NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS

transitioning to iphone developmentmobile portland

january 26, 2009

NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS

night & day studiosmedia production house

NIGHT & DAY STUDIOS

peekaboo barn• #9 Kidʼs Game on iTunes App Store [how did we do it?]

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our backgroundmuseum work

the life & times of woody guthrie for the smithsonian institution

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our backgroundmuseum work

• different types of clients [large institutions vs. mass markets]

• different timescales, budgets, expenses [four-year, million-dollar projects vs. six-week, $50k app development]

• different marketing [networking with clients vs. advertising & earned media]

• different skill set of staff [long-term intensive media production, research, and writing vs. simple graphics, outsourced arts, and programming]

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the transitioniphone apps

• the business problem [sustaining a lifestyle company of highly-skilled professionals with health insurance and stability]

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the transitioniphone apps

• strategy [aggressive growth: rapid development of many mid-level apps in the $1.99 - $3.99 price range; building franchises and cumulative marketing through repeat contacts and name recognition]

• cash flow challenge [long lead-times before revenue is realized, let alone profit]

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the transitioniphone apps

• rule of thumb: one $0.99 app at 1 sale/day average = $20 / month

• example: selling 50/day of a $1.99 app = $2,000 / month

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NDS appsproduction process

• design docs [vital: practice, practice, practice]

• finding illustrators [develop contracting process]

• doing sound in house [easily underestimated]

• educational / use theory [advantageous]

• user-testing [required but expensive]

• submitting to the App Store [variable results]

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NDS appsRimshot Pro

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NDS appsAudience Pro

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NDS appsBig Fat Lies[link to iTunes app store]

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NDS appsPeekaboo Barn [link to iTunes app store]

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NDS appsPeekaboo Barn• User-testing• Spanish localization

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NDS appsPeekaboo Barn Lite

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marketingearned media

• review sites [hidden work: 20 hours research & emailing]

• family vs. tech sites[we tried both; family sites possibly more effective]

• VIPs[cheap & relatively easy to contact; use free codes]

• articles & blogs[longer cycle, more marketing effort to contact & build]

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marketingpaid media

• paid review sites[unfortunately, very worthwhile]

• advertising[learn about CPMs (cost per thousand impressions);hard to evaluate]

[hidden work: 10 hours research, 10 hours emailing, 10-15 hours production]

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marketingiTunes app store

• sales chart positions; top 20 lists; featured app

• pricing[$0.99 pricing not worth it; we should all stop!]

• customer reviews, star ratings; responses to customers; Appleʼs “incompatible” warnings

• updates[valuable way to communicate with customers, improve rankings & visibility, but high associated staff costs]

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salesraw weeklies

0

250

500

750

1,000

12/01/08 12/08/08 12/15/08 12/22/08 12/29/08 1/05/09 1/12/09 1/19/09

Big Fat Lies Peekaboo Barn

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salesweekly events

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salestools [appsales.app]

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salesconclusions—challenges

• problems with exposure

• problems with overhead

• problems with partnering

• problems with payment

• opportunities with partnering

• opportunities in this economy

• opportunities in Portland

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thank youto our fellow Portland developers

Night & Day Studios

http://www.nightanddaystudios.com/

Nat Sims, principal: nat@nightanddaystudios.comChris Higgins, developer: chris@nightanddaystudios.com Erin Rackelman, marketing: rackelman@nightanddaystudios.com

1917 SE 7th AvePortland, OR 97214

503-235-2700