How to display foreign applications on the Russian market
Ella Cullen - the manager of IconPeak, described in detail the instructions on how to foreign application developers to enter the Russian market. According to Cullen, the number of studies and reports on emerging markets and their potentially dominant position in the mobile industry is constantly growing.
Ella cullen
The focus is on Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. There is a lot of noise around these countries, but one thing is for sure - you really should pay attention to these markets. Brazil has demonstrated its success. In 2014, it became the second in the list of countries in the number of downloads from Google Play, while China took the lead in terms of income and closed the top three in this position on iOS.
According to forecasts for 2015, the total global income from mobile games promises to exceed $ 22.3 billion. Russia is the fifth largest in the world in terms of the number of installations and the twelfth in terms of revenues (the combined figures of iOS and Android).
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The difference in performance is due to the fact that only 28% of Russian gamers make in-app purchases or purchase games (for comparison, this figure is 45% in the US and 54% in China). But the situation is improving due to the significant development of mobile devices in Russia at the expense of local and western developers and players. The segment is constantly expanding. In the Russian Federation, 79% of people play games on mobile devices, while in China, the figure reaches 96%, in South Korea - 93%.
The Russian market undoubtedly has potential, but it is worth paying attention to certain points. Specialists of IconPeak compiled a memo for developers who want to understand the specifics of the Russian market. Special attention is paid to design and engineering, as well as launch strategies for mobile applications.
According to many experts, it was because of unsuccessful localization that Candy Crush was not even included in the top 10 applications in Russia. It is not enough to produce simply qualitatively translated content, it still has to be adapted to the local culture. Starting from the Russian language (after all, not all Russians are English-speaking) and ending with a complete reconstruction of the content of the application.
One of the best examples of a good and competent application adaptation, Cullen, considers the game Valiant Hearts (based on World War II), which was held by Russian developers from Ubisoft. After careful study of the role of Russia in the war, they completely rewrote the in-game encyclopedia and to check details like dates, time of battles, etc., they even hired a historian. As a result, Valiant Hearts won the Best Screenplay nomination at The Game Awards 2014 and was perceived by Russian gamers more than friendly.
But there are more budget localization options, such as Google Play's App Translation Service. It was used by RV AppStudios to localize the Zombie Ragdoll application in 20 languages ​​(2013).
You can also start cooperation with local companies, knowledge of culture and language which will help to avoid mistakes. Based on the example of All Correct Games, which adapted the localization of Valiant Hearts and Universally Apps.
Android is the best place to start. At the end of 2014, iPhone prices in Russia rose by almost 35%. The cost increase has affected the spread of the Android operating system, which accounts for almost 80% of the total smartphone market in Russia. A good advantage for those whose applications are already on Google Play.
Of particular interest are smartphones with two screens. Not so long ago a new Android device of the Russian development Yota Phone appeared on the market. This smartphone has on the reverse side an additional interactive screen. The second screen is always active and can be used for reading electronic books, as an alternative to the main one in power saving mode.
Information is useful for at least two reasons. Firstly, the Yota Apps Store application store already exists, in which any developer can conduct a free demonstration of his application. And secondly, the very existence of such a store is in competition with the Google Play Store. The CEO of the company has repeatedly mentioned that special software is being developed for the second screen. In the near future, developers will be able to test the smartphone.
Strategies and role-playing games dominate the yield on Google Play, but the popularity of puzzle and casual games has declined significantly.
All over the world, alternative app stores are being created for distribution. But there is an undoubted top three showing good growth: Yandex.Store, GetUpps and MTS Apps Market.
Yandex is a famous Russian search engine that generates about 57.3% of search traffic in the country. In 2013, Yandex.Store was launched on the Android platform. There were 50,000 applications in it, which reached 120,000 in a year and a half. The “new” and “interesting” sections, offering developers to demonstrate their applications, have become a significant advantage. The key account manager believes that all applications should be given a chance. The second largest alternative store is GetUpps! It is developed by "Megaphone". Third place for the MTS App Market, working on a subscription of $ 0.35 per week for unlimited access to 3000 premium applications.
Stores are only suitable for Android applications and provide high visibility of these applications. This is another reason not to be limited to iOS in the Russian market.
The popular Facebook network with an attendance of about 30 million users per month in the Russian Federation is by no means the leading one and is inferior to Russian social networks. The first place is occupied by VKontakte, with a monthly audience of almost 57 million users. Odnoklassniki ranks second with 43 million users. The third is "My World", which has 31 million users.
Mail.Ru Group controls all three mentioned social networks and dominates the Russian-language Internet. Of greatest interest is the myTarget mobile advertising platform owned by Mail.Ru Group. It covers the audience of myTarget (all social networks, gaming sites) and exceeds 140 million users. The platform also allows you to experiment with the usual advertising formats.
Set up and run an advertising campaign in myTarget quickly and easily
Spreading through social networks, supplemented with features like the Share button and viral content, represents a strong foundation for traditional advertising apps. Moreover, there are enough good studios in Russia that work with viral content.
Argued that outside the major cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg) the number of devices is too small. But in fact, the prevalence of technology and services is not so low. The big four telecommunications companies: MTS, Beeline, Rostelecom and Megafon have invested a lot of finance in the infrastructure, which stretches across Russia with a transport network of 11,000 km. Throughout the entire network there is a mobile connection. In addition, users tend to more often buy smartphones, as they are more accessible than desktops. According to the results of last year, the use of the mobile Internet by 51% exceeded the desktop one.
As a conclusion: at the stage of development and design it is worth focusing on creating localized Android applications. If the application is a game, it is better to make a “strategy” out of it. In the launch stage, you need to remember about alternative stores and promotion in social networks, through which applications will be distributed. And of course, it is better to expand the geography of the presence of your application to the whole of Russia, not limited to exclusively large cities.
