aaron+templeman+final+report+proposal

Final Report Proposal To: Proximity Social Networking Team From: Aaron Templeman Date: April 10, 2010 Subject: Proposal for report on social networking games

Facebook has become the largest hot spot for Gen Y; however, companies are finding it hard to reach Gen Y through traditional online advertising. Social networking games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars are becoming one of the most popular parts of Facebook. Social networking games are the "new thing" of what was "the new thing" five years ago (Facebook). I propose to to write a report on the potential of marketing to Gen Y through social network games.


 * Need**

Companies know where to go to market to Gen Y, but they have not found a good way to reach Gen Y through advertisments. Since social network games are interactive businesses know that the user is actually using the social network site. By the nature of the game, users are attracting more users to play the game causing a domino affect.

Proximity clients who want to market to Gen Y need this report to understand one of the up in coming trends of social networks which could be the best way to effectively reach Gen Y through advertisements.


 * Topics**

The proposed report "Implications of Social Networking Games" will cover the following topics:


 * Ineffective past of marketing to Gen Y through social networks
 * Social network games and how they work
 * Marketing through social network games
 * Implications of social network marketing

The report will also include attachments that show different ways to gauge popularity of various social network games and Proximity focus group results.


 * Sources**

The following items are key sources for the report.

Gallagher, D. (2010, March 10). Video games see social networks as growth engine. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from LexisNexis: http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docvi/docview.do?e&risb=21_T9044921181&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9044921184&cisb=22_T9044921183&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=256932&docNo=1

In Gallagher’s article he discusses how social networks are dealing with the gaming aspect. Myspace is encouraging games to promote games as much as possible. Facebook is concerned that the games will be used as spam. Facebook is also charging games more than what Myspace is. Gallagher also shows how it is more beneficial for gaming companies to invest in social network games than console games.

Gaudiosi, J. (2010, March 29). A virtual farm turns new ground for game developers;. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from LexisNexis: http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy-tu.researchport.umd.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9045864179&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9045864184&cisb=22_T9045864183&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=302

Gaudiosi talks about Farmville and its effect on Facebook and social networks. Farmville is one of Facebooks most popular games. It is produced by Zynga who is producing some of the most popular games on Facebook and is making a fortune doing so.

NPD: Console Gamers Play Social Network Games, More Likely To Microtransact. (2010, April 2). Retrieved April 4, 2010, from Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27944/NPD_Console_Gamers_Play_Social_Network_Games_More_Likely_To_Microtransact.php

The author explores how console gamers and social network gamers are starting to merge with one another. Traditionally they have been different consumers, but research show that more than half of them use both forms of gaming. The author shows how not only are social network games growing, but the demographics of the users are expanding too.

RockYou Launches 'Deal of the Day'; Social Gaming's First Brand Sponsored Cost Per Engagement In-Game Advertising Solution. (2010, March 10). Retrieved April 4, 2010, from LexisNexis: http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9044838655&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9044838662&cisb=22_T9044838661&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=8054&docNo=3

The author explains RockYou’s strategy to get social network game users to buy products. Users will earn virtual cash for achievement in games. This will translate into the users being able to by select products. By doing this RockYou can distribute companies products as rewards to users and the companies get the advantage of Gen Y tasting their products.

Swartz, J. (2009, October 15). For social networks, it's game on. Retrieved April 7, 2010, from LexisNexis: http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy-tu.researchport.umd.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9045864179&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9045864184&cisb=22_T9045864183&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=821

Swartz explains in his article how social networks and games make money off of games. The users are allowed to play for free. In order to get deeper in the game the user has to either get other social network users to play or buy upgrades. Either way the game and social network benefit; they either get more users to market to or they get money.

 Doubters claim that the networks face two big handicaps. The first is that people logged into social -networking sites are there to hang out with their friends, so they will pay no attention to ads. The second is that because the sites let users generate their own content, they will find it hard to attract advertisers because brands will not want to take the risk of appearing alongside examples of profanity, obscenity or nudity—or all three at once. Although user numbers were sharply up last year, the social -networking industry's revenues in America, its biggest  advertising market, rose only by a modest 4% Profiting from friendship- the economist  http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy-tu.researchport.umd.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T9218399700&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T9218399704&cisb=22_T9218399703&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=7955&docNo=3

 The AdWords targeting that most of us are familiar with is by keyword (content). The basic targeting options on Facebook