Brutally Honest #133 by Matej Lancaric

Hey, FAM! What’s up?

?? Drink talk

So, do you know about the new shit that’s been going around?

I was checking Sensemitter which analyzes users' emotional responses to any creative content. Using scientific principles and neurobiological AI research tools, we transform emotional responses into data. They wrapped this tech to analyze why players’ attention doesn’t stick when they play your game or watch your game ad. got a trio of neural networks (yes, three—isn't that fancy?) working in harmony with the team of brainy humans.

Here's the lowdown:

1. Emotion Detector Extraordinaire Assesses each player's emotional starting point and monitors mood swings. It uses a neurophysiological framework (try saying that five times fast) to morph emotional responses into a single engagement metric.
2. Gaze Guru: Focuses on where those eyeballs are darting. Are they glued to the action or counting pixels in the corner? We've got it covered.
3. Data Crunching Dynamo: Takes all that juicy info and compiles it into a slick report that's easier to digest than Grandma's apple pie.

Want to know how it works? Cool stuff, check this.

??Tip of the week

TikTok introduced a video editor that allows users to create and/or adjust videos, add AI avatars, and create UGC videos.

• Flexibility:?customize different elements of your marketing materials frame by frame
• Convenience:?easily and intuitively produce ad videos in minutes
• Accuracy:?edit each frame with specific text, music and other creative elements

How to use it

TikTok Video Editor can be found under the 'Create a Video' menu on your TikTok Ads Manager dashboard, or from the Ad Creation menu when setting up a campaign.

Step 1: ?? Select your materials.?You can choose from existing materials in your asset library or upload video and images from your computer. Once your assets are ready, you can drag them into the bar below to start editing.

Step 2: ?? Add a soundtrack.?Click on the music note icon to enter the music editing page. From there, you can either upload your own soundtrack, or choose from a library of popular copyrighted music. TikTok Video Editor is even able to recommend music for the style of your video and place it at a suitable time on the track. You can adjust the volume of the music or the original video by clicking the music or media track and dragging the volume slider.

Step 3: ?? Add text.?Click on the text icon to enter the text editing page. If you've spent time on TikTok, you'll know that overlaying text onto video is a popular way to get information across--whether to highlight key points, or to caption speech with subtitles for the hearing-impaired. From the text page, you can choose from a number of different font styles and colours to add to your video. Choose a style you like and you will see a text box; from here you can change font, size, color and background, or drag the text around to any position within the video.

As a rule of thumb, limit text per frame to what a user can easily read within the time that it displays. Don't include large chunks of text unless they're captioning the speech in the video--otherwise information overload could affect your CTR.

Step 4: ?? Post-production.?TikTok Video Editor offers the following tools to fine-tune your ad:

• Transitions:?In true TikTok style, you can add transitions between two frames - just click the transition icon at the top to open up the library of options. You can add transitions either by clicking the + icon in the media track, or by dragging your chosen transition to where you want it on the media track.

• Effects:?You can also choose from effects to layer over your video, by clicking the magic wand icon in the top toolbar. Make sure you have at least one asset loaded up to edit, otherwise the effects can't be applied.
• Object Eraser:?You can remove objects from the frame by selecting the eraser icon from the toolbar. Use the white cursor to wipe over an object, then click the check mark to finish and start erasing--a countdown timer will show up on the screen with the estimated time to completion.
• Split Audio Track:?You can remove or separate the audio track from a video by clicking on the media track and selecting 'Split Audio Track'.
• Multi-layer Edit:?After adding an asset to a media track, click the asset on the preview screen. It will be framed by black positioning dots, which allow you to resize or move it to your preferred size and position.
• Crop to size:?By default, Tok Video Editor creates videos for mobile-first portrait orientation. But don't worry if your assets don't fit--you can easily adjust them to 9:16, 1:1 or 16:9 aspect ratio using the cropping tool. You can also select the aspect ratio of the final output from the dropdown below the preview screen.

While editing, you can toggle the ????Masking?view at any time to see how your ad appears with the TikTok app interface. This allows you to make sure that important text and images are viewable behind text and icons.

?? Cornelius: The Suspicious Investi-gator

Slingshot Hook: The Iteration of a New Trend

Evony has emerged as a significant player in leveraging the "slingshot hook" within its marketing creatives. The company is actively iterating on this concept, releasing several new versions each month that include: More Heroes: Introducing additional characters to engage players. Mjolnir Integration: Incorporating the legendary hammer may raise legal considerations. (lawsuit in 3..2..1..) Alligator Elements: Adding dynamic wildlife interactions to enhance visual appeal. Why Is It So Effective? The slingshot mechanic is a compelling visual tool that captures the audience's attention almost immediately. The concept is straightforward and easily understood despite minor delays—such as waiting for alligators to appear. It provides instant feedback, tapping into the audience's appreciation for tension and release dynamics, which can lead to increased engagement. What's the Next Twist? There is already an expansion on this hook, and Evony appears to be intensifying its focus on this strategy. The company is doubling down on the slingshot +1 mechanic, indicating its effectiveness in attracting and retaining users.

