My presentation during Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2015. I shared my experience producing the Angry Birds Toons animation TV series for Rovio. I discussed what made this case so extraordinary, and how other mobile game companies can benefit from animation to build their brands.
7. Angry Birds Toons and Angry Birds brand
• Character driven stories
showed us what the characters
are all about (successful
reverse-engineering).
• Impact in the minds of fans and
in the next generation of
products
• Growth, depth, longer life of the
brand.
8. opportunities in brand building
• Think beyond the game. Explore your characters. Think as a brand.
• Exposure in other media = differentiation in the crowded mobile
gaming space.
• Brand ecosystem.Game portfolio around a fully owned, proven brand
allows you to take other chances.
• A wide, variated engaged fanbase around a brand that represent
values, is ready for new and different categories of products, sequels,
etc…
• Additional revenue streams.
9. Animation - game traditional marriage
• Successful animation property becomes a game (or vice versa)
often under a licensing model.
• Examples: Mickey, Ben10,Super Mario Brothers Super Show,
Simpson (Tapped Out), Pacman, Pokemon.
10. New times. L’imagination au pouvoir!
• Traditional relation between animation and games is
problematic:
• Brand consistency and quality at risk.
• Often limited to long-established brands.
• New times bring new solutions and ways to explore your brand:
• Examples: Minecraft, Lego Dimensions, Simogo’s Sailor’s
Dream, Plants Vs Zombies…
11. challenges
• Different lead times.
• Animation production is non- agile, waterfall type production.
Hard to pivot. Just like a sausage machine.
• Animation is expensive and takes time.
• Financing model shares IP rights with other partners to reduce
risk.
12. animation financing salad
Financing structure
Public Grant
TV Channel
Toy Master
Distributor
Co-Producer2
Co-producer
IP ownership
TV Channel
Distributor
Co-Producer2
Co-producer
13. What animation can learn from games…
• Scalability: Start small, gain traction, scale.
• Agility: Fail fast, pivot.
• Know your audience!
14. …what games can learn from animation…
• Co-production Model
• Characters and values as the core of the brand.
• Know your characters!
15. …to create healthy brands.
• Include animation in the long-term strategy of your game:
develop the series universe and characters while you build your
momentum.
• Use your traction data in mobile as leverage in negotiations with
broadcasters (i.e. to offer limited rights).
• Innovation can bring cheaper and more agile animation
production (i.e. using game engines to render, crowdsourcing…).
• Animation can be scalable: Start small and have fun with short
clips for YouTube, webtoons, comicbooks… Use your audience!