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.07 on the ask!
It’s been a while since I’ve seen .10s...!
This is a case study from Harvard:
Snakes & Lattes: Playing the Marketing Strategy Game
Eric Dolansky
Aaron Slade, CEO of Snakes & Lattes (S&L), was tasked with overseeing the ambitious growth plan for the company. Snakes & Lattes was a chain of board game cafés in Toronto; customers could come and play board games, eat, drink, and have a good time. The firm had grown from one small location opened in 2010 to three locations in 2018, each larger than the last, and annual revenue had increased to $7 million. The company had announced plans to sell franchises in about 20 North American cities and open three more company-owned cafés. The immediate problem that Slade was wrestling with had to do with marketing strategy and communication. To date Snakes & Lattes had very controlled, centralized branding and communication, but each of the cafés was different due to its location, clientele, games, and history. With each venue having its own character there was room for more decentralized marketing, but only if it was not to the detriment of the brand. Two factors complicated this further: the company was involved in many non-café revenue-generating activities, and the planned rapid growth would exacerbate the existing problem of individual character of each café. Slade needed a strong marketing plan to complement the growth in locations.
Learning Objective
The key learning objectives of the case are as follows: 1. discover the link between strategy and tactics in marketing, and stress the importance of fit between them; 2. explore the value of a centralized versus decentralized communications plan; 3. understand the challenges of managing a rapidly-growing business, in terms of marketing consistency and brand identity; 4. learn how meaningful figures can be derived from relatively simple and sparse data.
Details
Pub Date:
Dec 31, 2018
Discipline:
Marketing
Subjects:
Consumer marketing, Target markets, Marketing plans, Strategic positioning, Growth strategy
Source:
North American Case Research Association (NACRA)
Product #:
NA0573-PDF-ENG
Industry:
Games,Restaurants
Geography:
Canada, Ontario
Length:
17 page(s)
Board Games Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2018-2023
Report Snapshot
The global board games market size is expected to reach values of over $12 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of more than 9% by 2017–2023.
NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This market research report on global board games market offers analysis on market size & forecast, market share, industry trends, growth drivers, and vendor analysis. The market study also includes insights on segmentation by product type (tabletop games, card & dice games, collectible card games, miniature games, and RPG games), by theme type (strategy & war games, educational games, fantasy games, sport games, and others), by distribution channel (online and retail), and by geography (APAC, Europe, North America, Latin America, and MEA).
Board Games Market – Overview
The introduction of table games that help teaching communication skills and language arts to kids and adults is augmenting the growth of the global board games market. These games are specifically designed to engender competitive recreational activities among end-users in the global market. The exponential growth of the entertainment and gaming industry is attributing to the rising demand for analog games in the market. These games are gaining immense popularity across geographies and demographics and specifically across developed economies such as the US and Western European countries. Various game designers are capitalizing on the nostalgia factor and are developing games with a modern touch to attract a maximum number of millennial consumers in the global market. The rising demand for these products and increasing end-users' spending sentiments worldwide will contribute to the growing revenues in the global market. With the increase in the consumption of mainstream consumer leisure products is boosting the adoption of these items by end-users in Europe, North America, and APAC regions. The games are marketed and advertised as an important tool to provide hands-on and heads-on skill and knowledge development for different age groups in the global market. Additionally, well-designed games create an engaging and competitive environment in which players need to focus reinforce and apply learning. The using of these products as a visual metaphor to help connect and apply learning will transform the global board games market.
Game elements, problem-solving skills, and discussions with fellow team members aid in facilitating active learning amongst end-users in the global market. Factors such as problem-solving skills and critical thinking in team-oriented games allow players to build communication and relationship skills with consumers in the market. The global board games market is anticipated to reach values of more than $12 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of over 9% during 2017-2023.
