Marketing

With December now here and Christmas firmly on the horizon, it is safe to say that time is running out for many of us to get our acts together and start shopping for presents. But how do you intend to go about it? Will you book in a day to try and get it all done in one fell swoop, or have you already been quietly and slowly building up your stockpile for December 25th? Whatever your gift-buying strategy, it is more than likely that going online has had a part to play somewhere. After all, with life being so hectic for a huge number of us the convenience of purchasing with a single click and then having items delivered to your door is simply too good to be true at this time of year.

Online spending on the rise

According to new figures from the Centre of Retail Research and VoucherCodes, British families are set to spend an average of £821.25 on Christmas presents this year with online spending expected to grow by almost a third. The reasons given were hardly surprising, with respondents outlining that using websites will help them avoid the crowds, escape long queues and also offer them the chance to easily compare prices. Perhaps more of a surprise was the revelation that 23 per cent of people also intend to only shop online in order to avoid hearing Christmas songs while they are out and about. With all of this consumer feedback in mind, it is unsurprising that online has encouraged many brands to try to unleash their digital business. Retail is one obvious area where this can be seen, with the likes of Sainsbury’s and Tesco moving on from a supermarket-only format to offering online ordering and home delivery services. However, it is also happening across a huge number of other sectors too. Take for instance gambling and how the rise of iGaming has – literally – changed the game in that industry. The Hippodrome Casino may be a hugely popular central London nightspot, but the growth of online services means that fans of poker and blackjack can now play these games in the comfort of their own home through the same brand’s online casino. So, with so much focus being placed on the online world, it is time to be frank – is there any need for brands to bother having a real-world presence anymore?

The benefits of offline

Well, while there is much evidence to suggest that offline is on the decline, there is also still a lot which suggests that the end is not quite nigh. According to Ripen eCommerce, while online is on the rise, the vast majority of purchases still happen offline, with the firm’s own research putting a finger on why people still want to head to the high street to complete their purchases.

The study in the US found that more than 30 per cent of people simply want to be able to see or feel a product in person, while a similar number also stated that the immediacy of taking home items straight away was another big reason for going offline. Other notable issues raised were buying offline to protect privacy, saving on shipping costs which can emerge when going online and people generally finding the returns process easier in real-world shops. As if to emphasize the important role that offline brands still play in so many people’s lives, it is interesting to note how many major players synonymous with online have taken the leap into the real world in recent times. Perhaps the most obvious example is the online retail powerhouse Amazon, with its growing number of offline shops in the US which are selling books as well as electronics and small gifts. According to Fortune, while going offline is unlikely to make a huge difference to their predominantly online business revenues, it does give consumers opportunities they have not previously had – specifically, the chance to sample the company’s ever-growing range of gadgets like the Echo and Kindle and also an opportunity to speak face to face with representatives of the brand. There is also speculation that Amazon is planning to expand its offline presence even further in the coming years, particularly by flipping the traditional real-world shopping experience on its head and introducing some digital elements to the mix including virtual and augmented reality. Amazon are far from the only company to have taken this step through, with the strength and popularity of card retailer Funky Pigeon.com’s brand also leading to the opening of fully fledged high-street stores. Furthermore, you could argue that this switch from online to offline is not necessarily limited to just retailers. The Deliciously Ella food brand grew from a hugely popular blog, with the minds behind it now putting its name to several delis and also energy ball snack-foods which can be bought in major stores.

Still has a role to play

All of this points to one simple fact – while an online presence can have a monumental impact on a business, making a mark in the offline world is still a valuable approach. Undoubtedly it could create challenges, particularly in terms of legal and regulatory issues which may need to be addressed, but as an online business you may have already faced similar situations so do not let that put you off.

After all, a little bit of that human touch may be just what you need to take your operations to the next level.

Card games have been enjoyed forever, but the good news is, this doesn’t mean that millennials aren’t interested. In fact, card games are very popular with this generation, and it’s a market that a lot of brands have managed to tap into. Sure, some require just your standard deck, but many still have challenged what you think of when you think of “card games”. In fact, marketing a card game to millennials is not difficult because it’s a novel idea, but because there is already quite a lot of competition in the market.

