, specifically. What else she’s crazy about is Starbucks coffee. She doesn’t spend a lot of time in the shops…just loves the java. It (and, actually, all of this) may relate to the odd hours she keeps. But, what I notice is that D and her iPod Touch are “sometimes best friends” because it is a constant…always available, convenient, and easy. I relate this to how she reacted to the GPS we gave her for Christmas. A GPS noob, she spent hours messing with it and texted us saying how much she loved it. She stayed up late one night exploring all the features. It’s something that will always be with her out there on her gigs. It’s interesting, reliable (we think), and, apparently…fun. Who knew? Another new “best friend.” This could be a market for developers of location-based games or something similar.

Then, we come to DF, the ultimate gamer in our crowd. He owns/plays all platforms...actually seems to have a methodology to what games he plays and in what sequence he plays them. He gets the latest gaming devices that catch his eye. DF is into RPGs and involves his gamer network daily, often updating via Twitter and Facebook. He’d never be without access to games and his network.

DF comes from a large family who stays in touch regularly. Interaction is a part of his life and lifestyle. Working with figures and reports for a living, DF is intelligent and practical thinking, but, his environment embraces geeky, retro-funky themes. He reads professional games reviews before purchasing and has fave comics/graphic novels that he follows. His Dad is a comic book writer/artist, so Comic Cons are family events. I know the major publishers are aware that there is a correlation between people who really appreciate graphic novels and people who love RPGs, but, I wonder if other developers really get that.

Anyway, DF’s iPod Touch is usually just inches from him, if not on his person when he’s not in his gamer cave. I know lots of gamers like this - and often have to remind people that “mobile” isn’t a genre of game...it’s just a different type of platform. The quality of the games may differ due to this mode of access and we’re pretty much reduced to thumb action, but does that mean we lose on satisfying gameplay or great storylines?

So, now, let me drop my own insights and tips relative to “marketing-for-mobile:”