About Scopely
Headquartered in California, with offices across the US, EMEA and Asia, Scopely is one of the largest publishers and developers within the mobile games and interactive entertainment space. Best known for developing and publishing popular mobile games across various genres, including puzzle, strategy, role-playing, and casual games, Scopely has created partnerships with major game studios and brands to create many top-grossing, award-winning game experiences on mobile, web, PC and beyond including: Monopoly Go! (gaining 7 million downloads a month), Yahtzee with Buddies! and Marvel StrikeForce. After it acquired GSN Games from Sony for $1 billion in 2021, Scopely’s valuation climbed to $5.4 billion.
The Problem
Founded in 2011, Scopley, having rapidly expanded through investment and partnerships, encountered issues with user retention, customer experience and performance. Consequently, the company looked to extend its partnerships to include more experienced attribution performance influencer marketing clients. AFK noticed that Scopley’s campaigns lacked an angle developed by experts within the space which was why the campaigns were not penetrating the market in the way they used to when the company first launched. Scopley sought guidance from AFK experts on how to boost user-generated activity within its games, with the aim of increased user enjoyment and higher in-game spending within the first seven days of download.
With the primary goal of addressing a lack of dynamic tech incorporated into the games, Scopely briefed AFK with creating something dynamic and different to grab the attention of its users and keep them entertained. Scopley utilised AFK’s industry knowledge and tech expertise to skillfully retain users and increase engagement.
How AFK Solved It
In order to solve Scopley’s problem of grabbing users’ attention and drive customer retention, AFK used a multifaceted approach. From an asset perspective, AFK leveraged its breadth of experience orchestrating both large-scale and smaller creative activations. AFK worked with its team of tech experts to create dynamic overlays on streams that are non-intrusive yet attention grabbing, setting them apart from simple static overlays. In fact, AFK is one of only two agencies in the space that have dynamic overlays on streams that are not intrusive, placed strategically, yet optimising attention grabbing capabilities of its users.
Additionally, utilising a multitude of data based on the thousands of previous deployments, AFK made sure the team was able to find the perfect creators for Scopley. Subsequently, AFK worked with streamers on creative briefs to foster an organic, genuine enjoyment of the game so the viewers of the streams were more inclined to participate and play themselves. By leveraging influencer User Generated Content (UGC) and utilising the streamer's best clips as paid advertisements, Scopley was further able to penetrate its target audiences. AFK were then able to scale that based on budgets.
Finally, AFK encouraged influencers to mention the game during their streams and place branding below the stream. This ensured that, at any point in time, viewers could click on the link, download the game and use the game specific incentive offer. AFK assisted in solving Scopely's challenges related to user engagement and customer retention by combining these solutions with effective branding and a seven-day duration period. As a result, Scopely was able to enhance the effectiveness of its partnerships with experienced attribution performance influencer marketing clients.
The result
The success of the campaign is evident through the following highlights:
Impressive Total Views: The campaign amassed a remarkable 9 million views across all platforms, demonstrating its ability to capture and engage an extensive audience.
Positive Audience Sentiments: The campaign received many enthusiastic responses from the target audience, reflecting their interest and appreciation for the content. Comments such as "ugh heck it I’ll play it.”, “I hate mobile games but this looks fun" and "they really put some effort into this mobile game" showcased the positive reception and willingness of the audience to support the game.
Fostering Fan Support: The campaign successfully cultivated support from past players, as expressed in comments such as: "Ima jump on my iPad and download again to throw some support". This indicates a strong connection to the fan base and their eagerness to engage further.
Extensive Deployments: With a total of 18 carefully selected creators enlisted for the campaign, the campaign's reach was broad and diverse.
These accomplishments highlight and demonstrate the tangible successes of Scopely's campaign, supported by AFK, in generating widespread visibility, fostering positive audience sentiments, and cultivating fan support.
Audience Sentiment highlights
“Ugh heck it I’ll play it. I hate mobile games but this looks fun”
“They really put some effort into this mobile game”
“Ima jump on my iPad and download again to throw some support”
“damn I need that i’ve been playing on mobile for years”
Key Stats
Total deployments: 18 creators
Total views (all platforms) : 9 million