Contemporary Issues in Marketing and Management the Toy and the Game Industry - Coursework Example

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE TOY AND GAME INDUSTRY Task Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 5 Project 5 Social Media Marketing 5 Patterns of Games and Toys Industry 8 Impact of Social Media Marketing on Toys and Gaming Industry 10 Recommended Strategy 12 Project 2 14 Personal Reflection 14 Conclusion 15 Bibliography 15 Executive Summary The aim of the report is to assess social media marketing, especially focus on toys and games industry. It first defines and explains the concept and nature of social media marketing, and analyses the current status of toys and games industry, even if the sales of toys and games are in growing state all over the world, but in the social media publicity, it still has some disadvantages. Then, it summarizes the impact on toys and games industry of social media marketing activities, toys and games industry gains more experience in product improvement through social media marketing. Finally, according to the above analysis, the report puts forward some implementing proposals to the toys and games industry about social media marketing strategy, and presents a personal reflection and summary. Introduction The report will introduce and explain the social media marketing of the toys and games industry. First of all, the report will define and analyze the social media marketing from the theoretical point of view. Second, it will analyze the development and its problems of toys and games industry at present. In addition, the report analyses, survey results about the impact of social media marketing of toys and games industry. After the analysis of the above content, the report will put forward appropriate strategic suggestions based on social media marketing and the analysis of the development of the toys and games industry at present. At last, the report will give a personal reflection. Project 1 Social Media Marketing The emergence of social media marketing is based on social networking and the changing attitudes and behavior of consumers. It refers to obtain the attention of consumers through the process of social media networks (Haag and Phillips, 2005, p. 21). When using social media marketing, its activity is usually focused on making efforts to create information to attract the attention of network users, and encourage the readers to share the content of the activity (in the social network). Nowadays, social media have become a platform, so users can easily come into contact with any medium by the Internet access (Jaworski and Rayport, 2013, p. 27). The enterprise can interact with users through the social media platform, so the marketing strategy increases the communication between the customers and the organization, improves the enterprise customer service level, and promotes the enterprise brand awareness. In addition, for enterprises to implement marketing activities, social media is a relatively cheap platform for this activity, because it is actuated through words, it means that it results in earning media rather than paid media (Lee and Benbasat, 2004, p. 33). For the enterprises using social media marketing, it is a process of letting customers participate in, and let the brand to get the information on the market and is also a process of interaction with customers (Haag and Phillips, 2005, p. 23). Social media marketing cannot exist as a single marketing strategy and is not a business earnings activity which can be generated (Jaworski and Rayport, 2013, p. 25). For analyzing the influence of what the specific social media marketing strategy brings to the enterprise, Blend Tec successfully became the mixer market leader in the United States by using YouTube; Dell set up different accounts on Twitter to interact with customers, and it brings a lot of business income; Coca Cola, Starbucks, and Real Madrid build a large community on Facebook, existing around their fans, “living” with them (Haag and Phillips, 2005, p. 61). At the same time, there are some brands build their own social networking websites, let them have a foothold on the basis of their own community, so as to promote their products, services, ideas and create a more powerful brand reputation (Lee and Benbasat, 2004, p. 33). These phenomena reflect the powerful impact of the social media marketing strategy to the corporate brands (Zarrella, 2010, p. 7). Whether the social media marketing is successful or not can be evaluated through quantitative evaluation and analysis shown in the table below. Impression Refers to the total release quantity, reading quantity (click), reprint quantity, reply quantity, etc. conventional content data. Advertising equivalent Summarizes and statistics the total amount about the addition of the essence and the content placed at the top of, how much can be converted into corresponding cost of the spread of the website to foreign quotation in each campaign marketing activity, so the additional value of this campaign can be concluded. CPC Calculates the average CPC values for each campaign, and compares with the average 4 ~ 5 Yuan of the general IT industry, then can evaluate the effect of this campaign. Conversion In a campaign, contrast the users’ data about their usage, attention, and participation before and after, for example, the number of registered online activities, participation, the website PV/UV value, and sales volume, etc. to conclude the conversion data. Third-Party Data Before and after a campaign, contrast the Google trends, Baidu index (Chinese search engine), and other data, or entrust a third-party research firm to investigate the changes about the popularity and reputation of the brand or product. (Zarrallea, 2010, p. 44-49) Patterns of Games and Toys Industry The current trends in and patterns in the toys and games industry are reliant on the economy. The economy at this time is low, and it has caused many people to feel financial constraints (Anderson, 2006, p. 13). It has made people make certain sacrifices in the efforts to allocate money for necessary things such as food, shelter and clothing (Daniels, Radebaugh and Sullivan, 2009, p. 14). In addition, the economy has made many people lose their jobs and the few who have jobs do not have the luxury to spend as much as they want (Scanlon, 2007, p. 1). The downfall of the economy has led to financial constraints and this has consequently led to different spending habits (Hunicke, 2005, p. 21). Affected by these spending habits, among other things is the purchase of toys and games (Bryant and Vorderer, 2006, p. 9). In earlier