At this year's big Gaming industry event (E3 Media & Business Summit), much attention was lavished on the question of evolving hardware and software strategies for success. There is growing recognition that mass market growth ambitions must be matched with offerings that appeal to market segments other than rabid teen gamers.Alex Pham of the Los Angeles Times quotes a senior executive from Disney's Game Group on the company's growth strategy in the Gaming market: "as the game industry grows, it needs to reach out to a broader audience...the industry has built its $40 billion empire on customers who camp out overnight to buy a next-generation console or the latest installment of Halo. But that audience is getting tapped out".
But what's noticeably missing in all the Gaming industry buzz is any fresh thinking on go-to-market retail distribution strategy for reaching this broader market.
Disney and other game product and service companies would be well-advised to take a page from Steve Job's play book:
- Match product innovation with go-to-market distribution innovation
- Simplify the customer's total experience - not just the
product - Forward integrate selectively if external go-to-market options are
inadequate
Whether it's Disney, Ubisoft, Microsoft or one of the rest of the Gaming market gang, advantage will accrue to whoever widens their strategy lens to understand and improve the mass market consumer's overall experience. Get ready gamers: the next battlefield is go-to-market (retailing) strategy.
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