"Honor of Kings") is back at sea, making its first stop in Brazil.
In Brazil, "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang") has long been online, and currently ranks around 40 on the iOS best-selling list and about 15 on Google's best-selling list.
In the face of the stable entrenchment of "Endless Showdown", the marketing of "Honor of Kings" in Brazil can be described as varied!
First, in early March, in the official social media, buy volume advertising in the lottery to give away jeeps!
Then, on the 12th, the organization of the competition "Festival-making" #FESTIVAL DA HONRA began
Then, on the 16th, there was a live broadcast of the anchor COS game character, and the video played 320,000+ on YouTube!
In addition, I don't know whether it is the official rectification work, or out of their own enthusiasm, and the Brazilian anchor went to station B overnight to learn the operation of the national service mirror, which caused heated discussions among domestic audiences
- Strange cultural export has increased again?
How is "Honor of Kings" currently performing in Brazil? Are there any risks?
How does it compare to arch-rival Endless Showdown?
Some players complain after climbing over the wall, and the matching ones are Chinese? There are also game media posts saying that "Chinese people cross borders with sisters and chaotic sharks"? emmm。
Removing these horse grabs, rumors, and gimmicks, today, DataEye Research Institute objectively talks about "Honor of Kings" going to Brazil from the data.
In order to show objectivity, this article will strictly distinguish between "facts & figures" and "DataEye Institute views".
If you disagree with your opinions, you can only refer to the [Facts & Figures] section, based on your own opinions, see in the comment area.
One
Brazilian best-seller ranking performance
【Facts & Figures】
Both games performed higher on Android than iOS, and the ranking performance from March 9-20 was close.
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
The two MOBA Brazil performed fairly, but the kings slipped slightly after the first week. In Brazil, the top of the best-selling list of mobile games is often HYIP, SLG, shooting, sports, and before these "money printer" categories, it is difficult for MOBA mobile games to rank high. At present, both games are not performing badly, mostly falling in the 10-50 place in mid-March, but "Honor of Kings" has continued to decline in the double list for several days after the first week of launch (starting around March 15 and 16), which is not as stable as "Endless Showdown". Don't forget that "Endless Showdown" is a three-year-old product.
"Endless Showdown" X "Transformers" skin returns, pushing up the iOS rankings. Perhaps in order to snipe "Honor of Kings", "Endless Showdown" released a video related to the return of the "Transformers" skin on March 17, which directly boosted the iOS best-selling list rankings. As early as September 2021, "Endless Showdown" was linked to "Transformers", and the revenue reached a record high at that time.
Two
Social Media & Influencer Marketing
(1) Official actions
【Facts & Figures】
DataEye Research has briefly sorted out the official actions of "Honor of Kings" and "Endless Showdown" since March, as follows. Since mid-March, the big action of "Endless Showdown" has become significantly more intensive.
On Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, "Endless Showdown" has more fans than "Honor of Kings" ("Endless Showdown" has been online for more than 3 years. There are many accounts related to "Honor of Kings", and the content is newly registered for Brazil). On Discord, "Honor of Kings" has 30% more fans than "Endless Showdown".
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
"Glory of Kings" is "deep", and "Endless Showdown" is "wide". Before starting marketing analysis, it is necessary to remind that "Honor of Kings" went to sea this time, the first stop in Brazil, is the strategy of "deep cultivation in Brazil, and then radiation", focusing on localization; "Endless Showdown" is currently online and globally deployed, focusing on globalization. The different background colors of the two determine the different marketing choices. For example, "Honor of Kings" often chooses more Brazilian when choosing a talent anchor, and the official videos are mostly in Portuguese, while "Endless Showdown" is in English, and the activities are also global. So if you think that Endless Showdown is just a regular operation for the global market, not specifically Brazil and Honor of Kings, that also makes sense.
"Festival-making" is a common choice of both parties. Whether it's "Honor of Kings" organizing the live broadcast competition #FESTIVAL DA HONRA, OR "Endless Showdown" releasing the "ALLSTAR Music Festival" trailer, it is not difficult to find: Festival (festival) is the keyword. Both sides hope to create a joyful and relaxed atmosphere of "festivals and gatherings". As we all know, Brazilian users love Carnival very much.
