Posted by kmasonbx1 on 9/29/2010 11:16:00 AM (view original):

Posted by toysboys on 9/29/2010 10:53:00 AM (view original):
I think they're cutting back on traditional advertising/marketing budgets. I notice a lot more "refer you friends" and "we're now on facebook" type of viral marketing. And I think that's a good idea. However, I think all the changes to HD was POed a lot of people. And if you're a frustrated owner, you're not gonna refer anyone.

Which is exactly why they need to have a more aggresive marketing. The only reason the changes PO'd a lot of people is because they were used to the old way you bring in new faces and they won't know the old way and will enjoy the game.

I remember when I first started up, they had something about posting about WIS on your blog and you could get a free season.  The fact that they want to advertise by referrals and word of mouth makes me think they aren't serious about this product in the long run, which is weird. 

It makes sense to me to do a big marketing campaign, get a lot of users in and then cut down on the advertising and push the referrals and word of mouth.  Maybe my business thinking is backward, but you have to spend money to make money!

Maybe Foxsports doesn't want to waste time or advertising revenue from other sponors to show a WIS simulation result during the opening of their NCAA football/basketball telecasts.  I can see that.  What about on their weekly college football preview shows?  Just show the simmed score and some stats with the web address.  It would only need 6-10 seconds per game preview and then they could add another graphic or show clips.  This is the area where I really feel the ball is being dropped.  Peopl watching these shows are a widely untapped source for the multiple sims and dynasties on this site. 

Posted by sull21858 on 9/29/2010 3:08:00 PM (view original):
Maybe Foxsports doesn't want to waste time or advertising revenue from other sponors to show a WIS simulation result during the opening of their NCAA football/basketball telecasts.  I can see that.  What about on their weekly college football preview shows?  Just show the simmed score and some stats with the web address.  It would only need 6-10 seconds per game preview and then they could add another graphic or show clips.  This is the area where I really feel the ball is being dropped.  Peopl watching these shows are a widely untapped source for the multiple sims and dynasties on this site. 

That is a great idea.  ESPN does it with their "accuscore" and the Madden simulations of each game.  Now, they don't need any advertising, but they are small things that I look for each week before the games.

I have to wonder if the infrastructure is in place to handle a large influx of new users.  Has customer service improved?  Are there a team of people working on the game or just a few?  It's all about the experience and even if they attract new users, can they keep them?

Posted by 1peat on 9/29/2010 4:38:00 PM (view original):
I have to wonder if the infrastructure is in place to handle a large influx of new users.  Has customer service improved?  Are there a team of people working on the game or just a few?  It's all about the experience and even if they attract new users, can they keep them?

Can they keep them?  Right now, no.  Not when the product has to be reset at random times through the season.

if fox really wanted to pimp this site it would... right now it's a small fish in a giant ocean...

i absolutely think that simulation games, especially along the lines of the dynasty games here, can be the "new" fantasy sports at some point in the future. maybe it would take video-game like broadcasts of the simulated games, but it has that potential.

Posted by colonels19 on 9/30/2010 9:40:00 AM (view original):
+1 to everyone here.

Why doesn't FOX Sports see this site for the gold mine that it is/could be?  The main problems with the site are lack of marketing prowess (been saying since 2004 that this is the best site that nobody knows about) and the lack of (good?) staff for their games.  FOX Sports probably looks at the WIS bottom line and thinks that they shouldn't hire any more people for that entity because it doesn't garner the revenue to do so, but it's a Catch 22 because a bit of why it doesn't garner as much revenue as it should is because the lack of staff and programmers for each game...the NBA 09-10 players were literally released yesterday.  The fact that the NFL sim is the lowest grossing sim on this site is nothing short of laughable.  WIS has to be one of the most mismanaged companies in the history of the world, or they're just content to stay in their ****, and if that's the case, then just say so.  This all falls back on/to Tarek Kamil...guy may know how to put a business together, but he certainly seems to have had 0 marketing ideas and FOX eventually ousted him from his own baby so...  Again how all games on this site aren't chocked full at all times is beyond me...this site is basically everything I ever wanted in a sports game growing up.

Also fwiw, I think they focus too much and try to put too much focus on their predictions/projections/rl simulations that it actually takes away from the real reason that people come to the site, and that's to pay to play the various games here.  BTB is a waste of time, money, and effort, and it can overshadow what business the website is here to do.  I know a lot of you aren't race fans, but there are roughly 1.something million people that play some sort of fantasy auto racing and WIS couldn't even keep 30-50 paying customers for CRD...REALLY?  I mean that's just an incredibly poor strategy...I could get those numbers.

But sims have always been the bread and butter of the site.  Isn't that how the whole thing started?

That and the fact that quality control has gone off the cliff the past month or so.  Get the site up, running regularly, and redundant.  THEN market.