days before people cared about financial difficulties, parents would buy toys and games for their children (Johnson, 2001, p. 106). However, this has changed and the patterns in the game industry have to cope with the economic financial constraints. Patterns in the toys and game industry have to consider the spending habits of consumers (Crandall and Gregory, 2006, p. 24). Toys and games have been traditional items that parents provide for their children. These toys and games were provided to the children all through the year without the need of any occasion (Johnson, 2001, p. 109). Spending patterns on toys and games today have the largest frequency during the gift giving season of Christmas (Aldrich, 2005, p. 6). This means that the Christmas period is the time when most toy and game marketers make strategies to boost sales. Therefore, the gaming industry has had to go through some changes due to the situation of the economy (Langlotz, Rhode, and Whaley, 2008, p. 25). However, the effects of the economy on the toy and gaming industry have not all been negative (Wong, Arlbjørn and Johansen, 2005, p. 10). The way people have considered the situation of the economy has led to the evolution of gaming to online gaming (Ante, 2012, p. 1). In this case, limited spending has increased the number of people who participate in digital gaming. This is because this particular type of online gaming is affordable, and sometimes free for anyone to play (Scanlon, 2007, p. 1). Therefore, patterns in the toy and the gaming industry have shaped themselves to adapt to the economy and at the same time keep up with the digital age. Patterns in toy and game industry have also been shaped up with the performance of the games category (Hunicke, 2005, p. 16). The games category has had some poor performance recently (Wong, Arlbjørn and Johansen, 2005, p. 10). In addition, the traditional toys and games have also been declining. The traditional games have been declining since they have been replaced by digital games ((Mureno-Ger, Burhos, Torrente, 2009, p. 4). Video games have hardware and software that have helped to increase their demand, causing a shift from traditional toys and games to the video games (Ante, 2012, p. 1). Many people find these video games more entertaining than the previous toys and games that are now considered to be traditional (Marchand and Hennig-Thurau, 2013, p. 148). This means that the patterns in the toy and game industry have moved to the profitable video games. Unlike the traditional games, digital games are cheap and easy to access in mobile phones and tablets (Crandall and Gregory, 2006, p. 19). This has led to the shift of the traditional games such as gaming consoles to the digital games that can be accessed on phones and tablets. It is cheaper to access games on phones and tablets compared to purchasing traditional games that are expensive. The poor condition of the economy has pushed people away from buying the luxury traditional toys to online purchase of games at affordable prices (Patino, Kaltcheva, Lingelbach, Pitta, 2012, p. 158). This means that the internet has become an important place where people find and buy games (Bryant and Vorderer, 2006, p. 17). For this reason, people in the toy and game industry have made places such as the social media a place where they can market their products. Impact of Social Media Marketing on Toys and Gaming Industry Social media marketing is gradually becoming an important tool in the marketing of toys and games. The marketers have identified that people spend most of their time on social media sites. These marketers in the toys and gaming industry post adverts on social media pages with the intention of catching the attention of the many people who are logged into the sites. Therefore, the impact of social media on the toys and the gaming industry is that it has increased the number of people the industry serves. Many people can now, more than before, easily access details about toys and games from various companies in the industry. Many people also share and communicate items on the social media sites. A person who likes a particular game will recommend the same game to a friend, and in the end lead to an exchange and recommendation of games. For this reason, the toys and games industry benefits from social media due to the recommendations loyal people make to their social media partners. Fisher price, Hasbro, Nintendo, Sony PlayStation and Lego are leading toy and game industries (Langlotz, Rhode, and Whaley, 2008, p. 15). They have joined a social marketing company known as House Party, which has boosted their sales through the social media platform. Earned media can be used properly and become a very powerful marketing tool. House Party is useful since it improves the power of earning media through its social marketing platform. However, many people have not realized that social media can help build brands, reach out to many people, and drive sales better than other marketing tools (Marchand and Hennig-Thurau, 2013, p. 153). Social media has helped boost sales, but the completion in the social media has led to certain trends. The big companies that produced the traditional toys and games have been forced to change their marketing strategies to remain competitive. Social media has impacted the gaming industry since it has changed the way people play games. People can now play certain games in the social media platforms (Chambers, 2005, p. 6). This means that companies in the toy and game industry have made deals with the social media organizations. This has made it possible for people to play their desired games on the social media websites. Companies such as PlayStation use the internet to advertise their latest releases and new features in their games (Boyle, Thomas, Thomas, James, 2012, p. 775). The social media, used as a marketing platform has boosted the sale of such games. This is because people can find links into the toy and gaming websites, and recommend to their friends on their preferred games. In this case, the marketing of games can happen without the influence of the influence of the parent company. Social media has benefited the toy and game industry (Oliver, 2008, p. 13). Its impact is that it is slowly removing the dependency on traditional games by encouraging digital gaming. People can place their experiences and ratings on games they have played on the social websites. The traditional games can also post their latest discounts on the same social media platform, and people can easily share this information (Chambers, 2005, p. 18). Social media is a big influence in the way companies in