Spin-offs of Popular Franchises

Cards aren’t just for gambling, either. In fact, there’s a whole new player in the game, and that’s card battle games. Titles like Hearthstone, Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls Legends: Heroes of Skyrim, and Polish developer CD Project’s more recent Gwent all encourage players to battle their opponents while immersing themselves in a creative backstory. There are various characters, legends and entire worlds for players to get involved with – as well as different card types and complex rules, knowledge of which improves gameplay. These days, these are very popular, and in fact, spills over into various kinds of media. The Elder Scrolls brand attracts thousands of players worldwide per day. SteamSpy calculates more than 579,000 players for the Legends game alone. So how did these companies tap into these markets? The Elder Scrolls franchise already had a huge following behind it thanks to its success as an action role-playing fantasy series of video games, of which 2011’s Skyrim alone has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Perhaps the attraction to Mediaeval themes in the game makes players more open to “old-school” niches, such as collectible cards, which could explain the popularity when the Legends spin-off was announced in 2015.

Similarly, Gwent comes as a spin-off to The Witcher 3, which was released by CD Project RED in May 2015. It takes part in the same world, hash similar fantasy themes, with the Witcher himself having supernatural powers to defeat beasts. Gwent started out as a mini game, but as it’s been described as “addictive”, so it’s now become popular in its own right, with fans liking the idea that they can play the same games as their hero of the series, Geralt. Interestingly, what all three of these titles have in common is that they are card game spin-offs of popular RPG franchises. This has likely been the push that players needed to try the card games. The lesson we could learn here is that established brands will do wonders for new titles, so if you can somehow link a new product to an old product, you’re likely to benefit.

It’s Not Out With The Old, Though

Although there are now many more card games than just the decks with the standard hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades as suits, the traditional ones are still a much-loved option. However, some brands have done something that seems to have worked in any other industry – they’ve made things digital.

When it comes to millennials up to the age of 25, over 99% use the internet “regularly” – (99.2% to be exact). When you extend that socio-demographic to include adults up to 44-year-olds, you still come out with a figure of 98.8% regularly heading online. It makes sense, then, that card games have quickly adopted new technologies, and continue to do so eagerly. Playing games with traditional playing cards has always been a popular past-time, but with modern lifestyles the way they are, players appreciate USPs. Online casinos have done just that by offering what is known as live casino games. These are games played with physical card packs which are live streamed to the player’s computer, tablet or phone. Live blackjack follows the same rules as “traditional” blackjack played in casinos, including the option to split or double down, but does so on live video, where a real dealer will deal the player’s cards. “New-old things” are incredibly popular nowadays, and it’s not just card games which have been brought online after years of being traditional. A lot of our daily lives end up being digital, from photo albums through to the way we shop and eat.

Easy Rules and Popular Themes

Cards can of course just be played for a bit of light fun, with no previous experience required. Uno is incredibly popular, and part of its popularity is how easy it is: you can even win the first time you play it! All that’s required is making sure to pay attention to the rules. Exploding Kittens is rather innovative, too – it’s a highly strategic, “kitty-powered” version of Russian roulette. There are some incredibly high stakes and in fact, kittens can actually kill you! Exploding Kittens started in the cat and humour-loving world of the internet, when creator Elan Lee used Kickstarter to fund his idea. He was so successful that there is even an official Android app for it today. And finally, Top Trumps has continued to expand since its introduction in 1968. One of the reasons that it is still thriving today is its willingness to expand its universe according to its audience. When something is relevant, a new deck is released. There are Top Trumps packs for all kinds of topics, from classic cars through to Star Wars, and it is actually very easy to play. Of course, while these games are fun for all, millennials aren’t too cool to be involved – who doesn’t like to have fun?

Adult and Drinking Games

Of course, millennials love to party, and when they do, often cards are involved. Some games rely on a traditional pack, for example, Ring of Fire. This has a set of rules assigned depending on the card that is drawn, which usually involves silly mini-games, dares, or yet more drinking. In recent years, Cards Against Humanity has also become very popular in the market. While it is not specifically a drinking game (instead preferring to market itself as “a party game for horrible people”), it is definitely trying to capture a similar market. Just be warned, it can get a little wild (and more than a little inappropriate, in the very best of ways). These games – and the parties they play at – make for great sharing on social media. Good digital marketing relies on user-generated content to build a community, and when are you more likely to share images and videos than when you’re enjoying yourself at a party?

