Case Study Of Rovio Rovio is a Finnish game company that was founded in 2003. They have produced over 51 games for several major companies including Namco and EB. They wanted to create a popular game under their own brand Rovio. It would take the company 8 years until they found success with their Angry Birds flash game app. Angry birds is a mobile app game that can be played on iPads and iphones and is now available as a download for a home PC. It is possible to get a free version or buy the business version through the Apple Apps store for $0.99 US, with the PC version costing $4.99 US. The game is simple but very addictive, and this is why this game has found so much appeal among its users. The setting of a tropical island appeals to everyone and allows you to escape from the reality of your own world for a little while.

1. 1
Case Study ofCase Study of
RovioRovio
“Using Social Media as a Catapult to Success”
Rovio is a Finnish game company that was founded in
2003. They have produced over 51 games for several
major companies including Namco and EB. They wanted
to create a popular game under their own brand Rovio. It
would take the company 8 years until they found success
with their Angry Birds game app.

2. 2
What is Angry Birds?What is Angry Birds?
Case Study of Rovio
Angry birds is a mobile app game that can be played on
iPads and iphones and is now available as a download for
a home PC. It is possible to get a free version or buy the
business version through the Apple Apps store for $0.99
US, with the PC version costing $4.99 US.
The game is simple but very addictive, and this is why this
game has found so much appeal among its users. The
setting of a tropical island appeals to everyone and allows
you to escape from the reality of your own world for a
little while.

3. 3
BeginningsBeginnings
Case Study of Rovio
Rovio is run by Mikael and Niklas Hed who always wanted to
develop games. Niklas entered a competition in 2003 held by
Nokia and HP to create a mobile game for one of Nokia’s very
first smartphones. They ended up winning. The company
Relude was founded in 2004. They invested some of their own
money and won contracts working for Digital Chocolate a
games developer. By the end of 2004 the company was
renamed and Rovio was created. Rovio means bonfire in
Finnish.
Mikael’s father invested money into the company and Rovio
started to expand. Mikael and his father had problems and
Mikael ended up leaving the company in 2005.

4. 4Case Study of Rovio
Rovio continued making great games for other companies but
didn’t have the distribution or marketing facilities to promote
their own games. By 2007 the company started going
downhill. They went from 50 employees down to 12.
The iPhone was released in 2007 and the App Store was
created. This now gave developers a method of reaching their
audience. Distribution to millions was made possible.
As the company put it:
“The iPhone opened up the whole word,” says Niklas. “You
had one contact, plus worldwide distribution.’
Excerpt from an interview for Wired, March 2011

5. 5
Concept DevelopmentConcept Development
Case Study of Rovio
Mikael returned to the company in 2009. They
continued to work for other companies in order to
pay the bills. But they started to concentrate on
developing their own games.
They focused on the iPhone platform. Trying to
define a profile for iPhone users they concluded that
this phone was for everyone. In response to this they
decided that their games would be for everyone too.

6. 6Case Study of Rovio
Angry Birds was the brain child of Jaakko Iisale who is
Rovio’s principal games designer. The colorful birds who
had no feet and who couldn’t fly had something magical
about them. The game went through different stages until
it took on the appearance of today’s game.
Angry Birds was finally released in December 2009. For
the first 3 months, it didn’t take off in the English
speaking market. Instead of targeting the largest market
first Rovio concentrated on smaller countries. They
targeted Sweden, Denmark, Greece and the Czech
Republic. They ended up with 40,000 downloads in these
smaller countries.

7. 7Case Study of Rovio
February 11, 2010 was the day when Angry Birds was
featured on the front page of the UK App Store as
game of the week. Prior to this Rovio made a YouTube
trailer for the game. This was a new concept at that
time too.
Rovio created 42 additional levels of the game, which
gave it mass appeal. Once the game was featured, the
Angry Bird’s app went from 600th
to 1st
place. In April
2010 it hit number one in the US Store and has
remained in the top ten ever since.

8. 8
Success StrategiesSuccess Strategies
Case Study of Rovio
• Received funding from Tekes, which is the Finnish
Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.
• Rovio has partnered with Roku Inc to bring Angry
Birds to Internet TV. The company will offer future
games, an animated series and merchandise and more
through this outlet.
• Family investment

9. 9Case Study of Rovio
• Rovio made comical characters which are easy to
recognize. The birds had thick frowning eyebrows.
• The company created a logo which really stood out in
the Apps Store and attracted attention.
• The sound effects were funny, catchy and instantly
recognizable.
• The company provides quality customer relationships
by ensuring that all fan mail and suggestions are
answered. All customer relations are made top priority.
This is all done via social media.

