Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Adapptise (Redefining the way brands and game developers reach audiences - A fresh approach to advertising and customer retention.) Reporting period: 2016-06-01 to 2016-08-31 Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project Freelance game developers with their limited marketing budget are having great difficulty to keep afloat and to get their business flourishing in an oversaturated mobile apps market. At the same time, brand companies are seeking for new ways to capture attention of an audience which is increasingly spending more time on mobiles for entertainment, and less time using traditional media. The European Union considers game developers as forerunners of innovation in digital markets. With the present situation, freelance game developer are being driven out of the market as they lack resources to compete with large players, and an oversaturated apps market place. Adapptise increases economic growth through innovation, as it fosters job prosperity for freelance developers while creating value and novel marketing strategies for brand companies. The overall objective is to develop an ecosystem for freelance developers and branded companies, and capture a good share of these two lucrative markets. Through our novel tool we will disrupt the conformist way in which brands and game developers traditionally reach their respective target customers increasing economic growth for both markets as well as for our organisation. Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far We have launched the beta Adapptise platform and received a very good response from both brands and freelance developers. After some months of use we carried out a System Usability Scale with a random selection of users and the feedback resulted as being very positive. Throughout the coming period we will continue to elaborate the system and make changes to reflect the requirements of our target customers. We also intend to invest greatly in marketing efforts to create awareness and increase usership. Over the past months, we have also made contact with a number of investors who have shown a great intent to be part of our system when this is ready for official launch. During this stage we have carried an indepth evaluation of the market situation, current completion, legal environment and business opportunities. The results of the feasibility study indicate that we are in a good position to further pursue our product and to carry out supplementary development. Adapptise was very well received by the market and additional improvements will guarantee that with our platform we will become market leaders in targeting indie developers in the mobile gaming industry.Following the phase 1 process, we will explore other funding possibilities, namely applying for a phase 2 project under SME instrument and pursuing the support of independent investors and stakeholders. We will also continue investing own resources to reach target audiences and showcase our flagship product. Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) The project offers freelance developers and brand companies a new business model to reach target audience and to keep users engages. Adapptise is based on rewarding achievements, as gamers escalate their progress in the game, converting more gamers into paying customers. At present, most indie game developers lack the financial resources to engage the services of an experienced publisher to push their game up the ranks and get it noticed. Indie developers do not have enough personnel resources to develop games which are of high quality to compete with games developed by larger corporations, they also do not have enough resources to invest in developing in-house marketing resources for their newly launched product. The use of game developers’ resources can reap much more if invested in Adapptise platform. Brands will benefit from brand awareness and brand recognition and in building a relationship with customers. Through Adapptise, brands can capture moments in which the gamer is experiencing positive feelings and capitalise on those happiness moments by adding on top of that a significant reward. Most advertising companies focus on a push approach of their products, with pop-up banners and rolling video ads, annoying customers in the process. With Adapptise, and the award system, the brand will convey a message of value for the customer, and gain awareness and loyalty. The large number of users playing games will also benefit greatly from Adapptise. Gamers will increase their commitment by spending more time using their mobile for entertainment, and engage deeper in games developed by Indi freelance developers. In addition, advertising will no longer be a burden, as brands will provide customers with valuable advertising, and timely rewards for achievements in games. Adapptise will increase economic activity for brands as a result of tailored advertising, moreover, the society of freelance developers will gain more public exposure and receive heightened opportunity for developing further their career. graphic-display-adapptise.jpg