Recreating Their Success

Despite card games literally being some of the oldest tricks in the book, there’s thankfully no sign of their popularity waning. And, providing that games makers continue to come up with innovative ways using technology and new trends to market their creations, this should be the case for many years to come. If this is a market your business is interested in tapping into, as always, research is imperative, as is ensuring that you’ve done enough not just to create a game, but also a brand.

The world moves a lot faster than it used to – there’s a new iPhone every two years and a new Call of Duty game every year, while even the most bizarre science fiction technologies, like artificial intelligence and cyborg humans, seem to get a little closer to realisation with each passing day. The obvious concern for businesses is keeping up.

Millennials, people born between 1980 and 2000, are the most technologically adept generation in history. They’re also the hardest to please, having grown up on a diet of on-demand media like Netflix and NowTV; even Argos now offers same-day delivery just to stay relevant.

There are a few almost-guaranteed ways to stay on millennials’ collective good side, however:

Adopt New Payment Methods

It might not sound like something worth troubling the boardroom over but payment options change just as quickly as the technology that supports it. For instance, in 2015, both Apple and Android Pay were born. There’s also Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, paysafecard, Boku, iDebit, Envoy, and a host of other processors on the market today.

Mobile, in particular, is one of the more fertile arenas as far as new payment methods are concerned. A good example comes from PocketWin, an online and mobile casino almost unique in the industry for building its own games in-house. The company is also special in that it lets players make a casino deposit by phone, effectively deferring the cost of their games until the end of the month.

Consider how many times customers bail out of a purchase because the company they’re buying from doesn’t offer their favourite payment option – over months and years, the number of lost sales racks up. Not offering PayPal in particular is almost a cardinal sin for businesses, given that the processor had 192 million users worldwide in Q3 2016.

Embrace New Technology

According to a 2014 statistic, there are more mobile devices on Earth than people. It took just thirty years to put 7.2 billion devices in the pockets and homes of humans around the world. Technology is the single most important thing in the lives of millennials in particular. The phrase “life companion”, coined by the Galaxy S3-era Samsung, has never been more apt.

It’s not just about the fastest, prettiest device anymore though. Fingerprint and iris scanners recently emerged from Samsung and Apple’s respective laboratories, while Pokémon Go introduced the world to augmented reality technology earlier this year. With the above in mind, brands have to offer something different to succeed.

As a quick pointer, technologists are forecasting the arrival of the first true artificial intelligence before the end of the next decade and, should we survive the inevitable robot uprising, bots and automatons could become as prosaic as televisions. Asking questions around the applications for true AI in improving people’s lives is a great way to brainstorm for the future.

You can find many how-to guides and resources online to help with technology related tasks. BeBusinessed resource guides are great for this.

Make it Wearable

Smartwatches didn’t provoke the technological revolution Apple and Samsung expected, simply because they didn’t really do anything consumers needed; in fact, as far as usability and battery life were concerned, they provided a significantly poorer experience than smartphones. The true potential of wearables lies elsewhere.

Millennials are particularly excited about banking with wearable technology so, here’s an idea that’s not as hare-brained and dystopic as it sounds – microchip customers with their card details so that they can pay with a swipe of their hand. It’s not only a convenient alternative to plastic; it’s about as secure as banking gets.

Wearables need to solve a problem if they’re ever going to take off; they also need to reduce the amount of decisions involved in their use. For example, putting fitness trackers in shoes would mean that runners don’t have to decide whether or not to wear them on a daily basis.

As a final point, there’s a great deal to be said for taking things “old school” in 2016. Vinyl sales are soaring, the ZX Spectrum and NES consoles are back on the market, and paper books not only survived e-readers but sales are taking off once again. That’s not to say that there’s ever going to be a market for Crocs but looking backwards can sometimes reap rewards for the courageous entrepreneur.