10. 10
Social MediaSocial Media
Case Study of Rovio
This is the method that has helped push Rovio to the
top. By using social media as their customer service
platform, they keep their gaming in real time. Social
media has replaced traditional media as a PR outlet.
This allows for two way communication between
management to public and public to management.
Rovio uses the feedback from social media to evaluate
their strategies and plan future messages.
Rovio uses social media to find and hire employees with
job postings listed on their website.

11. 11
Benefits of Using Social Media:Benefits of Using Social Media:
Case Study of Rovio
• Cost effective
• Done in real time
• Used as a feedback channel
• YouTube is used for publicity videos – advertising
dollars are earned from views
• Customer service and support
• Real time support on Twitter available every working
day. Feed is also updated by latest information

12. 12Case Study of Rovio
•Angry birds went viral through social media. Recent
research has shown that more people will buy a product
that has been recommended on social media sites like
Facebook and Twitter.
Rovio has been extremely successful by incorporating
social marketing into the mix. This includes using
social marketing for Marketing, Advertising, Customer
Relations, Research, Evaluation, Corporate Social
Responsibility, Communications, Investor and
Employee Relations.

13. 13
Possible Flaws:Possible Flaws:
Case Study of Rovio
• User requires the use of internet or a mobile device,
this can leave out certain people. Research does show
that these numbers are decreasing.
• Social media requires constant attention - can't
disappear for a few days. Failure to advertise would
have a damaging effect on their brand.
• Competitors - easy to find information about new
launches and products.

14. 14Case Study of Rovio
• Product - Angry Birds is better known than their
company Rovio. This could affect new games as the
public doesn't recognize the company brand. Note:
this is being addressed by the company.
• If problems occur the news will be spread quickly by
social media. This has the potential of being very
damaging to Rovio.
• Pirated versions are already being sold and some
games can be installed on iOS for free. This can reduce
revenue.

15. 15
Future DevelopmentsFuture Developments
Case Study of Rovio
Rovio intends to partner with major corporations to improve
their market share. This includes making alliances with top
producers such as Nokia, Google and Apple.
You can access Angry Birds for free on Google Chrome.
Rovio is partnering with the likes of Facebook, Microsoft,
Mattel, Roku and Amazon. These alliances will all be
announced on Social Media sites.
The Finnish film foundation backed the production of the
angry Birds animation movie. Additional movies and board
games are in the works.

16. 16
AccomplishmentsAccomplishments
Case Study of Rovio
• 50 games produced to date but well known for only
one.
• Best Product to date is Angry Birds. This game has
been downloaded 250 million times.
• Sold 3 million plush toys
• 30 million t shirts
• Their one game Angry Birds has 593,000 Likes on
Facebook.

17. 17Case Study of Rovio
• 400,000 players per month for the original Angry
Birds game.
• Angry Birds online shop sells plush toys, PC games,
casings for electronic devices.
• Customers can access the store through Facebook.
• 2011 released Angry Birds Rio along with the
animated movie of same name. Used social media at
each launch to promote the game.
• Angry Birds Cookbook will be a cookbook based on
egg recipes.

18. 18Case Study of Rovio
• Angry Birds were featured in a cameo in the Super Bowl
ads. Fans were able to unlock a code that gave them
access to a Super Bowl themed level in the game. Once
completed players had the chance to win passes to attend
the Rio movie premiere.
• Rovio organized World Angry Birds Day for its Fan on
Dec 11 2010.
• Rovio supports Birdlife International, which helps
conservation of critically endangered birds. Helped raise
awareness through website and Facebook page. Fans are
rewarded by being given access to secret level in the
game.

19. 19
AwardsAwards
Case Study of Rovio
Won Webby Award by New York International
Academy of Digital Arts and Science in May 2011.
November 2010 - Won best Finnish game of the
year by Finnish Association for game industry.

20. 20
Key PointsKey Points
Case Study of Rovio
• Use Apple's Apps Store as a one-contact worldwide
distribution method.
• To retain customers, they release new content to their
game regularly. E.g. Angry Birds Seasons version which
is based on festive holidays.
• Target Market - iPhone users, which ended up
proving to be everyone.

21. 21Case Study of Rovio
• Use feedback from fans - used art work of 5 year old
who emailed some drawings to the company, used in
design of the game.
• Angry Birds was originally released for Apple’s iOS
and became extremely popular. The main gaming
platform is still focused on Apple's iPad and iPhone,
and the company is currently working on other
markets.
• Promotion - fans who blog, tweet and make Facebook
posts about Angry Birds help promote the game. All of
this equals Free Publicity.

22. Thank YouThank You
Visit my BlogVisit my Blog
marcomoeschter.commarcomoeschter.com (just click on it) for(just click on it) for
more good content!more good content!
FREE! "How To Get Instant Access To My"How To Get Instant Access To My
'Revolutionary' New Business Model That'Revolutionary' New Business Model That
Can Make You $10,000 Per Month"Can Make You $10,000 Per Month"
CLICK HERECLICK HERE 22