The Marketing of AH - Ideas on how to increase player base

[oboe]

Wonder how many would try AH if there was PlayStation version?  Be nice to use my 42" TV rather then my monitor.  

With respect to AH not being instant gratification, i.e. has a learning curve maybe the "Dr. Pepper 10" approach can be taken. "Leave the kiddies at home, this game takes real skill" kinda play on it.

So you think think you're a baad azzz gamer.  You can kill a 100 soldiers an hour in Playpen III...but do you have the right stuff? Are you good enough to shoot down a Bruv, Debrody or Ghi?  Probably not.  But if you think you might have the right stuff.  If you can fly, really fly using REAL fighter jock skills - maybe you can join the ranks of the true elite in the skies of AH. Otherwise you best just keep them diapers on sonny and go back to your safe little Immortal Kombat girly games.

  luv it!

[Peyton]

On a serious note I have outlined a Marketing plan for AH.  The first recommendations are free. After this I can be PM'd for an hourly rate or hired as a consultant.


You have to think outside and inside of the box here.

For the company, you have to ask several basic questions:

1) How can we increase fan base but not increase expenses in a disproportionate amount?
2) How can I keep my loyal paying members happy while increasing fan base (paying members) and income?

Remember, AH needs ROI..return on investment no matter what plan they put into effect.

ANSWERS:
1) Offer the Early War Free and remove the 2 week all access trial period completely.  No cost to AH as the EW arena is already up and running. Alot of other companies and games are doing this.  Free basic membership.  This is basic. Free EW to get the taste of it and it's free to have time to complete a small percentage of the high learning curve. If someone is really intersted, they will salivate by seeing all of the other vehicles in the hanger that they cannot use then they will pay to play if they want more. Current and/or fullpaying players will have access to EW arena.
The only update would be to update the "How to Play" page into a simple version as the hardest part of learning AH is the learning curve. Remember, no one reads manuals and "how to" is either by trial and error and a combo of instruction by a friend/player, word of mouth or a quick 1 pager that can be printed.
2) Keep all other access to any other arenas on a pay account as we do today.
Do not add any other paying tiers, it's too confusing and too much work for AH.  It's either free (1 EW arena) or it's not.
This keeps the paying core happy because the remaining WW1 (is this even used anymore?), MW and Late War arena or will not be infiltrated by the constant influx of 2 week free noobs asking a million questions.  This also keeps AH from having to monitor 2 week subscriptions. The current 4 EW players can stay and play in EW or migrate to MW arena.... but by some of the EW posters they are looking for more players in EW so problem solved.
3) Advertising will be covered in the next Business Plan lesson


Is there a chart or information showing the amount of paying players, new players per month, etc etc or is that all kept secret in the AH vaults? If I had this info I can complete further forecasts and financial scenarios.

Thanks

[Oldman731]

Offer the Early War Free and remove the 2 week all access trial period completely.  

This idea has lots of merit.

- oldman

[guncrasher]

This idea has lots of merit.

- oldman

how would that bring more paying customers?  some current would quit to go play there for free.

semp

[Peyton]

Good question and point well taken.  The answer is upgrades...people want more not less.  Some may change but they would have already left and been playing EW already.  AH players like the new planes and updates to the LW arena.  EW will not receive "updates". The paying players will always have access so they can play there if they want but lose the benefits of all access if they play for free.  The migration to free will be far far far less than what AH will gain.

[Slade]

On a serious note I have outlined a Marketing plan for AH.

BTW, I meant it as both funny AND practical.  With the marketing of Dr. Pepper 10 they are not singling our females without in depth knowledge of their demographic.  

That being said, Peyton you have some very good ideas sir.  

[guncrasher]

Good question and point well taken.  The answer is upgrades...people want more not less.  Some may change but they would have already left and been playing EW already.  AH players like the new planes and updates to the LW arena.  EW will not receive "updates". The paying players will always have access so they can play there if they want but lose the benefits of all access if they play for free.  The migration to free will be far far far less than what AH will gain.

you assuming that hundreds of players will join to see what it is like.  or perhaps only a few will join and see an empty arena in other words get basically an offline arena, which is already provided along with a 2 week trial period.

you guys should let ah market the game as they see fit.  I am pretty sure they are not just sitting on their hands waiting for players to fall from the sky.  all this ideas have been submitted several times before, hitech actually replied to some a couple of years ago as to reason why not.  I guess it got old for them to get unsolicited advise on their strategy.



semp

[jimson]

Clearly true; yet it's important to keep the smaller arenas around, because they are attractive to players who would otherwise have moved on to other amusements.

