Posted by Benis on 1/9/2017 7:13:00 AM (view original):
It's an impulse purchase.
Let's say you go to the store to buy some milk. On the way out you pass by the ice cream and see a new flavor that looks delicious. Even though you had no intention of buying ice cream, you decide to try it out.
It's the same concept here except foxsports.com is the store. You go there to check out scores, read some articles, whatever. Then while perusing the site, you see an ad and link to a basketball simulation game so you click on it and see what it's all about. After figuring out what the game is, you think it looks fun and decide to give it a try.
There are MILLIONS of basketball fans out there and we're talking about losing a couple hundred users. There are people out there who would really enjoy this game but they need to know it exists. Relying on them to find the game themselves is a really poor business model.
if I were Fox and I want WIS to succeed, I would not just put some adverts on Fox
1. get some Fox blogger/columnist to play and write about it - like Bill Simmons did once upon a time
2. run some features based on WIS products - like the modelling of playoff games, like the games between historical teams - put up results of SIMs of bama v clemson - SIMs of the NFL playoffs - SIMs of matchups between the Michael Jordan Bulls and the LeBron Cavs - between different Duke championship teams......generate some attention or controversy....
or be totally silent and rely on customers ability to find you if they search for you. That, after all is how, McDonalds, sells its products. Like, a decade ago before the internet they ran tv ads - but now they know that anyone can find McDonalds so they stopped advertising. But those old tv ads were fun.