Antti Kananen

In the ever-evolving landscape of mobile gaming, the pressure to drive immediate results has often led marketers to lean heavily on extrinsic motivations. Strategies rooted in FOMO, exaggerated claims, or outright misleading tactics have proven their effectiveness in short-term gains.However, what if the key to long-term success lies in something more profound?By focusing on audience profiling, unique selling points (USPs), and value propositions (value props) from the perspective of intrinsic motivations, marketers would be able to craft ads and creatives that truly resonates with their audiences — building deeper connections and sustainable engagement.This is where we’ll be focusing on this article, incl. giving an example of a simple tool around these means.The Role of Audience Profiling in Meaningful MarketingAudience profiling is the foundation of effective marketing. It allows you to understand the needs, desires, and motivations of your target users […]

This article discusses Intrinsic Monetization as a framework for F2P monetization strategy.On top of that, the article offers detailed examples of how you could innovate with intrinsic directions, in unique ways, in your designs as well as what can in best way complement your systems — which I’m hoping will spark some innovative ideas for everyone regarding their future game prospects.Intrinsic MonetizationAs the gaming industry evolves, intrinsic monetization is a framework everyone should know and study more — for building sustainable success.Unlike extrinsic models that rely on e.g., rewards-based systems most or external pressures like time-limited offers or competitive paywalls, intrinsic monetization aligns with players' internal motivations, fostering genuine engagement and connection.What is Intrinsic Monetization?Intrinsic monetization integrates monetization into the core of the gameplay experience in ways that feel natural and fulfilling to players.The key focus of it is here: […]

How do you usually approach (early stage) mobile games benchmarking? This article discusses about benchmarking and introduces couple methods (/’schools’) over it.The article is partly related to (/complements it) also my previous article about importance of Business Modeling (https://gamesalchemy.substack.com/p/6-why-business-modeling-your-f2p):How To Approach Benchmarking?There seems to be on high level few ‘schools’ to look into:One goes deep in understanding KPIs from macro tools such as Sensor Tower, data ai, AppMagic and other sources of data (ad networks, MMPs, industry reports, industry peers, etc.), and using them in combination for benchmarking.‘Schools’ that with current commercial sentiment aim, e.g., for hybrid casual games to have 40-50% (or even more) D1 and < $1 CPIs (US) for starting point — to invest further (kinda overlooks benchmarking, but counts in a target profiling of top 5-100 games in certain categories).‘Schools’ that start with scientific approach where […]