Mediaboss Marketing

The Drums social media executive Amy Houston assesses the opportunities within gaming communities and, as part of our gaming deep dive, looks at how brands can prepare for whats next.

If the future of entertainment lies in gaming and the future of gaming lies in online communities, what will brand activations look like in coming years?

The popularity of gaming has reached new levels during the pandemic, with communities becoming a source of entertainment and support for many players. Its a medium that is constantly evolving, with disruptive tech, cultural moments and brand campaigns and it doesnt show any signs of slowing down.

There is so much that brands can learn from these communities, as I explored in last weeks column, but whats in store for the future of gaming community management, and what does it mean for marketers?

Streaming has been a huge aspect of gaming for a while now. And when combined with the popularity of video-based platforms such as TikTok, its obvious that social media is becoming more personal and more fast paced than ever, and that brands looking to get a piece of the gaming pie need to understand this. In coming years, streaming will continue to grow as a very effective way to reach certain audiences whether thats through having streamers play your games or advertising on their streams, says James Gallagher, senior social media manager at Keywords Studios.

The relationship between developers and gamers has got closer over the last few years, partly because of the rise of social channels, but predominantly because of the dedication of community managers. In the coming years, I believe this partnership will continue to flourish and be a blueprint for brand communication. As Oliver Hindle, the community director for Fall Guys at Mediatonic, puts it: A key learning from the last few years has been the sheer importance of authentic communication.

Entertainment and innovation within gaming communities will continue to present huge opportunities. Animal Crossings partnerships with the likes of Lazy Oaf is a prime example of an exciting experience within a game resulting in two separate communities merging, generating a buzz on social channels for both the products and the game itself. Looking forward, we need to keep evolving and being creative in our approach to reaching new audiences, because as Roberto Kusabi, the director of community and social marketing at King, says: They arent easily boxed into one channel or medium, they can flow across and dip in and out of different avenues.

We have to be thinking about where the audiences we want to talk to are spending time online, and then building communities around these areas, bringing new experiences to them, entertaining them and innovating.

Continuing to break down barriers such as gender in the gaming community will see these online spaces thrive as cultural centers, undefined by anything except shared interests. Brand promotion within the gaming sector relies on various tactics and themes, but ultimately, says Stick Click head of performance Jonny Hale, you want to make sure your campaign can truly pull people in and most importantly relate.

The potential for brands within gaming is massive, and as digital communities continue to grow, so is the reach. Theres been a lot of talk in recent years about digital cities and I wondered what that might look like for brand marketing in the future when contemplating investments. About the metaverse, Hindle tells me: Players rarely socialize in just one digital space, but it really depends on the demographic and genre-audience of a particular gaming community.

With any social media channel or community, the technology evolves, so I ask Hindle the best way for brands to keep up with these developments and immerse themselves into their communities. There are always innovative ways to track and learn from these audiences, and brands can take cues from game studios on social media, but theres no substitute to actually swimming in those waters yourself, he tells me.

Keeping up with technological developments is crucial, but the most important job, according to Hale, is understanding the games audience and where they are... digitally.

Games are forever getting more sophisticated, yet the fundamental ways that players engage with them stay mostly the same. As Gallagher puts it: If a player contacts you because of a problem with their NFT, do you treat them differently than if theyre having an issue with a CD-Rom? New online communications channels emerge, but the basics of how to communicate with your customers dont change.

Gaming and social media are more integrated than ever and community managers will continue to nourish this level of interaction. Its my view that new tech, channels, and opportunities will come, but the future of brand marketing lies in placing community at the heart of it all.

From more on what the gaming sectors pandemic-propelled popularity means for marketers, head to The Drums gaming hub.

More:
Games might evolve, but the basics of talking to gaming communities remain the same - The Drum

Prevention is key to managing the parallel mental health pandemic that has occurred in tandem with COVID-19, researcher says

Imagine our only response to the COVID-19 pandemic had been increasing ICU capacity. Maybe encouraging hand-washing and optional mask-wearing, but no social distancing. And no vaccines.

ICUs would have overflowed long ago, our health-care budget would be drained and many more lives would have been lost. It seems like an absurd approach, and yet that is how were responding to the mental health and addictions crisis that has been surging in parallel to this pandemic.

The current mental health and addictions crisis

In a typical year, 20 per cent of Canadians experience a mental illness and 75,000 Canadians die from substance use. The Canadian economy loses $46 billion to substance use and $50 billion to anxiety and depression.

In the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic, 25 per cent of Canadians have experienced anxiety, 10 per cent of Canadians have had suicidal thoughts and 74 per cent of adults, and 70 per cent of children and adolescents, have experienced worse mental health.

As a result, mental health wards and waitlists have overflowed. In Ontario, children are waiting up to 2.5 years for services.

