You may have heard about several “share of” KPIs by now. Market share, share of wallet, share of pocket, mind share… But there is one of these “shares” that needs to be the goal of all marketing efforts since achieving it should be the greatest trophy of any company or career.
Of course I’m referring to the share of heart, which occurs when you have such an empathetic relationship with your fandom that you gain part of its “heart”, or, to give a better example, you overcome the reasoning barrier during the decision of purchase.
Here are two examples of share of heart from me. Coca-Cola, for me, has always been the first and only option. I drink coke in both victory and tragedy. If this desire of mine is somehow not controlled, I can drink a family-sized bottle in a single day. I try not to, but sometimes my anxiety just denies me that control. On my grocery list, Coca-Cola (and don’t give me Coke zero, for love!) is always at the top. How did they reach this level of thoughtless action in me? I must say it’s not necessarily their fault, it’s my parents’ fault. Let me explain, when I was a kid, I was introduced to Coca-Cola as a regular drink (except it counts that adorable, and very sweet, caramel-cinnamon taste). 40 years later, here I am, a fan of the brand, the drink and everything that alludes to it.
Another great example is Nike. My childhood was very spartan – Although my mother tried very hard to pay for the best education anyone could have here in Brazil (Public schools here unfortunately fall short, but that’s another matter!), I didn’t have the luxury of having Nike sneakers during this time, but I can guarantee you, despite wanting one so badly. As soon as I made enough money to buy my first Nike shoes, the brand didn’t let me down. The sneakers are amazing and today even my most casual shoes (other than sneakers) are by Nike SB. If I need any shoes, they will always be Nike and end of story.
So what do these personal examples mean? Well, it means that achieving the desired share of heart for your studio, brand or game is like hitting a jackpot. People will immediately connect with this and buy whatever you’re selling. Do we have examples of this in the gaming industry? Absolutely!! And as we have: Monument Valley, the FIFA franchise (Damn, they release a new game a year, exactly the same as the previous one, and still sell millions of copies), any game released by Devolver, finally, the list goes on. How many horrible expansions did Blizzard have to release for WoW before they started losing users in significant amounts? Yeah, this is pure share of Heart.
Read all our Games Business Posts
Like everything else in this life, share of heart can indeed be lost. It’s the most expensive of all these “shares of”, so once you’ve acquired it, treat it as it deserves, like gold. Depending on the number of bad plays with your fandom, you could lose a precious amount of trust. My advice: Once you start getting a share of heart traction, treat your community as if they’re part of anything and everything you’re doing.
Go far beyond customer service. Serve them and don’t expect them to serve you – Your fandom will literally buy anything you throw at it, so the responsibility and pressure on your shoulders is tremendous. This is an important time where using statements like “This will only be done when it’s done” will keep people from complaining about the delay in launching a product. I really hope you get there – Don’t give up, keep going.