?? Dr. Doom is not amused

One of my industry friends amused me with his direct and honest TL;DRs, so we agreed to share it here, too! My friend remains anonymous as Dr.Doom!

"The Ubisoft trainwreck continues. Its CEO is really doing an "outstanding" job if a rumor about a new owner sent shares 30%+ in a day. We will be really missing all this sweet doom every week if our favorite CEO folds hope he does not, duh!, and rides this thing all the way to the ground ??" Sincerely, Doom (https://www.pocketgamer.biz/ubisoft-shares-soar-36-as-speculation-swirls-over-buyout/)

??? “Ha-ha” moment

Because life is too short to be serious.

?? two & a half gamers - This Reel is Short haha!

Reelshort Review: Netflix should take notes! Short-form entertainment game making $25+mil/month redefining the interactive novel genre

Influencing the story? Make choices during the short-form videos. Sounds like a game? It is! Reelshort gets all the stories from Chapters but with real people with all drama short plots!

The minutes-long shows, catering to mobile-primed female audiences, aren’t exactly highbrow—think rags-to-riches revenge plots and werewolf-vampire fantasies—but they’re addictive, and viewers are paying to stay tuned to hits like "Fated to My Forbidden Alpha" and "The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband." CEO Joey Jia says the app has been downloaded over 30 million times. It also reportedly generates an average monthly revenue of $10 million; one show, which might have 60-90 short episodes, costs an average of $300,000 to produce.?

Reelshort is doing a cross-promo on steroids! Offerwall light in their own apps portfolio! UA evolution in long-form videos! 19-minute videos on Meta. Blurring the UA channels with ad networks & playables. But! Playables should urge users to make choices in the playables! Crazy Maple Studio if you do this, you will scale even more! Easy.

?? Watch on Youtube

?? Listen on Spotify

?? Paid subs only

Sneak peek at what you get for your support:

Creative trends in Mobile Games - August 2024

As the UA landscape evolves, so do the creative trends that shape how games communicate with their audiences.

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How to conquer farming games market? Minigames FTW! Implement or die!

The farming games market presents both significant opportunities and formidable challenges. With a steadily growing audience over the past decade, this genre continues to captivate millions of players worldwide.

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How to market a merge game? Top3 UA channels, trends & Winning creatives!

Merge games became the new match-3, full stop! What’s the secret behind this puzzle subgenre's popularity? Why do players like the merge mechanic? How should merge games be marketed?

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?? Diary of a Dancing Unicorn

Today was a good day.

Hey, could we please relaunch the old install campaigns?

Why?

Well, we have an install goal for the whole launch, so we need to run these campaigns.

But why? The retention is terrible, so I don’t see the point in running it.

We need to hit 250k installs no matter what.

Even if the quality is bad?

Yeah, that’s the goal.

Ok, in that case, let’s restart the old campaigns but also run the AEO campaigns to get the quality.

No, no. The goal is to hit installs, not quality.

Today was a good day.

?? Quote of the week

"Kollektivet: Music Video - Compliments" - Mikola

Reelshort REVIEW

?? Level up yourself

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??? Gaming blast from the past

Do you remember this game? What did you play when you were young?

?? Before you go

Ask Matej AI a question. It’s actually quite good!

12 killer tips for UA is here again!

We produced one more episode at 2.5gamers. Check it out now:

?? Fun starts in two & a half gamers Slack! Join now

We are opening up a Slack channel for everybody. It is the most inclusive slack for the gaming industry. Female, male, non-binary, juniors, mid-level, seniors, vendors, developers = EVERYBODY! We are waiting for you ??

Feel free to join here!

?? Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter!

Please do me a favor and share this with someone in your network who you think would benefit from the insights and brutal honesty. It would mean a lot to me!

Take care, everyone! See you next Monday!

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?? PS: The latest UA & marketing jobs for you prepared by Gamigion:

Marketing Director APAC Scopely Marketing Data Analyst - ASO! Scopely Marketing Lead, Clash Royale Supercell Senior Performance Marketing Manager Supercell UA Marketing Producer Playrix Lead User Acquisition Manager Playrix UA & Marketing Manager Playtika ASO Manager Playtika Director of Growth Kwalee Senior Product Marketing Manager Kwalee Mobile User Acquisition Manager Moon Active Product Marketing Coordinator Jam City Junior Marketing Analyst SciPlay Head of Monetization & LiveOps SciPlay Product Marketing Lead Rovio Growth Manager Voodoo Senior Monetization Associate Voodoo Senior Advertising Monetisation Manager Miniclip Senior Manager, Performance Marketing Manager King Marketing Specialist Fugo Games Marketing Creatives Producer (Games) PlayMe Studio Junior User Acquisition Specialist Amanotes Growth Manager MolocoFind out more here!