Puzzles on mobile phones?

Puzzle magazines are big business. 3/4 of the UK population regularly does puzzles, with 1/4 of the population doing a puzzle daily. Puzzler Media, the UK market leader, sells 1.3 million magazines every month and syndicates puzzles to additional titles in the UK and abroad.

With a 30 year trading history and 53% market share in the UK, Puzzler Media were looking to deepen their relationships with existing customers, reach new audiences and generate significant revenues by bringing their puzzles to mobile phones.

What did we do?

Future Platforms were appointed by Puzzler Media as their exclusive partner for mobile after a 3-way pitch in early 2004. Initial activity focused around understanding Puzzler's business, identifying appropriate puzzle formats for mobile play, and producing on-phone prototypes which Puzzler used to attract interest from potential distribution partners.

Building on this foundation, in 2005 we launched the first mobile activity for Puzzler. This consisted of:

1. Sudoku and Crossword applications for 100+ mobile phones, including devices from Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Sanyo, Microsoft and others. Our Cactus toolkit for developing bespoke user interfaces let us deliver all versions of each game in less than a month.
2. Our intelligent distribution platform which ensures customers get the right puzzle application for their mobile phone, never receive the same puzzle twice, and are billed appropriately. The platform integrates with in-house systems managed by Puzzler Media to ensure a smooth flow of fresh content from Puzzler to their customers.
3. Promotional and analytical tools which let Puzzler examine the behaviour of their customers, learn quickly and react accordingly

Puzzlers games differentiate themselves from the competition in several ways:

1. Their simplicity and playability, achieved by emphasising the user experience and conducting testing with members of the target audience;
2. Their low price: 50p per play with a free trial game for every customer, compared to £3.00 - £4.50 per purchase for their competitors;
3. The community features, such as the Puzzler league tables which let players report in their scores after puzzling to see how they fare against one another;

Results

Sudoku was the most widely promoted mobile game launched in the UK to date, with advertising in The Times, Daily Mail and Evening Standard - as well as in Puzzler's own publications.

35% of players choose to engage with Puzzler once they've finished playing by participating in the Puzzler leagues.

Future Platforms are continuing to work with Puzzler Media to bring their puzzles to new handsets every month, develop new puzzle formats for mobile play, and extend the distribution of Puzzler puzzles: both through distribution partners (including mobile network operators) and independently, "off-portal".

" From the first time we met the team at Future Platforms we knew they were the people we wanted to work with to develop our puzzles for mobile phones. Their approach and the resulting applications far exceeded our expectations. Without fail, everyone who has seen the puzzles - both mobile network operators and consumers alike - has commented on how intuitive and enjoyable they are. I have no doubt that we will work with Future Platforms on all of our mobile developments, whether they like it or not! "
- Neil O'Brien, Commercial Director, Puzzler Media

News

Subscription pilot - 28.11.06

Puzzler have decided to look into a new and more transparent way of providing subscriptions for their mobile puzzles. We have implemented for them a friendly SMS-based subscription service that gives customers full control over the frequency and timing of their puzzles.

Mobilising the UK's largest puzzle catalogue - 17.05.05

Brighton-based mobile specialists Future Platforms have been appointed to mobilise the product portfolio of Puzzler Media, the leading publisher of UK puzzle magazines.