the toy and game industry promote their image. These toys and game companies have created their pages on these social media websites (Brazil, and James, 2011, p. 530). They request their customers to like their pages and follow them. In doing this, the companies enable their customers to post their comments about their games. In addition, customers can make suggestions on how to improve the games, their accessibility and price (Mureno-Ger, Burhos, Torrente, 2009, p. 7). Customers following the companies in the social media websites can influence their friends to do the same. This has the effect on boosting the market of the companies in the toy and gaming industry website. Recommended Strategy The companies in toy and game industry have to embrace the fact that social media is an important tool in their marketing strategy. This is because this is the place where many people look for information as they try to keep up with the current trends (Daniels, Radebaugh and Sullivan, 2009, p. 53). However, it is important for these companies to approach the social media platform carefully (Anderson, 2010, p. 16). It is necessary to study the behavior of people and assess their interest with the aim of influencing sales. The companies can start pages in the social media websites and their customers can join these pages. In the pages, the companies can have a sales department and a customer service department (Zarrella, 2010, p. 9). It can be possible for customers to make direct purchases through the pages in the social media platform. Another strategy that companies can use is to hire experts to study the trends in social media. These experts can provide valuable insights to the companies in the toy and game industry (Brasel, and James, 2011, p. 528). They can inform the companies on customer preferences and make suggestions on how to improve their market range (Kabani, 2013, p. 25). Social media is based on customer opinions, and this makes it important for the companies to maintain a positive image (Oliver, 2008, p. 13). A bad customer review can lead to problems in the sales of any of the companies (Haley, 2008, p. 27). This because a customer can make a negative comment that can discourage people from purchasing the company’s products (Anderson, 2010, p. 56). On the other hand, a good comment on the social website about a product can boost company sales in the game and toy industry. This is because people would also want to experience the level of satisfaction the customer felt when placing the positive comment. Therefore, a good strategy for companies in the toys and games industry is to make sure that they have experts who advise them on how to maintain a positive image and boost customer satisfaction. Toy and games industry are considered to be supplementing the public with leisure products. It is not a necessity, and people would prefer to do other things with their money compared to buying games. This means that companies in the industry have to be aggressive in promoting their products by giving promotions such as discounts and gifts (Haley, 2008, p. 31). The current financial situation has not helped this problem that the gaming industry is facing (Anderson, 2006, p. 22). For this reason, companies should look to serve the increasing numbers of customers that want to spend less money per transaction. It is necessary for the big toy and game companies to create departments that would venture into digital gaming that can be accessed where the majority of customers are; the social media (Boyle, Thomas, Thomas, James, 2012, p. 772). Those companies that cannot do this can still use the social media platform to promote their game launches. Currently, parents are spending less time with their children, and they have the growing concern about what their children do every day. The toy and game industry can take advantage of this gap and provide toys and games that parents can buy for their children (Aldrich, 2005, p. 3). Parents would want to purchase creative and educational toys and games for their children (Patino, Kaltcheva, Lingelbach, Pitta, 2012, p. 156). Therefore, a vital strategy would be to target the parents who spend less time with their children, but would still want to keep them occupied (Mureno-Ger, Burhos, Torrente, 2009, p. 8). The social media can assist the companies that want to achieve this goal. This is because the social media is where the children spend most of their time, and the parents can purchase digital games that the children can play in the social media platform. Project 2 Personal Reflection In the process of formulation and analysis of the project, I found that the social media marketing reflects different aspects with traditional marketing. Before undertaking the project, it is very necessary to understand the nature of social media marketing. And also must have a deep and clear understanding on the development of toys and games industry, and know of the related social media publicity. It is necessary to expound how companies use social media marketing and the impact on the industry, and put forward better strategies and measures according to the above analysis of the impact. As far as the report, I query and use the research achievements of many people, including an overview of the application and procedure of social media marketing strategy. At the same time, considering the knowledge and some failures of these areas, my opinion is that the critical analysis of the strategic suggestions may make a richer report. In my opinion, the generation of some advice may produce unexpected consequences, so toys and games companies should pay more attention to special circumstances on the market at present, propagandize purposeful and targeted, and consider whether the behaviors worth the effort. For example, a wide range of online publicity through the cooperation with Facebook, the company needs to consider the cost effectiveness of the measures and propaganda effect, and then determines whether such measures are worth adopting. These critical analyses will appear in the report, and I think it is worth including these contents in the report. Conclusion The report puts forward the social media marketing campaign of the toys and games industry. From the perspective of the theory, social media marketing is the low cost and the fast promotion concept through the network social media platform. The sales of toys and games industry are in a state of steady growth at present, and more and more toys and games companies start to advertise their products and brand through the popular media platform. 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