While catching a big goose, I encountered Yuanqi Forest. Are small games becoming a new outlet for product placement?

Explore the new trend of brand placement in the "Catch the Big Goose" mini-game, solve the problem of marketing innovation, and recommend it to brand marketers and game developers.

There is a game that is as addictive as "Catch the Goose" and cannot be stopped at all. It is even more addictive.

Recently, TOP Jun discovered a familiar figure in the "Catch the Big Goose" mini-game - Yuanqi Forest.

Yuanqi Forest sparkling water appears in Catch the Big Goose. In recent years, the increasingly popular mini-game has brought more opportunities for brand implantation. Today, follow TOP Jun into the world of Catch the Big Goose and see what other possible marketing methods are there in the mini-game?

1. What is catching a big goose?

Let's first take a look at the gameplay of "Catch the Goose". "Catch the Goose" is similar to "Sheep Goat", both of which are three-dimensional match-3 games in WeChat mini-programs. In 2022, "Sheep Goat", which is easy to get started but difficult to pass, became popular, bringing this type of addictive match-3 mini-game to the public's attention, and "Catch the Goose" has upgraded the gameplay based on "Sheep Goat".

Players can remove three identical items by clicking on them in a specific [shopping cart] or [pot], and the game is completed when all items are removed. It is worth noting that in catching the big goose, players can change the stacking order of items by shaking their phones, thereby increasing the chance of clearing the game. This gameplay similar to "turning the pot" also enhances the 3D interactivity of the game.

Image source: Weibo user @森桃沢

Players are addicted to catching the goose. In addition, if players fail to pass the level, they will receive a "provocation" from the goose, which successfully arouses the players' desire for challenge. As a result, this game is widely popular among WeChat users due to the upgraded gameplay and emotional stimulation. The theme of "Catch the Goose" is different every day, including beauty markets, fruit and vegetable markets, barbecue stalls, supermarkets and antique markets. The items that need to be eliminated are also daily necessities, which provides an opportunity for brand implantation.

2. "Catch the Big Goose" x Yuanqi Forest

On April 26, Yuanqi Forest and the Goose Catching game officially announced their cooperation, inserting Yuanqi Forest White Peach Flavored Sparkling Water into the "Sunday BBQ" on April 28 and May 4, and showing the product as part of the Goose Catching game .

Yuanqi Forest is cooperating with Zhua Da Goose, but this is only part of the cooperation. Yuanqi Forest, Alien Electrolyte Water and Zhua Da Goose game are also participating in the "Reading China" public library project.

The "Everyone Catch the Goose and Build a Library Together" event is a limited-time event to build a library together in the game. Goose friends participate in the "Catch the Goose" game and make the final donation in the form of server-wide points. After all server-wide goose friends achieve the points achievement, the official website of "Catch the Goose" and the Yuanqi Forest brand will donate libraries to children in poor areas.

In-game event page

Yuanqi Forest cooperated with "Catch the Goose" and chose a barbecue stall, a game scene that is very suitable for the product. It allows goose lovers to strengthen their product awareness in the game , form an effective association between barbecue and Yuanqi Forest , and also establish the brand image in public welfare activities, which can be said to kill three birds with one stone.

3. Old wine in new bottles

A guide to becoming addicted to match-3 games . According to statistics from Game Teahouse from April 15 to April 21, on the WeChat mini-game platform and the Douyin mini-game platform, Lanfei Interactive Entertainment's elimination game "Catch the Big Goose" has won the top spot for many weeks in a row.

Mini game rankings (Source: Game Teahouse)

Founded in 2007, Lanfei Interactive Entertainment once dominated the Apple App Store with "Eliminate Virus" and "Bit Squad". After switching to mini-program games, the current revenue of Zhuadaye has not been made public, but as of 16:00 on the date of publication, more than 6.61 million people have participated in the game, and the number is still rising. According to the speech of Zhang Jiaxu, founder of Jianyou Technology, at the 2022 Annual Conference of the Game Industry, the game "Sheep" quickly became popular and increased its DAU from 100 to 1 million in less than 2 weeks. It is reported that the initial cost of the game was only 500,000, and now its revenue has exceeded 100 million. In this speech, the four points mentioned by Zhang Jiaxu are in line with the logic of the explosion of these two three-in-one games.

First of all, the product does not have too much advertising space , and the game experience is cool and does not lose value, which greatly increases the possibility of game fission through social dissemination; secondly, the sense of honor that ordinary people need, through a small game, they can get the recognition of the social circle, which is very attractive to most people who are core users of non-traditional games; thirdly, social fairness , everyone has the possibility to pass the level through their own efforts, the simplicity of operation and the randomness of the game make the gaming experience more balanced; the last and most important point is that small games are becoming more and more important, Douyin, WeChat, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu are all good ways to spread social fission .

3. Small games, big future

Mini version marketing ideas? According to the 2024Q1 WeChat Mini Game Data Report released by DataEye, the monthly active users of WeChat Mini Games reached 755 million in February 2024, a month-on-month increase of more than 20%, a new high in the past year and higher than the mobile game APP industry.

Data source: DataEye Game Observation

Judging from the content published on the two platforms where small and medium-sized game enthusiasts gather, small games also have great development prospects.

Recently, Xue Feidan from the WeChat Mini Games team delivered a keynote speech titled "Ecological Development and Content Observation". In the speech, he mentioned that in terms of user stickiness, the average user time in the IAA market has reached 60 minutes, and the 7-day active retention rate has reached more than 60% ; the sharing rate of match-3 games dominated by female users can reach more than 50%, and the proportion of new users can also reach more than 60%. Douyin is also continuing to make efforts in this field.

At the "2024 Massive Engine Douyin IAA Mini-Game Ecosystem Conference" with the theme of "Smart Travel Breaking the Waves, Enlightening the Future", it was mentioned that in the stock era, the game industry market has two completely different development directions . On the one hand, there are boutique masterpieces, and on the other hand, there are mini-games that focus on emotional release. On the two major platforms, WeChat and Douyin, the platform side has launched various products to help mini-games land and convert. New players usually enter the game through search portals and friend recommendations. So what new business opportunities will this form of game, which is closely related to platform ecology and social monetization, have in the future?

It is understood that the monetization methods of mini programs are currently divided into three categories: IAP (in-app purchase), IAA (advertising monetization) , and IAP+IAA (mixed monetization). The advertising positions supported by mini game traffic include: banner ads, incentive ads, interstitial ads, video patch ads, video ads, native template ads, and cover ads. However, for mini games like "Sheep and Goose" that have not obtained a version number, the monetization channel is currently only advertising monetization, and it focuses on incentive ads , allowing players to watch ads to gain game rewards.

However, the collaboration between "Catch the Goose" and Yuanqi Forest has opened the door to a new world for the monetization of mini-games. Mini-program games are more social in acquiring customers, more emotionally arousing to players, and the players are younger. For brands, mini-program games can leave a deep impression on consumers in the game. Isn't it a marketing idea of ​​small scale and big gains?

Author: TOP Jun; Source public account: TopMarketing (ID: 1082248)