Not sure if you all heard of Double Fine Products, but here is a brief description from the company:
“Founded in 2000 by industry veteran Tim Schafer (Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango), the San Francisco-based company has established itself as a unique creative force with critically-acclaimed titles such as Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Costume Quest, Stacking, Iron Brigade, Once Upon a Monster, and Double Fine Happy Action Theater.”
But what makes this company so interesting is their marketing tactic. Tim, the founder, asked its customers to pay for its production fee. The more funding the customers provide the better the game will be.The game produced will be based on what customers want. Initially they asked for $400,000, which is actually very cheap. But what happened was:
They got over 3 million dollars of funding. The success became an instant hit on the internet and the gaming community. A lot of game developers these day suffer bashing from its customers. A good example is Mass Effect 3. The game series was known for “the choices you make will have an effect on the ending”. But the last title disappointed a lot of fans.
A lot of business can learn from Tim. Marketing is all about understanding customer needs. Once you understand – satisfy them. This post is intended to point out how powerful customer engagement can be. Online marketing has so much potential in the business world.
Eric, I agree that many businesses lack communication with their customers.
However, it’s often difficult to communicate with them as different customers want different things. If all the businesses could understand exactly what the customers want, the industry wouldn’t need to hire market researchers and marketers. Like you have said, their last title disappointed a lot of fans because they couldn’t find out what the customers wanted.
This is a great example of highlighting the importance of communication between companies and customers. But, can you suggest specific ways small businesses can improve this?
Great post Eric. I think the amount of money raised definately reflects the community-forming capabilities of the internet in today’s day and age. Regarding satisfying consumer needs, I think you raised a very good point. Once you satisfy needs, demand will definitely follow and I think this is an excellent example of this. Keep the great posts coming!