Board Games Market – Dynamics
The growing number of games café worldwide is helping companies attract a large number of consumers is the global board games market. These game bars and cafes are witnessing a remarkable success and gained immense popularity across the globe over the past few years. The rapid proliferation of game cafes is encouraging adults and teenagers to connect for meaningful interactions and discover new games in the global market. A wide variety of games are now being produced to target for every age group and help attract a new group of consumers in these bars and cafes across the global market. The concepts of these business models are highly popular in Western European countries such as the UK and France and in the North American region. The high disposable income of millennial will help generate high revenues in the global board games market. For instance, in the US, over 5,000 board games cafes were opened alone in 2016.
Board Games Market – Segmentation
This market research report includes a detailed segmentation of the market by product type, theme type, distributional channels, and geography.
Board Games Market – By Product Type
Strategy-oriented tabletop games to boost sales in the global board games market during the forecast period
The global board games market by product type is segmented into tabletop games, card & dice games, collectible card games, miniature games, and RPG games. Tabletop games dominated the largest market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of over 11% during the forecast period. The growing popularity of chanced-based and strategy-oriented games among grade scholars, teenagers, and adults is driving the growth of this segment in the global market. 2017's most popular table games are Pandemic, Scythe, Sagrada, Azul, Gloomhaven, Near and Far, Settlers of Catan, and Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire. Strategy games are designed to help build and develop holdings while trading and acquiring resources. These products are designed to increase problem-solving attitude and critical thinking ability among gamers in the global board games market. Europe and APAC regions are the largest revenues generators of these items in the global market.
Board Games Market – By Theme Type
Stimulated strategy games gain popularity in the global board games market during the forecast period
The theme type segment in the global board games market is classified into strategy & war games, educational games, fantasy games, sports games, and others. Strategy and war games segment occupied the majority of the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of more than 10% during the forecast period. Strategy & war games involve the simulation element that propels decision making of the individual results into the significant outcome in the global market. These gaming products are designed for game enthusiast and are highly time-consuming games increasing the whole experience of the gamers in the market. These strategy & war games are extremely popular in Europe and gaining immense popularity in the North American market. The widespread popularity of war-based board games due to their influence on military-based operations across Latin America will revolutionize the global board games market during the forecast period.
Board Games Market – By Distribution Channel
Retail segment dominates the largest share in the global board games market during the forecast period
The global board games market by the distributional channel is divided into retail (specialty store, mass-market players, and other stores) and online stores. The retail segment dominated more than half of the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of over 8% during the forecast period. The increasing number of retail players such as Walmart, Costco, Sears, Best Buy, and Target stocking and showcasing these products is boosting the revenues in this segment in the global market. The growth of games distribution that takes place through mass market players and specialty stores will help generate high revenues in the global board games market. The availability of personalized customer services and staffs information on new products and knowledge that help players in the selection of these games is attributing to the growth of the global market. Top vendors in countries such as the US and the UK primarily sell their products through specialty stores and supermarkets and hypermarkets in the market.
Board Games Market – By Geography
The US in North America leads the largest share in the global board games market
The geographical segment in the global board games market is categorized into APAC, Europe, North America, Latin America, and MEA. North America occupied more than 1/3rd of the total market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of approximately 10% during the forecast period. The increasing popularity of these games across North America is driving the growth of this segment in the global market. The leading vendors are introducing new variants every year to boost the revenues in the North American region. The growing popularity of European strategy games such as the Settlers of Catan or Catan is gaining traction in the North American market. Some of the most known game cafes in New York are Fat Cat, The Uncommons, e's Bar, Chess Forum, Molly's Cupcakes, The Compleat Strategist, and Clinton Hall. The growing demand for card and dice games is increasing among adults and teenagers thereby, boosting demand in the global board games market.
