Zynga perfectly master of viral marketing

Last summer, the 7,000 BREW that teaches 7-Eleven operates in North America sold some ice cream under the brand name of a video game. Ice "farmville" buyers could make virtual objects to use in the game of the same name, edited by American Zynga, the King of the "social games" on Facebook. Since then, McDonald's restaurants, but also movies and musicians, have used game Zynga ("Mafia Wars", "CityVille"...) to make their advertising.

Merchandising and sponsorship began to refer to Zynga. "20 of its turnover comes from partnerships and advertising," says Michael Pachter, Wedbush, a Los Angeles Investment Bank analyst. Either 100 million (EUR 74 million) in 2010, the turnover of Zynga estimated at 500 million dollars (370 million euros) by Inside Network, studies of Silicon Valley law firm, specialized in networks and social games.

Zynga has found a new way to monetize his hearing at a time where the growth of it seems to lose steam. The site Web of Zynga, the number of active users per month was $ 360 million in mid-November 2010, all combined platforms (Facebook, iPhone, Yahoo!...). According to Zynga, this figure was more, March 1 of 290 million. Either a 20 decline. "Our numbers fluctuate greatly", simply we respond in Zynga, who arrives in four foreign countries, including the France, by translating two of its titles, "Mafia wars" and "CityVille".

To reverse the trend, the company has launched a loyalty program, RewardVille. Its slogan: "the more you play, the more you win. "Many applications have registered a decline of traffic on Facebook last year, says Justin Smith, Inside Network Director." This is due, among other things, to the new conditions imposed by Facebook for viral marketing. Messages Zynga the for example, no more publish automatically to des, profil exemple, profil exemple, profile example, may publier the explicit of the latter agreement.

Previously it had succeeded in Zynga, founded in July 2007 in San Francisco. "Its leaders have very well understood the functioning of social networks and social gaming;" "in addition, they are very well managed", summarizes Bing Gordon, a partner at KPCB, venture capitalist of Silicon Valley, who participated in the first four rounds of table of the society.

Zynga perfectly master of viral marketing. "They know very well you get to spend much time on their games and force you to invite your friends", says Michael Pachter. "farmville" and requires you to return later to pick up your harvest, otherwise your flowers dry on foot. If you are not, you must seek help from your friends. Or buy fertilizer to accelerate the growth of your flowers!

The sale of these virtual objects (tractor or horse in "farmville"; pistol or sedan in "Mafia wars") is the basis of the economic model of Zynga: it represents 80 of its turnover. Access to the games is free, but between 3 and 5 of the players choose to buy these gadgets for a few euros. "The normal conversion rate is 1, said Michael Pachter.". Zynga manages to 3. "So a gadget called another: after having acquired a horse or a tractor must be hay or diesel fuel feed him!

But with an audience that is eroding and Facebook prepares to take 30 on transactions (box read), Zynga will have to launch its own games site - it would already have a name, Zynga Live - or multiply commercial and advertising partnerships with companies. "Don't forget that Zynga is one medium like the others, said Randy Komisar, another associate of KPCB. It has two categories of clients: its customers and its advertisers.

Another track: the sale of information about its subscribers. Online poker sites would like to know who plays at "Zynga Poker" on Facebook! But again, the company walking on eggs. In October, the Wall Street Journal revealed a scandal: most popular applications on Facebook, including Zynga Games, transmitting personal data of their users to external companies.