Learning and sharing... by Zoe Sands

Happy Owls launch takes on Angry Birds - who wins?
Over the weekend I received an email from Ryan Holmes, CEO declaring the launch of HootSuite’s Happy Owls - my initial thoughts were; so what, we already have Angry Birds, which is a fabulous game. Do we need another copycat game?
Here’s an extract of the email I received from Ryan Holmes, CEO:
“Board, Investors and Friends, 
 
Things have been going really well at HootSuite for the last while, but after watching the massive growth of Zynga and the likes, I’ve been thinking a lot about if we are in the right business? Building on top of third party platforms can be challenging, and the team and I want a change. I know that this will come as a surprise, but as of today we’re pivoting business models with the launch of Happy Owls (screenshot and link to private beta below). This game is really addictive and I think we stand a great shot of making an even bigger splash in a really fun market. As always I appreciate your support, and please keep confidential until our public announcement on Monday.”
 
Although, on reflection I don’t think that this is a classical copycat game. HootSuite’s attempt at developing a social game is a way to target new users for its flagship social media app through gaming. If it does work, then this is a cleverly focused diversification to delve into an untapped segment via gaming. This should develop the HootSuite brand further and drive an increase in registrations for the main Hootsuite app. With HootSuite currently playing in the social media app market this area is increasingly becoming more fragmented with new apps being developed on a regular basis. The main players now have to find new innovative ways to differentiate and target new users. It will be interesting to see how much the subscriber base increases as a result of launching this game today.
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