△ "Honor of Kings" #FESTIVAL DA HONRA trailer
△ "Endless Showdown" and "ALLSTAR Music Festival" trailer
"Honor of Kings" focuses on the event, and "Endless Showdown" pursues more volume. For example, the same festival, the difference between the two is that #FESTIVAL DA HONRA in "Honor of Kings" is an event that falls into a game competition, while "ALLSTAR Music Festival" in "Endless Showdown" is an event for music and musicians. In addition, the linkage of "Endless Showdown" and the official announcement of new spokespersons are all pursuing voice and communication, and are more "holding high and fighting". "Honor of Kings" revolves around the event and the game itself, and it is more landed. This is because the two are at different stages and different strategies, "Honor of Kings" hopes to acquire MOBA core users and gain a foothold in Brazil, while "Endless Showdown" needs to convert pan-users and continue to break the circle and stack up DAU.
△#FESTIVAL DA HONRA LIVE: The guests played football on the spot
△ "Endless Showdown" has recently invited the Korean girl group ITZY Battle Stage
"Honor of Kings" official guidance, Discord fans more, but other official numbers are not as good as the competition. In terms of the number of fans on official media, the number of fans on FB, YTB, and TW is positively correlated with the launch time of the game, and is related to the market. In the Discord discussion community, the number of fans of "Honor of Kings" is about 30% more than the number of fans of "Endless Showdown", mainly because "Honor of Kings" hopes to cultivate Brazil and officially guides players to Discord.
(2) Influencer marketing
Since the influencer marketing of "Endless Showdown" is global (in English), only the action of "Honor of Kings" is observed and analyzed here.
【Facts & Figures】
Youtuber views: Top1-2 is 250k+ for 1 file; Top3-top6 is about 80-100k for 2 files; Top7-10 is 3 files with a playback volume of 40-70k.
Number of Youtuber fans: The number of Youtuber followers in the Top5 is more than 25m, and the number of video views is also Top5.
Location of Youtubers: Brazil accounts for only half of local Youtubers, and Indonesia accounts for 30%.
Youtube content positioning: non-gamers account for 40%.
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
Youtuber views: There is a trend of disconnection, and popular videos are concentrated in the head. This shows that "Honor of Kings" attaches great importance to influencer marketing communications, has invested heavily in the head and shoulders of influencers, and the playback performance is also very outstanding - from the number of Youtuber fans, the number of views data Youtuber fans is positively correlated.
Youtuber location: partly reflects the adaptation of the Brazilian region to cultural diversity. For historical reasons, Brazil's culture is multi-ethnic, with immigrants from Europe, Africa, Asia and other regions. High acceptance of different cultures.
Youtube content positioning: The percentage of Youtuber content positioning shows that the king is first based on gamers, and then wants to open up broader penetration in the Brazilian market.
Three
Buy volume & creative ideas
【Facts & Figures】
1. Brazilian market launch
The release of "Honor of Kings" is as of the 20th, and the release volume in Brazil is about 300 sets. Endless Showdown was lower—no more buy assets were placed in Brazil as a result of the launch of Honor of Kings. Both have more than 70% of the material delivery on the Google side.
2. Top50 efficient material creative form
In terms of purchase volume, the two game materials reflect diversified methods, and the proportion of material forms is almost the same, and the difference point of the king's materials is about 6% of esports-related materials.
3. Brazil delivery channel in March 2023
About 82% of the budget of King Honor is placed on Meta, and more emphasis is placed on social media users. Endless Showdown about 83% of the budget is Google and YouTube accounts for more than 50%, and it is more important for streaming users.
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
Buying volume is not the main competitive point, and "Honor of Kings" is more conventional. DataEye team's overseas experience: Going overseas in the Brazilian market, marketing does not emphasize quantity, but attaches importance to endorsements, talents, etc. Therefore, buying volume is not the main force point and competition point. Both games also didn't spend much material on placement.