In response to this crisis, governments have made much needed investments to increase equitable access to mental health care. However, missing from current plans is a long-term strategy to reduce the number of Canadians who will end up needing costly mental health services.

How to promote population mental health

At present, many non-profit agencies, schools and workplaces in Canada implement advocacy campaigns, skill-building workshops or violence-prevention programs to promote the mental well-being of their patrons.

However, many Canadians do not have access to programs and services that meet their needs, especially people from historically marginalized communities such as Indigenous, LBGTQ+ and low-income people, and refugees. Most Canadians receive only a fraction of the resources needed to reduce their risk of experiencing mental illness: the COVID-19 prevention equivalent of maybe one free mask, but certainly no vaccine.

What would a more comprehensive prevention strategy for mental health look like? The Canadian Mental Health Association recommends increasing research, funding and social marketing for the implementation of culturally safe, population-level mental health programs. Since between 50 and 75 per cent of mental illnesses have their onset during childhood and adolescence, prevention programs tend to target these developmental periods.

However, children learn to regulate their thoughts, emotions and behaviours from the things they hear, the behaviours they see modelled and the way adults respond to their emotions. That means programs that improve the well-being of adults also often have intergenerational benefits. Three examples of evidence-based mental health promotion programs include:

1. Parenting and family support programs

Programs that provide psychoeducation and support to parents and caregivers are one of the most effective ways to reduce emotional and behavioural problems among children and youth. Many also have positive effects for parental well-being. Examples include the Nurse Family Partnership, Incredible Years and Family Check-Up.

These programs can be cost-effective, culturally safe and implemented effectively online. Indeed, the pandemic has sped up a pre-existing trend of delivering services virtually to increase access and decrease costs, and preliminary research suggests it is working.

2. Mental health literacy and skill-building

While it is not always possible to control peoples environments, it is possible to equip people with skills and strategies to process stressful experiences in positive ways. For example, hundreds of studies have confirmed that universal, school-based programs that focus on building students mental health literacy, exercise habits, mindfulness, socio-emotional skills, resilience, media literacy or substance awareness improve child and adolescent mental health. There is also evidence that they are cost-effective.

Workplace mental health programs, such as the Canadian-based Working Mind program, can also improve employee mental health. And initial research on skill-building mobile apps also suggests they have a lot of promise. Across settings and across the life-course, there are many low-cost, evidence-based opportunities to help Canadians build skills that support their mental well-being.

3. Social connection and stigma-reduction

To thrive, people need to feel respected, accepted and connected. Programs that help meet these needs are an effective approach to mental health promotion. For example, there is strong evidence that anti-bullying programs in schools promote positive mental health outcomes. Programs that foster positive connections between children and adults in their communities such as teachers and mentors are also proven to be effective at promoting mental well-being, as are programs that enhance the quality of adults social connections.

Finally, while robust research on interventions is lacking, current evidence suggests psychoeducation programs that reduce stigma and racial discrimination, or increase sense of belonging, are also likely to have a positive impact on mental health.

A 360 approach to prevention

To slow the spread of COVID-19, we have had to distance, wear masks, improve ventilation and develop vaccines. To reduce the prevalence of mental illnesses, we will need to take a similar, multi-targeted approach, as there is no single solution that addresses all the social determinants of mental health.

To maximize impact, this approach will need to be systematic, with a focus towards choosing evidence-based, cost-effective, culturally safe programs and making them equitable and accessible. It is by extending support, skill-building opportunities and a sense of belonging to all Canadians that well ensure our mental health beds, and budgets, dont overflow forever.

Lets not be left facing a third wave of the mental health crisis years from now because we didnt create a preventive public health strategy early enough.

Nina Sokolovic, Doctoral Candidate, Developmental Psychology and Education, University of Toronto

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Continued here:
The importance of preventive measures to ensure mental wellness - HalifaxToday.ca

Microlearning Software Market Overview, Major Manufacturers and Production Price, Cost Revenue, Microlearning Software Market Forecast 2026Category: #technology|By Admin| Date: 2021-06-05 |Product ID: 3182502|

The Microlearning Software Market research report is an in-depth analysis of the latest developments, market size, status, upcoming technologies, industry drivers, challenges, regulatory policies, with key company profiles and strategies of players. The research study provides market overview, Microlearning Software market definition, regional market opportunity, sales and revenue by region, manufacturing cost analysis, Industrial Chain, market effect factors analysis, Microlearning Software market size forecast, market data Graphs and Statistics, Tables, Bar &Pie Charts, and many more for business intelligence.

