"@ClarionOfJoy;c-17566869" wrote:
"CAPTAIN_NXR7;c-17566563" wrote:
"@SimmerGeorge;c-17566446" wrote:
"CAPTAIN_NXR7;c-17566418" wrote:
"SimmerGeorge;c-17566358" wrote:
Generating more sales where there would have been none.
“Where there would have been none”... ?
I assume that’s why businesses have marketing models. To try and sell their goods.
I can grow whatever quality tomatoes, but if I don’t go out there and try to sell them, i can guess how much profit that will generate. None. Nada. Zilch. Not a sausage.
Quality or no quality, that’s beside the point when we’re looking at the numbers. Those sales were still generated...because of a marketing model none of the other games had.
Those numbers are there, no matter how you twist it or turn it.
@CAPTAIN_NXR7 Of course but I am only analyzing why it happens more with The Sims 4 than with the Sims 3.
Also your example isn't the best one because if we take tomatoes then I'm not saying exactly that. It's not just going out there and trying to sell them. With The Sims 4 marketing model you have the equivalent of being a vegetable merchant and trying to sell tomatoes to someone who isn't looking for tomatoes and eventually going "My tomatoes are 75% off right now, they are so cheap". If the customer was only looking for let's say zucchinis he would suddenly be interested in getting the tomatoes since they are ridiculously cheap. That customer wouldn't have bought them otherwise since he didn't have tomatoes in his shopping list and would have spent 0$ on tomatoes normally. It's the low price that generates the income. Because it makes you rethink buying something you normally didn't really want/need.
Also the Sims 4 lately is kind of the equivalent of the merchant going "I'll give you these tomatoes for free as long as you take a look at all the other stuff I'm offering, some of it is even on sale". Who knows, normally the customer wouldn't have even stopped at that merchant's table, but because he was giving the tomatoes out for free he ends up going there, grabbing some and then taking a look at his other products that he normally wouldn't have paid attention too and eventually spending money. Otherwise the person could have easily walked by and he wouldn't have spent a penny.
I'm not saying this strategy is a bad thing, I'm just pointing out the difference in The Sims 3 marketing with The Sims 4 and how they managed to generate some of that crazy amount of income they did with the Sims 4.
This freebie strategy is mainly targeted towards potential new players though. Players who are unfamiliar with the franchise. By luring them in with free donuts, or better still, have a celebrity lure them in with free donuts, they may get interested in what else the company has to offer. It has worked wonders for a lot of companies out there.
Using social media to sell their product is the intelligent thing to do as it’s quite affordable and it’s exactly where the target audience hangs out.
TS4 is lucky that way: it would have cost much more to do the same for TS3 because of how platforms are used in this day and age.
Unlike a lot of new simmers, many veteran simmers do know what they want from the franchise. Often these are features available in previous Titles. It takes a lot more to win over their hearts with whatever is being offered.
But buying something you don’t want/need says more about the customer than the business who’s trying to make a profit.
That freebee strategy was never used for the TS3 to sell well. Or for any legendary game.
The freebee strategy is only used for failing games. I ought to know, the frugal side of me LOVES free games and I always get them when offered, but when I install the games and play them, I can see why they're free. They're simply not fun to play.
No amount of spin about TS4 is working, despite all the efforts of EA on here to make it look otherwise, like polling and all the silly explaining or fibbing about its success. People have seen the tactics and no one really believes any of it anymore. Everytime I see these tactics it's just so eye-rolling and "Next!...."
Watch when TS4's run ends and EA is no longer trying to sell it - all the real facts will come out at how poorly it and its packs have done.
Yes, the change in strategy may have been a direct effect of TS4’s very bumpy start, because a lot of long time simmers were not happy with what they were seeing. Initially the target audience was the already established fan base. Those same simmers may be able to see through all these fireworks tactics because no matter what EA is saying about their game, many will argue that the
quality of the game has dropped,
compared to previous titles.
But there are two different generations of simmers now. The ‘old’ generation who is familiar with the classics and
can compare TS4 with previous titles and there is the ‘new’ generation who can compare it to none.
In order to set things right, that new generation of simmers had to be established, which EA did and seemingly it worked. For now. Because right
now it’s the best selling sims game.
So when you say:
“Watch when TS4's run ends and EA is no longer trying to sell it - all the real facts will come out at how poorly it and its packs have done.”Numbers in sales will tell that the TS4 and it’s packs have done well so far, which for EA is a fact and that’s what the company will be boasting about.
Anyone with a spark of intelligence will also know that the quality of a product does not equal numbers in sales.
Therefore, and since TS4 has caught up with itself, that what happens
behind the scenes in development is now more important than ever. How can a game with a subpar engine still add elements that the old generation is looking for, without losing the new generation and vice versa?
What is now important is to
keep the audience. That’s why polls and surveys have been more frequent. Keep everyone engaged.
And to go back on topic, this is why it is more important than ever not to make the same mistakes with TS5. What will the company really take away from it all?
Only EA knows.
When will TS5 be announced?
Only EA knows.