The Japanese social gaming giant's deal with French mobile affiliate network MobPartner, therefore, looks to be something of a win-win for the platform, with developers able to access a new suite of promotional tools in order to push their titles at fresh audiences.
It's entirely possible for indie devs out on their own to acquire users without breaking the bank, however.
That's according to MobPartner itself, which claims an ability to "creatively and smartly develop a seamless user flow" can pay significant dividends in the long run.
We caught up with co-founders Guillaume Alaber and Vianney Settini for their take on what the GREE deal means for them, and how smaller studios can compete with the bigger boys when it comes to user acquisition.
Pocket Gamer: Now that you've partnered with GREE, what MobPartner tools and technology will developers on the platform have access to, and how can they make use of these?
Guillaume Alaber: Developers can now use the MobPartner network to promote their games in almost any country.
GREE Advertising will provide the agency services to developers. MobPartner will manage the set up with the GREE Advertising team, as well the media planning for each desired campaign.
MobPartner offers its universal tracking technology on iOS and Android, a dashboard for all statistics, and strong account management support to optimize each campaign to fit the objectives of each developer.
How did the partnership between MobPartner and GREE Advertising come about? Why is the deal an important one for MobPartner?
Vianney Settini: We're a pioneer in mobile affiliation, and we are well known by most all players in the industry.
We have developed an unmatched reputation in the mobile market, and thanks to this, GREE contacted and visited us at our Parisian office, which began the relationship.
This deal is an important one for MobPartner, because GREE has committed to work on a long-term partnership with us on a large volume basis and through many different apps. In this way, our affiliates will be able to find and promote new games every month.
Left to right, Alaber and Settini
In addition, GREE offers very competitive prices on a CPI business model that will benefit all affiliates.
These are just a few of the reasons this partnership will benefit the MobPartner network as well as help to create a strong loyalty between our affiliates and GREE Advertising.
MobPartner calls itself a ROI-driven company. How does this manifest itself in the work you do with developers?
GA: Our main focus is to help our advertisers optimise their user acquisition channel. To achieve this goal, we attempt to build long-term relationships between our advertisers and the affiliates on their programs.
MobPartner is not only focused on providing volume to the developers, but our objective is to bring new quality users.
And to fit this ROI objective, our account management team analyses and optimises on a daily basis the traffic we provide to the advertisers.
With deep-pocketed companies such as GREE prepared to spend over the odds on user acquisition, doesn't that warp the market for smaller studios somewhat?
VS: A quality user comes at a price. GREE Advertising is willing to invest at this price to acquire the right users.
Smaller studios will always be able to launch their own mobile acquisition campaigns. The key to return on investment for them is to creatively and smartly develop a seamless user flow paying attention to the billing of users.
Finally, mobile traffic is increasing so much at such a fast pace that every actor will have a chance to prove his skills.
Thanks to both Guillaume and Vianney for their time.