The up-to-date report of Microlearning Software market presents an in-depth evaluation of all the crucial factors such as key growth drivers, impediments, and opportunities to understand the industry behavior. It also explicates the sizes and shares of the market segments, inclusive of the product landscape and application spectrum, as well as the regional markets. Moving ahead, insights into competitive landscape with regards to the top firms, emerging contenders, and new entrants is taken into account. Moreover, the document sheds light on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on this marketplace and puts forth various strategies for effective risk management and strong profits in the upcoming years.

Key pointers from case studies of COVID-19:

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Overview of the regional analysis:

Other important inclusions in the Microlearning Software market report:

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Microlearning Software Market Overview, Major Manufacturers and Production Pric - Business-newsupdate.com

Pinterest has shared some new insights into how Pinners are looking to adopt more sustainable processes, which includes shopping for more environmentally-friendly products and adopting new ideas and concepts aligned with the same.

As explained by Pinterest:

"People are emerging into the new normal with a greater sense of urgency to take care of our planet. Were predicting a Greenaissance: a renewed focus on sustainable living, Earth-friendly products and calls for community action."

I mean, 'Greenaissance'is probably a little grandiose in this context, given the 'renaissance' was a period of transition in a wide range of aspects. But still, the impetus remains the same - based on Pin trends, more Pinterest users are searching with sustainability in mind, which is important for marketers to note.

Based on a recent survey conducted among both Pinners and non-Pinners, Pinterest found that its users are 40% more likely to say the environment is a 'personal interest', and are 30% more likely to take action as a result.

People on Pinterest are also 70% more likely than non-Pinners to seek out local brands or produce, while 80% of Pinners are looking to shop for more sustainably-made products, impacting their product choices in the app.

That could be a key point of note for Pin marketers, with an increased focus on sustainability set to be a key decision point for many users.

In addition to this, Pinners are also 55% more likely to be concerned about their personal carbon footprint than people who don't use the app, with increased interest in things likeelectric cars, concept cars and commuter bikes.

Based on these findings, Pinterest has provided three key tips for marketers looking to align with these usage trends:

Given the rising focus on environmental issues, it's important for brands to showcase their position on this front, and how they're working to support key initiatives to tackle the impacts of climate change.

That won't apply to all brands universally, but if you're marketing on Pinterest, it should be a key consideration, and it could be another way to boost your brand reach and resonance in the app.

You can check out Pinterest's full 'Greenaissance' report here.

Go here to see the original:
Pinterest Shares New Insights into How Pinners are Looking to Shop with Sustainability in Mind - Social Media Today

How did StockGros journey begin? What inspired this idea?

We started this journey, with this mission of making the millennials, investment ready. Within nine months of launching StockGro, we had over 250,000 monthly active users, initiating their investment journey through the app. With more than 95 business schools and colleges on-board, StockGro has become the primary go-to platform for educational institutions to run Stock Market competitions for their students.

StockGro users now range from 16-year-olds to 60-year-olds, both with interest in learning stock trading while building their Social Investment Circle. StockGro is helping users overcome the fear of investing in markets, thus growing the total addressable market. The impact of StockGros initiative will become visible within the next two to three years, when its users start actively investing in stock markets.

How do you see the impact of StockGro growing in your ecosystem?

StockGro is building a cult beyond gaming, beyond trading, beyond boundaries. It is inspiring users to grow their capital by investing in alternative asset classes. It is building the user behaviour to invest and grow the capital. Each user, after being baptised on StockGro, brings his friends onboard to start building their own community. This community teaches and learns through interactive and open discussions, helping users learn trading and inspiring fellow investors and traders to invest in the stock markets. As the community grows, StockGro will become the default platform for investors to explore investment and trading strategies.

What is your vision for yourself and your company?

In India, we are largely a saving economy and not an investment economy. At StockGro we are disrupting this by Making Investment Social. We are enabling users to invest in stocks without losing money, thus initiating their investment journey through our platform.

StockGro is building trust in a trust deficit market. It is transforming the user behaviour and helping potential investors inculcate the habit of investing in alternative assets to grow their capital.

What can you do to help India in its time of crisis?

In testing times like these, when often a section of the population is short on its usual income, they need to turn to their savings. With the right investment knowledge, a large part of the population would have comfortably survived with their dividends from investments helping support their livelihood. StockGro is preparing the next generation to be investment savvy. This critical skillset will help them sweep through such crises in the near future. StockGro is helping build exactly that parallel source of income.

How do you plan to scale up your operations?

To build a business at scale and tremendous growth, the execution plan needs to be worked backwards from the long-term and short-term targets to small measurable periodic tasks.

Targets need to be divided in quantifiable daily and weekly tasks, encompassing achievable goals, to motivate team members to accomplish harder tasks. Each function from production to marketing needs to be aligned on a weekly action plan and the roadmap to achieve the larger goal. End of the day, it comes to execution live every day to complete the task at hand, bringing you one step closer to the target.

See the article here:
Social Forum That Teaches Stock Trading - BW Businessworld