Ella cullen
The focus is on Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. There is a lot of noise around these countries, but one thing is for sure - you really should pay attention to these markets. Brazil has demonstrated its success. In 2014, it became the second in the list of countries in the number of downloads from Google Play, while China took the lead in terms of income and closed the top three in this position on iOS.
According to forecasts for 2015, the total global income from mobile games promises to exceed $ 22.3 billion. Russia is the fifth largest in the world in terms of the number of installations and the twelfth in terms of revenues (the combined figures of iOS and Android).
')
The difference in performance is due to the fact that only 28% of Russian gamers make in-app purchases or purchase games (for comparison, this figure is 45% in the US and 54% in China). But the situation is improving due to the significant development of mobile devices in Russia at the expense of local and western developers and players. The segment is constantly expanding. In the Russian Federation, 79% of people play games on mobile devices, while in China, the figure reaches 96%, in South Korea - 93%.
The Russian market undoubtedly has potential, but it is worth paying attention to certain points. Specialists of IconPeak compiled a memo for developers who want to understand the specifics of the Russian market. Special attention is paid to design and engineering, as well as launch strategies for mobile applications.
Become 100% local
According to many experts, it was because of unsuccessful localization that Candy Crush was not even included in the top 10 applications in Russia. It is not enough to produce simply qualitatively translated content, it still has to be adapted to the local culture. Starting from the Russian language (after all, not all Russians are English-speaking) and ending with a complete reconstruction of the content of the application.
One of the best examples of a good and competent application adaptation, Cullen, considers the game Valiant Hearts (based on World War II), which was held by Russian developers from Ubisoft. After careful study of the role of Russia in the war, they completely rewrote the in-game encyclopedia and to check details like dates, time of battles, etc., they even hired a historian. As a result, Valiant Hearts won the Best Screenplay nomination at The Game Awards 2014 and was perceived by Russian gamers more than friendly.
But there are more budget localization options, such as Google Play's App Translation Service. It was used by RV AppStudios to localize the Zombie Ragdoll application in 20 languages ​​(2013).
You can also start cooperation with local companies, knowledge of culture and language which will help to avoid mistakes. Based on the example of All Correct Games, which adapted the localization of Valiant Hearts and Universally Apps.
Start with Android
Android is the best place to start. At the end of 2014, iPhone prices in Russia rose by almost 35%. The cost increase has affected the spread of the Android operating system, which accounts for almost 80% of the total smartphone market in Russia. A good advantage for those whose applications are already on Google Play.
Of particular interest are smartphones with two screens. Not so long ago a new Android device of the Russian development Yota Phone appeared on the market. This smartphone has on the reverse side an additional interactive screen. The second screen is always active and can be used for reading electronic books, as an alternative to the main one in power saving mode.
Information is useful for at least two reasons. Firstly, the Yota Apps Store application store already exists, in which any developer can conduct a free demonstration of his application. And secondly, the very existence of such a store is in competition with the Google Play Store. The CEO of the company has repeatedly mentioned that special software is being developed for the second screen. In the near future, developers will be able to test the smartphone.
Strategies and role-playing games dominate the yield on Google Play, but the popularity of puzzle and casual games has declined significantly.
Alternative app stores
All over the world, alternative app stores are being created for distribution. But there is an undoubted top three showing good growth: Yandex.Store, GetUpps and MTS Apps Market.
Yandex is a famous Russian search engine that generates about 57.3% of search traffic in the country. In 2013, Yandex.Store was launched on the Android platform. There were 50,000 applications in it, which reached 120,000 in a year and a half. The “new” and “interesting” sections, offering developers to demonstrate their applications, have become a significant advantage. The key account manager believes that all applications should be given a chance. The second largest alternative store is GetUpps! It is developed by "Megaphone". Third place for the MTS App Market, working on a subscription of $ 0.35 per week for unlimited access to 3000 premium applications.
Stores are only suitable for Android applications and provide high visibility of these applications. This is another reason not to be limited to iOS in the Russian market.
Social networks to help
The popular Facebook network with an attendance of about 30 million users per month in the Russian Federation is by no means the leading one and is inferior to Russian social networks. The first place is occupied by VKontakte, with a monthly audience of almost 57 million users. Odnoklassniki ranks second with 43 million users. The third is "My World", which has 31 million users.
Mail.Ru Group controls all three mentioned social networks and dominates the Russian-language Internet. Of greatest interest is the myTarget mobile advertising platform owned by Mail.Ru Group. It covers the audience of myTarget (all social networks, gaming sites) and exceeds 140 million users. The platform also allows you to experiment with the usual advertising formats.
Set up and run an advertising campaign in myTarget quickly and easily
Spreading through social networks, supplemented with features like the Share button and viral content, represents a strong foundation for traditional advertising apps. Moreover, there are enough good studios in Russia that work with viral content.
Coverage of the whole country
Argued that outside the major cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg) the number of devices is too small. But in fact, the prevalence of technology and services is not so low. The big four telecommunications companies: MTS, Beeline, Rostelecom and Megafon have invested a lot of finance in the infrastructure, which stretches across Russia with a transport network of 11,000 km. Throughout the entire network there is a mobile connection. In addition, users tend to more often buy smartphones, as they are more accessible than desktops. According to the results of last year, the use of the mobile Internet by 51% exceeded the desktop one.
As a conclusion: at the stage of development and design it is worth focusing on creating localized Android applications. If the application is a game, it is better to make a “strategy” out of it. In the launch stage, you need to remember about alternative stores and promotion in social networks, through which applications will be distributed. And of course, it is better to expand the geography of the presence of your application to the whole of Russia, not limited to exclusively large cities.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/272723/
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