- oldman

This is hugely important and why there is a continuing need for more choices.

I could have long ago moved on to Il2 where at any time of the day there are still Axis vs Allies games going that have 15 to 50+ people playing, except for : We still have AvA, I have friends here, I really like the FM, the clipboard interface and the native VOX.

AH still has to find ways to bring more players in. Maybe that's by allowing players to create 24/7 arenas to offer more choices, maybe that means getting back to the Combat Tour project and maybe that means advertising with AARP.

[-aper-]

how would that bring more paying customers?  some current would quit to go play there for free.

semp

The first step is to make a promotional 1 month of free playing in EA without any subscription. Nothing to loose for HTC. If the EA becomes most populated arena during this month it is definitely way to go.

[Peyton]

you assuming that hundreds of players will join to see what it is like.  or perhaps only a few will join and see an empty arena in other words get basically an offline arena, which is already provided along with a 2 week trial period.

you guys should let ah market the game as they see fit.  I am pretty sure they are not just sitting on their hands waiting for players to fall from the sky.  all this ideas have been submitted several times before, hitech actually replied to some a couple of years ago as to reason why not.  I guess it got old for them to get unsolicited advise on their strategy.



semp

Gun crasher you bring up some good thoughts and thank you for your input.
I am not assuming players will come to AH in droves and or a ton of people will come over because they like what they see.  What I am proposing is a strategy to acquire new paying players while creating income for AH with a "minimal" upfront immediate investment from AH using the existing technology and resources that they have. This enables them to compete for dollars in a large online market that is ever so existent in today’s online gaming world. This is a short term plan. AH then needs to think about a long-term strategic growth plan…..but that’s for another discussion.
Anyway, the idea of a Free arena is so people can try it and see if they like it.  The biggest drawback of AH is the learning curve.  2 weeks is not enough to "learn" the basics of GVs, planes, ships, commands, etc.  If it was, the forums would not be full of thousands of questions on how to play or how to get better.
If the game is hard to play or grasp in the short 2 week time, some people will not join (pay).  If there is a longer free period in the EW arena as I proposed, you will have a lot of people trying the game, learning, talking with friends then hopefully switching over to a Pay for Play. Right now I am sure a survey would reveal that if AH polled the free 2 week accounts that did not keep their account, they would say; 1) game is complicated (large learning curve). 2) Free period is not long enough and 3) Mom won’t let me use her credit card anymore. My previous proposals help alleviate the top 2 roadblocks for new players.
After playing EW for free and seeing all of the vehicles you can fly or drive if you pay, I feel this will entice some people to switch. A gamer likes to get better, upgrade, have choices, and be able to use everything in game.
I cannot tell you everyone will switch and who will or won’t try AH.  That is impossible to tell. I am simply outlining some changes that AH can do to acquire more players and be more competitive in the online gaming market.

[jimson]

Too many people might simply stay in the early war arena and would not bother to subscribe because they would already be getting a decent variety of WW2 planes, along with full game play. Perhaps it should be more limited.

The oft-mentioned free WW1 arena might be better. Give them a chance at some basic aerial combat and they might develop a hankering to step up to WW2.

Or maybe a very basic, free wildcat vs zero arena.

[MajWoody]

I saw an AH commercial on the military channel the other day. I hadn't seen one prior to that in quite some time.

[Nr_RaVeN]

I saw an AH commercial on the military channel the other day. I hadn't seen one prior to that in quite some time.

Good point!

As HTC already knows Marketing takes a multiple pronged attack.

Over my 27 years as a self employed businessman I have lived with marketing,  I'm volunteering this as what I see as a good approach.

Firstly I for one would pay more for more freedom

 Keep the gorilla marketing going.
Those paid TV adds hit the target market for sure. Lets not forget the absence of AH on SIM HQ This is a venue AH needs to be in.
  Anything and any sim worth its salt
has a forum or advertises there.  http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/category/25/Air_Combat_Civil_Aviation.html
main
http://www.simhq.com/

If you were going to give a free arena
why not the AVA? It delivers more of a sampling of all the aircraft at variety of icon ranges with well balanced plane sets and a variety of terrains.
 Or better yet HTC can quickly set up a free arena with the settings he sees fit..
for those that want to taste even more from there. Still keep the two week free trial option available

Only offering a free arena is limiting,
 if there isn't more to AH that currently being delivered the new subscribers or free trials will not renew.
 