Key Countries Profiled
• France
• UK
• Germany
• US
• Canada
• China
• Japan
• Brazil
Key Vendor Analysis
The global board games market is moderately concentrated and the top players dominate the largest share. The leading vendors are rapidly leveraging technological advancement to offer innovations and upgrades to a large number of consumers in the global market. The presence of various local and international publishers will result in intensified competition in the global market. The players are expanding their business and distribution networks across developing economies such as China and India to gain a larger global board games market share. The top manufacturers are competing on the basis of gameplay, differentiation, game genre, and platform type. The players are focusing on digitalization and developing supporting mobile applications to enhance customers' experiences in the market.
The major vendors in the global market are:
• Asmodée Éditions (Group)
• Hasbro
• Mattel
• Ravensburger
The other prominent players in the global board games market are Asmadi Games, Bezier Games, BoardGameDesign.com, Buffalo Games, Clementoni, CMON, The Walt Disney Co., Fremont Die Consumer Products, Games Workshop, Gibsons Games, Goliath, The Grey Fox Games, IELLO Games, Indie Boards and Cards, INI, International Playthings, Kamings Trade, Learning Resources, Legendary Games, Loony Labs, Ludo Fact, Melissa & Doug, Mindware.com, North Star Games, Orchard Toys, Panda GM, Paul Lamond Games, Playroom Entertainment, Pegasus Spiele, Piatnik, Pressman Toy, RoosterFin, Reaper Miniatures, Rio Grande Games, Schmidt Spiele, Spin Master, Spontaneous Games, Surprised Stare Games, SunsOut, Talicor, The Haywire Group, The Regency Chess Company, ThinkFun, TREND Enterprises, Ultra PRO International, University Games, USAopoly, Winning Moves Games, WizKids, Wonder Forge, and Zobmondo.
Key market insights include
1. The analysis of the global board games market provides market size and growth rate for the forecast period 2018-2023.
2. It offers comprehensive insights into current industry trends, trend forecast, and growth drivers about the global board games market.
3. The report provides the latest analysis of market share, growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.
4. It offers a complete overview of market segments and the regional outlook of the global board games market.
5. The report offers a detailed overview of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key market strategies to gain competitive advantage.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/board-games-market---global-outlook-and-forecast-2018-2023-300763553.html
What do you get when a Restaurant charges you JUST to enter the doors, gets you to buy food, drinks and games, makes and sells their own games, and starts opening locations all across the USA?
FUNN! That’s what!
I remember when this used to jump MULTIPLE pennies a day.
That run will PALE in comparison to what’s coming once the audit drops.
Then you will say “Boy, I’m glad I got to be able to enter at $.23”
I think it is very important to point out the structure of the business at a time like this, when the stock seems to be waking up, and so many of the catalysts are close at hand.
S&L makes money through several ways:
1. Cover charge-
S&L charges a fee ($5-8) just to enter the building. This fee allows the customer to play any of the games in the huge library (600+) as well as the assistance of the game gurus who basically tell you how a game is played so you don’t have to waste too much time on the instructions and just jump in on the FUNN.
2. Retail. (Food, beverages, games)
Once you do get in and choose a game, S&L is happy to offer you food from its menu, which includes Food, drinks (with and without alcohol) and of course, their lattes. If you also like the game, you can purchase it in their store. FUNN isn’t it?
3. Distribution.
S&L not only sells but also distributes many games. In fact, in Canada they have a huge (and growing) list of EXCLUSIVE titles, which only THEY can distribute. Say for example that you are looking for a game that you like in Amazon, so you bought it. Yay! This game however is distributed by S&L, and they do not do this for free. In Canada, this is actually one of the biggest sources of their revenue, and a constant money maker for them. They will implement this model in the USA as well.
4. Publishing
With the purchase of Morning Plays, S&L are playing their hand in Publishing. We will see how this one does, but there are a few notable points already:
a) a quick search online will reveal that most of the money stays with the publisher (in this case S&L)
b) most of the indie game makers are happy to be able to make a game that sells 1,000 copies. Anything over 10,000 copies is a success....
The first purchase order (by none other than Walmart) was of 40,000 units.
