6 things that are important to consider when working with brands

ZiMAD has extensive experience working with brands. She has worked with Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Sony, National Geographic, and recently announced a collaboration with Disney. What is important to know when working with large IP, — says Elizaveta Savenkova, Business Development Manager of the gaming company.

Elizaveta Savenkova, Business Development Manager
At ZiMAD, we have been building partnerships with major brands since 2016.

As a rule, they go within the framework of our flagship — Magic Jigsaw Puzzles, the total audience of which covers more than one hundred million users worldwide.

The partnership with Disney also primarily affects this title. Now we are releasing content for the game based on such cartoons as “The Little Mermaid“, “Cold Heart“, “Soul“, “Puzzle” and not only.

In this article, we share our vision of what needs to be taken into account for a successful collaboration.

1. The partnership must have a specific business goal

Working with IP is a lot of work, which should a) pay off, b) lead to something.

We usually start from the fact that any partnership is a matter of additional monetization of our product.

Therefore, when planning any collaboration, we make a forecast that answers the question: how much we will be able to earn thanks to it.

We didn’t come to this right away. In 2016, we launched a collaboration for the first time. Then it was more of an image story for us.

To turn it into a commercial one (in fact, to “recapture” it), we needed: a new product marketing department and a couple of years of research, analysis and hypothesis testing.

Magic Jigsaw Puzzles2. Don’t forget about emotions

The success of collaboration as a product also depends on the emotional part.

For example, in building a partnership with Disney, we were guided by the fact that our audience grew up on the magical worlds created by the company. Moreover, today the children of our users are growing up on them.

Simply put, content based on Disney cartoons gives rise to pleasant feelings and memories. Thanks to this, people are more motivated to return to the game.

The reaction of Magic Jigsaw Puzzles players to the appearance of themed packs from Disney3. Consider the requirements for deadlines and guidelines

As a rule, any large brand is a large corporation with its own terms for the terms of approval and provision of information.

Therefore, it is necessary to build your own marketing plans in advance, taking into account the long feedback from IP representatives.

You also need to be prepared for the fact that some materials may not pass approval due to brand policy. Therefore, it is important to always have a plan B (for example, alternative content).

Simply “signing a contract and taking a picture” will not work — each brand has its own guidelines and technical requirements, for example, how and how the logo should be positioned, how exactly the characters on the art should be located.

Get ready to coordinate with the brand every step and any changes that are made to the content and product. For example, in the case of Magic Jigsaw Puzzles, more than once it was not only about, for example, the images of the characters in the game, but also about how they should look on the graph for social networks (sometimes even our icons in stores were discussed).

Magic Jigsaw Puzzles4. Analysis of the audience of the game at the stage of choosing a partner is a necessity

When working with IP, it is worth considering whether the brand you have chosen is suitable for the target audience of the game in which you plan to implement it. First of all, ask yourself questions:

• are your current players fans of your chosen IP?
• will you be able to attract the players you are interested in with branded content?
• do the brand values coincide with the values of your target audience?
• how will you monetize this content?

Any work with IP is, first of all, marketing research.

Determine which content can attract the viewer, which formats of marketing materials are best used throughout the player’s flow: from viewing ads to onboarding inside the game.

Magic Jigsaw Puzzles5. Refine the game to the maximum before releasing content with a major brand

Collaboration should be regarded as a catalyst for your success, and not an attempt to “ride a dead horse”.

Cooperation with a large IP by itself will not save a blocked product, it will not help to monetize it if it does not work by itself.

Without a strong product that can monetize the audience without such actions, collaboration is useless. You will just waste a lot of money, time and effort.

If we talk about our experience, we usually integrate content into Magic Jigsaw Puzzles, a mobile game that recently celebrated a decade and has its own devoted fan base.

The new branded content, on the one hand, fuels interest in the project from current players, and on the other, is an excellent tool for returning those who, for one reason or another, abandoned the game.

Magic Jigsaw Puzzles6. Remember about the documents

The contract is your base and salvation from most unpleasant surprises. Do not spare the resources of the legal department, communicate with partners and record every important detail — payment, deadlines, non-disclosure provisions.

At one time, we spent 18 (!) months preparing a major collaboration. So many issues had to be resolved from the technical and legal sides.

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The first large—scale cooperation is difficult. It is impossible to predict everything in advance. Something is bound to go wrong somewhere. It is ok.

Over time, after launching several collaborations, a certain expertise is formed. And thanks to it, it becomes clear which features inside the game and which marketing materials may go against the brand policy, and which ones will definitely come to you and partners.