That's were a change in the custom arena approach comes into play
 Turn the custom arenas on 24/7 and Provide operators logging and stat capability's so they can hold events and allow more diversity

The Idea behind this is many players in other flight sims don't like the MA model
because of the mixed plane sets ect. This isn't a criticism it just a fact. I know of many in other sims that don't join AH because of that.

AH's competition isn't war birds
its il2 and Rise of flight. that is a very big market. Its also a more mature market with more disposable income.
 Allowing the custom arenas to develop 24/7 dedicated servers would help draw in a market share that currently is absent

Presently they are excluded or exclude themselves because of the MA model. With 24/7 custom arenas  there are no limitations folks can do and set up servers as they wish with no limitations many of those settings would attract players from other sims to set up new subscriptions because there would be servers that appealed to them or they could set up their own dedicated server.

Just look .... Il2 stermvick.
They have a custom arena tool called "Hyper lobby". There are hundreds of servers running utilizing multiple playing styles and there are 700-1000 fight simmers playing nightly.
 Many in that market wont fly AH because of the limitations of arenas and arena settings why cut that market out?

Thats only one example there is also Rise of flight.. a ww1 and the many other ww2 flight sims.


 Our custom arenas would deliver a Buffet of dedicated servers
appealing to multiple playing styles and settings.
Who doesn't like a buffet..


Lets not forget the web sites that would build around them.
Delivering content that would organically drive subscriptions to the door steps of High Tech Creations
through search engine optimization (self perpetuating free advertising)


The goal is to increase new subscriptions
by opening up the Custom arenas to a new market so all tastes can be satisfied .Ie pull folks from other flight sims that  don't ordinarily flight AH because they just don't the limited arena settings that are currently offered.

By allowing these players the ability to start up dedicated servers
AH would open the doors to more player styles which translates into new subscriptions and more recurring revenue.


Combining the fidelity of AH and the great flight model of AH
with a variety of dedicated servers in the custom arena venue AH would eliminate the obstacle that stands in the way of a huge market share not purchasing a subscription.It would also turn AH into a very well balance flight sim platform that would be difficult to match


There would be limited fragmentation
because the target market would not be as interested in the MA style of play as much as they would in the multiple choices that would be available to them in the custom arenas. That along with the ability and freedom to run a server with the settings they enjoy.




Limiting arenas and limiting styles of play also limit the customer base.


Allowing players to use the custom arenas as they wish and giving them logging capabilities has the best potential to increase market share in a dramatic way.

 making custom arenas 24/7 and providing logging and stat tools like FSO is a low cost solution to a potentially huge up side.

~S~ RaVe

[oboe]

+1 to NrRaVeN's ideas.   

And to that, I would like to see the ability for skinners to skin planes for use in those custom arenas without the requirement of going through the HTC approval/skin release bottleneck.  Open it up!    There are fine skins which have been on the shelf at HTC for more than a year.

I can see someone opening a Reno air race arena with P-51D and F4U-4, LA-7 racing skins, or a dedicated South Pacific or North Africa arena with all the important skins included for the theater, and none of the incorrect skins.   

Same goes for terrains.

I think 24/7 custom arenas with the ability to use player-developed skins and terrains would drive an explosion in game content.

[Nr_RaVeN]

+1 to NrRaVeN's ideas.    

And to that, I would like to see the ability for skinners to skin planes for use in those custom arenas without the requirement of going through the HTC approval/skin release bottleneck.  Open it up!    There are fine skins which have been on the shelf at HTC for more than a year.

I can see someone opening a Reno air race arena with P-51D and F4U-4, LA-7 racing skins, or a dedicated South Pacific or North Africa arena with all the important skins included for the theater, and none of the incorrect skins.    

Same goes for terrains.

I think 24/7 custom arenas with the ability to use player-developed skins and terrains would drive an explosion in game content.

+1 oboe  
Exponential growth potential. All of those terrains and skins can be shared for the benefit of all. Cant forget Logging and stat gathering tools to allow the capability to run more dynamic events  on the dedicated servers..