There are 2 locations currently being worked on besides the other 4 that are currently open. This means that by year’s end, or maybe at the start of the next year we could have 6 locations.
There are also 17 other locations being considered by private investors. This is of course being held back by the lack of audits, but the audits are expected to drop very soon. Hopefully by the EOM.
They will drop when they drop. Hopefully by the end of the month. And the Qs before the 14th of November.
I’s there a need to advertise S&L in Morning’s website? I don’t think so. I think its better for them to work on their own brand. S&L does pretty well on its own.
If anything, eventually S&L should promote Morning Plays, and not the other way around.
But it will open. So why is this an issue?
Excellent post!
You know, I place more faith in the fact that the quarterly will be shown before the 11-14 date, than I do in the audits being released this month.
Management still has a lot of damage to undo regarding their credibility.
The audits are something that are not in their hands entirely. They can always claim that the auditors would not sign off for X o Y reason.
The Qs are a different thing altogether. They have complete control over that information and the ability to release it.
Now, they stated that they would release the Qs regardless of the audit status, so that is where I am drawing the line to believe them.
I think you have been very frustrated with the entire process and so some things are being mixed up:
1. FUNN did not make the game. They bought/ acquired the company that made the game.
The company that made the game (Morning Plays) were the ones that did the KS campaign. This campaign, I believe, was successful, but the company (Morning Plays) was in financial difficulty. In fact they declared bankruptcy, which is how Amfil was able to buy them so cheaply.
So Morning Plays had a host of problems before being bought by FUNN. In fact, thanks to FUNN stepping in and buying them, they could not only finish the whole process, but also give the backers the game which they backed.
2. This is not the only holiday season this game will sell in.
There are a few similarities between board games and software. The biggest one is that you make a board game once, and you can sell the product multiple times.
With video games, it is usually the case that these games are only valuable for the first year. Example NBA2K series, FIFA, COD etc.
These games are made to be bought annually.
There are also games which tend to resist the test of time, and these are called “ever greens” because they usually sell well during the whole lifetime of the console. For example Pokemon, Zelda, Mario, etc.
Board games do not depend on a console. And as such they do not limit themselves to the life of a console to do well.
The problem is that board games need something to keep them in the imagination of the people in order for them to buy them.... enter S&L.
Since S&L owns the game, they can promote the game however they want, whenever they want, during the ENTIRE year
I think they are going to spin off IK and buy another company. They are probably going to leave FUNN alone, and continue their acquisition strategy under a new ticker.
I just hope you guys have your shares. Remember that we are gonna get our free shares of the new company.... depending on how many of FUNN we currently own...
Once numbers come out, one way or another, this thing is gonna blow.
Another funny thing is, the ONE thing stopping franchises, as has been stated OVER and OVER again, has been the lack of audits.
Once the audit drops, I am willing to bet that one of the very next PRs will be:
“Remember the 17 locations we told you about way back in 1/10/19?
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/FUNN/news/Amfil-Technologies-Inc-Announces-3-new-US-Based-Snakes--Lattes-CafBar-Locations-In-Progress-and-Additional-Locations-in-?id=215100
Well, guess what we are working on now?”
So do I :)
Do you honestly believe S&L will stay at 4 cafes?
Morningplays is making their presence felt in Instagram. They are starting to promote KTU
Wow dude.
I mean, I am expecting both, but I will get excited WAAAAAAAAY before then.
For example, when the Qs get released
When the audits get released...
When we uplist...
When we get our free shares....
When they announce new locations popping up in several locations...
When they announce that distribution is working in the US...
When they open their first S&L over seas...
Guess what? Today, I opened my Instagram, and you know what’s the first thing I see? A post by Morning Plays. Looks like they will start to promote their games soon
It is absurd really. People casting doubt on them opening this location, as if S&L hadn’t opened locations in the past.
Yep. Well said
I like how we will see quarterly reports regardless of audit status.