"Honor of Kings" material is aimed at Brazil, while "Endless Showdown" is a multi-place "pass". The overseas strategy of "Honor of Kings" is expected to first "go deep and thorough" in the Brazilian market, and then radiate to other markets (such as North America), so it will be more deeply cultivated in terms of localization. For example, in terms of language, "Honor of Kings" is Brazilian material in Portuguese, while "Endless Showdown" is in English. In contrast, "Endless Showdown" has been "wider and bigger" in many overseas places, and the material for Brazil is often "invested" (and also invested in markets such as the United States).
"Honor of Kings" material emphasizes more quality, while "Endless Showdown" is more light and fun. "Honor of Kings" is still the idea of pursuing quality, brand, and style on the distribution of Level Infinite, and the material often emphasizes the sense of quality, such as a short piece of exquisite CG at the beginning. "Endless Showdown" is more vivid and interesting, often like to build a scene, short story, such as in-game enemies sending emoji taunts.
△ "Glory of Kings" material
△ "Endless Showdown" material
Four
Observations and perspectives
【DataEye Research Institute Viewpoint】
"Glory of Kings", which has repeatedly lost and lost battles overseas, can it be achieved at sea this time? Are there any pitfalls or risks?
For now, DataEye Research believes that the situation is more optimistic.
First, "Honor of Kings" this time, whether it is buying volume, social media, or activities, has shown a state of deep cultivation of the Brazilian market, hoping to "do deep and thorough", and currently does not seem to be in a hurry to make a profit, nor is it in a hurry to eat much market share; The main competition "Endless Showdown" does not have a special defensive action against the Brazilian market.
Strategically, Honor of Kings has a good chance of at the moment (as long as it doesn't make low-level mistakes) – at least to stand firm and live "Brazil's Final Showdown!" Heiankyo" is not a big problem.
Second, the Brazilian market is naturally suitable for MOBA games. As a fast-growing emerging market, Newzoo reports that 80% of Brazilian users have gaming habits, and more than 70% of them are under the age of 35. Brazilian Internet users also present two characteristics: the average daily time spent on the Internet and the rapid growth of the number of people using social media. This laid the foundation for the potential of the Brazilian MOBA market.
However, the DataEye Institute believes that there are some potential obstacles and risks to the future of Honor of Kings in Brazil ("gray rhino").
First, whether the strategy and attitude of the main competition for "Endless Showdown" will change. The user volume of "Endless Showdown" is still at the hegemonic level, and the marketing budget is also "not bad money", if you snipe "Honor of Kings" against the Brazilian market, I am afraid it will make the latter very uncomfortable. For example, hold high and play high, as before, invite Brazilian sports stars to endorse ↓
Second, "Honor of Kings" is good at quality and brand advertising, which is always a little ungrounded and not suitable for emerging markets. In the Brazilian market, the penetration rate of iOS system in Brazil is low, accounting for about 14%, and the Android system has been dominating the market, with a share of 86%. In other words, a large number of Brazilian gamers use low-end Android machines.
This may be a bit "out of nowhere" for Level Infinite, which has always focused on quality. At that time, "Endless Showdown" could sweep Southeast Asia, relying not on a sense of quality, but on a quick entry and a small package.
Let's talk about a very typical small example: as mentioned earlier, "Glory of Kings" was launched in the official social media and bought in early March to send jeeps. This is very tempting for players. But we found that in the Twitter comment section, there is
Brazilian netizens said that even if they win the car, no matter who will sell the car, and then buy a cheaper car, after all, it takes a lot of money to repair the car. That's the brand thinking: I'll send the jeep, I'm tall, you guys come and play. But for players in emerging markets, it is better to send a few more economical and practical cars than to be tall and impractical.
(Of course, brand thinking has pros and cons, and cannot be killed with a stick, just that there needs to be more different thinking, a richer arsenal)
In short, in the view of DataEye Research, "Honor of Kings" still has a long way to go to go to Brazil, there are still many local characteristics to adapt to, and it depends on how much the old rival attaches great importance.
There is a long way to go, but the future is bright. Go for it.