If you’ve been keeping an eye on tech news, you probably won’t be surprised by the above headline. It’s fairly well-known that Kim Kardashian: Hollywood (KK:H), became the surprise hit app of 2014. Estimated to reach an overall revenue of $200 million in the space of a year, and with a 4.3 star rating on the Google Play store from over 300,000 reviews, it’s clear that this game is making the punters happy. So what can app developers take away from this?
Partner With a Good App Development Company
Of course, it wasn’t Kim herself who coded the app, but the publisher she partnered with – Glu. This company is a veteran in the industry, with a proven track record of generating income from monetised games (or “freemiums”), such as Deer Hunter. The success of KK:H illustrates the importance of researching your collaborators and making sure you choose the one that offers the best fit in terms of skills and experience.
Understand Your Brand, And Utilise It
Obviously Kim Kardashian has a head start in this space with a brand that’s already firmly established. However, part of this app’s success comes from the savvy way it utilises that brand, and remains true to it throughout the game design. Whether you’re a millionaire reality star or an unknown, you still need a clear understanding of what you want your app to achieve, and what its “personality” is – how will people identify it? What makes it stand out from the crowd? What unique service or message does it have to offer?
Make Good Design a Priority
KK:H certainly has its fair share of detractors, but the proof is in the numbers: the game is still raking in the dollars and attracting positive user reviews.
To achieve this, you need to a good product: all the name recognition in the world won’t save you if your app doesn’t work very well or isn’t compelling (as Paris Hilton discovered in 2011). During the design, you need to ask yourself these questions: What is the purpose of your app? Does it achieve this? Does it offer a compelling and friendly user experience?
It’s also important to know your intended audience, and how you’re going to target them. One of the reasons for KK:H’s runaway success is that it’s largely aimed at young women, a demographic that’s often neglected in the gaming space. Who is your intended market? Is there a lot of competition for this audience? What’s the best way to appeal to them? Why will they want to use your app? Is it relevant to them?
What Happens Beyond Your Initial Success?
Many apps have experienced an initial burst of profit, only to find their market share takes a plunge as people lose interest. Once you’ve got your audience hooked, the challenge is to keep them there. If you’re offering a game or similar user experience, you need to keep things fresh with updates and extensions. So far KK:H seems to have kept its momentum going, offering new features, levels and responding to user feedback about the game experience. How long it will continue to do so remains to be seen.
Gain success with Appz
Looking to launch your own app? Think you have the answers to the questions above? Talk to Appz today.