It's been 586 days since the launch of the iPhone App Store. As developers we're all aware there are now over 100,000 apps which collectively have been downloaded over three billion times.
2010 will bring about dramatic change in this ecosystem, with the days of the bedroom success stories becoming virtually extinct.
The market is crying out for a new breed of studio to dominate the App Store. No one solution will help you sell your app, and there's no point in complaining about Apple not helping, because why should it? Apple gave small developers like us the opportunity to distribute our ideas to a mass audience, but no one said it would be an easy sell.
As the dust settles and new platforms and markets develop, quality, long term usability, constant development and ongoing refinement through updates will all be required to prolong an app's life cycle.
For ustwo - the studio of dreams - 2010 will mean massively increased investment in in-house marketing and building a team capable of pushing our self published IP.
For us, publicising our work is an equally exciting challenge as the process of creation itself. In general we believe the smaller teams who understand the key coupling of creating and marketing great apps will rise to the top of the food chain.
As with any product, success is dependant on the quality of the idea/product along with how well the product is brought to market. Marketing is essential and as I keep saying, if we've managed to do it then anyone can - it's do or die.
Apps act as a form of PR for the studios that developed them - a true embodiment of what services you can offer to the world. Therefore as much effort in marketing is required as is applied to creating the app in the first place.
So to finish off our series of articles, here's some examples of creative publicity for four of our titles that range from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Reebok's iSprint
App Store feature status wasn't achieved and there was limited press coverage. The press release wasn't as well received as we'd hoped. Result slow sales.
What did we do? We got Harold the Hamster involved - gave him a go on iSprint and filmed it. What did that achieve? One iSprint world record and more publicity.
Simon's Cat
We had the same issues with Simon's Cat as with iSprint, gaining limited publicity and having limited time and resources to push the app. Another ridiculous video posted on YouTube resulted in more engagement and more downloads. But why wouldn't you get your own cat to review a game based on a cat?
MouthOff
If you read our first two articles, you'll know MouthOff has performed well in terms of sales, but saving the best til last, something we would have never expected and another world's first - MouthOff was picked up by a hip hop group from America. It was featured in Tanya Morgan's So Damn Down video, their first track from their Brooklynati album (see image above).
ShowUsYourMouthOff
For an app to be successful, it needs to work for you. We created a website that allowed users of MouthOff to show off on camera and upload their videos to YouTube.
The use of the tag 'ShowUsYourMouthOff' automatically added the video to the site. Therefore each video became an eyeball for the app, whilst at the same time giving the user 30 seconds of fame!
ustwo(TM) is a multi platform development studio based in London, UK and Malmo, Sweden - 50 strong and growing rapidly in notoriety. During 2009, the studio developed and released 16 apps including the infamous MouthOff(TM), .(TM) (48hour series), Steppin(TM), and Reebok's iSprint. ustwo's apps have sold globally and have become brands in their own right.
millsTM is well known within the industry with his refreshingly honest and open approach being well received by developers, gamers and fans alike.