Yes everyone (and their mother) wants the dang audits, but we need numbers in the meantime.
That is why I am buying more. Because of this simple promise.
I wonder, could they release the previous quarterly reports so that we could catch up with what the company has done these past 2 years? Like back to back PRs? Or is that a no no?
This is what I’m visualizing
PR 1: Here is the Q4 2017, this is where we left off, these are the take aways etc.
PR 2: Here is Q1 2018, these are the things that created these results.
Etc etc, all of them leading up to the release of the Audits. Creating a story for us to follow in the meantime
152,000 shares. Gonna see if I can buy more soon
The biggest problem that the company faced these past few years was the fact that we were running blind.
We had no financial knowledge of the company in which to base our assumptions. This is a cardinal sin for any investor.
The company has stated that this will finally be addressed. We expect information to be released this month and before the 14th of November.
This is an important step forward
This is an excellent opportunity and I will tell you why:
1. This is not a fictional company. This is a REAL company you can enter and spend your REAL money.
So much so, that they have 4 existing locations where you can buy food, drinks (including alcohol) and board Games.
There are 2 more locations in the works, and once the audit finally goes through MORE THAN 17 locations will open.
2. This is a company that is CURRENTLY making millions of dollars in revenue.
Note that I am not saying that it “will” or that it “may” but that it “IS”.
The last reported earnings stated ~$15 mill in revenue. That was 2 years ago. Since then we have had 1 more locations and a huge growth in distribution.
Not only that, but the company recently published their first game.
By doing so, they made sure to cut the middleman and take an even greater part of the profit margin.
3. The board game business is a BILLION dollar business and S&L is very well positioned to grow in this market. Retail, Distribution, and Publishing; S&L has a hand in all three areas.
This is all happening now. And we can expect the business to grow. Particularly with the franchises.
Probably lots of people who sold and are buying back in. The party hasn’t even begun to start yet
This! Read this!!
Train is picking up steam...
KTU is ALREADY a moderate success. Game designers are usually happy to sell thousands of units. Anything over 10,000 units makes most game developers extremely happy.
But we have an advantage that most game makers don’t. The marketing and contacts of S&L. The fact that there is *ALREADY* a second print run, for 40,000 units is extremely good. And the games will go on the shelves next month, which will help create even MORE marketing for the game!
This game in itself could pay for a the purchase of Morning, and a new location all together
You still have a chance to buy in extremely cheap. We are talking about a company that makes millions of dollars every year. It has been estimated that each location makes $4 million per year. They have 4.
So, without distribution, without publishing, we can roughly estimate they bring in about $16 mill. If we want to be conservative, let’s say that (with locations) they only bring in $12 mill.
That is WITHOUT considering distribution. That is WITHOUT considering Publishing.
$18 mil is not out of the question...
Here is a page that measures the worth of the board game business (IN THE BILLIONS)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/829285/global-board-games-market-value/
S&L is extremely well positioned to grow exceptionally well in this market
Break the .06s!
And, just like Rocket said, NOBODY knows about the stock yet!
All the bad news has been a blessing for those entering or buying now!
You get to buy these shares dirt cheap!
These shares will skyrocket once the numbers start coming out!
BUY BUY BUY
Here’s a company with 4 existing locations, making millions of dollars, that just published their own game (which is already a moderate success) and in the process of opening 2 more locations this year!
Buying at these levels is ridiculously low! BUY BUY BUY
Nice start
Im excited to see the numbers being posted again. Finally we will see what’s been going on. Finally things seem to be looking up!
I am not ecstatic. I am cautiously optimistic. Considering the past history of the company I need to see results. And by results I mean that I need to see them do what they said they would do.
They said they would post the quarterly information regardless of the audit status. That is good. We need to see numbers. We need to see progress.
I am content. The worst seems to have passed. What was the worst? Being blind. Now we shall see
???
The stock? Maybe, but the company?