Post on 17-Jan-2017
Fishing for Whales in the GulfStanislaw IwanVice President
GameDesire Ltd.
About me - experience
• GamingVP of Gamedesire Limited – social casino and casual games developer (6 years)
• MediaHead of Entertainment channels in Onet.pl – biggest horizontal portal in Poland(10 years)
• ScienceSociology - M.A. - Jagiellonian University in Krakow
About us - GameDesire
• GameDesire Ltd. – est. 2004 (previously known as Ganymede)
• The leading social casino and casual games developer in Poland
• Key products:• Poker Live Pro• Pool Live Pro• Snooker Live Pro• GameDesire.com
• Key markets:• Poland• Brasil• USA
GameDesire – distribution platforms
• MobilePool Live Pro, Poker Live Pro, Snooker Live Pro, Bingo, Slots
• SocialFacebook, VK, others
• WebGameDesire.com, Poker4chips.com, 20+ white label partners
Gamedesire.com - website
Why Gamedesire.com?
• 12 years on market • Lots of valuable data• Traffic organic, SEO, PPC• Global reach• Customers from different
countries/ cultures
GameDesire – main markets
Diverse Gamedesire audience:
• Poland – 30 %• Brasil – 20 %• USA – 10 %• Western Europe – 10 %• Eastern Europe – 5 %• Turkey – 5 %• Other – 20 %
GULF customers
Players coming from:
• Saudi Arabia• Kuwait• United Arab Emirates• Qatar
Gulf users - sources of traffic
Organic• Arabic version of Gamedesire.com – 10 years on the
market
SEO• Most Arabic search space still unclaimed
• Most cost effective way to bring new traffic
• Search behavior in the Middle East varies greatly compared to search behavior in other regions of the world
Gulf users - sources of traffic
Pay Per Click advertising
• Still one of the most untapped marketing channels in the Middle East
• Number of Internet users in the region growing rapidly
• Low cost and effective way to reach Arab customers
• Requires trustful local partner with a thorough knowledge
Saudi Arabia has an average CPC 60 percent less than the US average.Kuwait has an average CPC 64 percent less than the US average.Qatar has an average CPC 81 percent less than the US average
Different markets – different cultures
People from around the world differ from each other in variety of ways...
• People differ based on looks• People differ based on interests• People differ based on behaviors
People differ based on CULTURE!
Cultural differences
" Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster."
Prof. Geert Hofstede Emeritus Professor, Maastricht University
Developing intercultural intelligence
Frameworks for analyzing cultural differences:
• Richard D. Lewis• Geert Hofstede • Fons Trompenars• Edward Hall
Result: developing „inter-cultural toolbox”
Developing intercultural intelligence
Richard D. Lewis – 3 types of culture
Developing intercultural intelligence
Multi-active culture:
• People are talkative
• Great importance to feelings
• Relationship and people oriented
• Multitasking
• Speak and listen at the same time
• Frequent interruptions
• Uncomfortable with silence
• Dialogue-oriented
Developing intercultural intelligence
Edward T. Hall
• Low-context cultures where the essential of the communication is the message:
“I mean what I say !” Example: Nordic countries, Germany
• High-context cultures where the essential of the communication is in the situation, in the relationship between the interlocutors and in the non-verbal elements.
“you know what I mean...” Example: Arab countries, China
Developing intercultural intelligence
Geert Hofstede
• Power distance (high/low) - HIGHAttitudes to authority, the distance between individuals in a hierarchy
• Individualism vs. collectivism - COLLECTIVEIndependence and interdependence
• Masculinity vs. feminity - MASCULINEImportance of assertion versus cooperation
• Uncertainty avoidance (high/low) - HIGHThe degree of tolerance for uncertainty or the unknown
Developing intercultural intelligence
Fons Trompenaars
• Universalism vs. Particularism (context) – PARTICULARAdvice: Be ready for personal “meandering” or irrelevancies that do not seem to going anywhere.Do not take personal “small talk” as irrelevant
• Neutral vs. affective relationships – AFFECTIVEAdvice: Do not be put off when they create scenes and get overly theatricalTheir enthusiasm or vehement disagreement does not necessarily mean they have made up their minds
• Specific vs. diffuse relationships – DIFFUSEAdvice: Be prepared to explore fields which may seem irrelevant to the issue being discussed Take time!
Developing intercultural intelligence
Practical conclusions for Gulf customers:
• Buying is social: Collectivism, multi-active culture
• Bargaining is a part of culture: Diffuse and affective relationships
• Status symbols are important: High power distance
• Throw rational logic out the window - superstitions are real: Multu-active emotional and impulsive
• Make relations personal – customer support is key: Relationship and people oriented
• Male audience is most important: Masculinity
• Respect the religion: High context culture, multi-active idealistic
Developing intercultural intelligence
Practical examples:
• Negotiating with customers number and price of gamechips: Bargaining is a part of culture
• Allowing some users to have multiple accounts: Superstitions are real
• Changing the name of positions in customer support: Status symbols are important
GULF customers
Was it worth the hassle?
GULF customers - traffic metrics
New registrations / MAU ratio Reactivations / MAU ratio
New registrations and reactivations comparisonBenchmarked against all players average
Arab countries All countries
cohort_retention_D1
cohort_retention_D7
cohort_retention_D28
D1 / 7 /28 cohort retention comparisonBenchmarked against all players average
All countries Arab countries
Conversion, paying players structure
High-paying Medium-paying Low-paying
Paying players structure comparison
Arab countries All countries Arab countries All countries
Conversion rate comparisonBenchmarked against all players average
ARPU, ARPPU
Arab countries All countries
ARPU comparisonBenchmarked against all players average
Arab countries All countries
ARPPU comparisonBenchmarked against all players average
x 4,5x 6,5
Transaction metrics
Arab countries All countries
Average transactions made by a single playerBenchmarked against all players average
Arab countries All countries
Average single transaction valueBenchmarked against all players average
x 2 x 3,5
Payments and LTV metrics
Arab countries All countries
Percentage of paying users who made more than one payment
Arab countries All countries
Time before making the first payment
LTV realisation curveArab top-paying users vs typical user
Typical users LTV curve
Data commentary
• The traffic from Arab countries is very similar to the regular one in terms of new registrations and D1/ 7 / 28 retention
• There are slightly less reactivations among Arab players, conversion rate is similar – they are as likely to convert to paying users as any other player
• When they convert, however, they tend to pay a lot more and a lot more often. When they pay the are much more likely to become high-paying users
• They tend to make transactions for bigger amounts of money, and make them more often than the typical player. Arab players tend to pay more quickly and are typically more impulsive payers than an average user
• The 4 countries generate 8.2% of total Gamedesire.com revenue, and 0.7% of total Gamedesire.com traffic. This means that an average player from these countries is worth 8-12 times as much as a typical user.
• Players from Gulf countries are scarce but very valuable, 5 out of 25 top-paying users are of Gulf origin
• Gulf players typically monetise (81.5%) in the Poker games. They pay proportionally more than a typical player in Poker Omaha, Poker 5Cards, and Pool and proportionally less in Slots and Bingo
Conclusions
• In order to be succesful in different culture market you need to develop inter-cultural intelligence and use it practically
• The bigger difference between culture the more important inter-cultural intelligence is• Gulf countries should be treated as a separate, important income source for web game
portals• Gulf countries were found to have an extraordinary whale occurrence rate• Investing in acquiring users from Gulf countries and proper „cultural” treatment pays off
Summary
Thank you!