Building great apps for others is a great way to learn.

ePlay has released Big Shot and will soon execute its go-to-market plan leveraging celebrity, esports, and partners. The company has built mobile experiences and games since its first client, Much Music in 2006. By working with big companies like CBS, Sony Picture Entertainment, Thales, Cineplex, ESPN, Intel, and others, ePlay's team has learned that product and marketing must come together for success. For ESPN, CBS and others marketing an app is easy - we have seen this first-hand. They have built-in unfair marketing advantages - 30-second ads, host mentions, and media on-broadcast and online barking about the thing ePlay/Mobovivo has created for them. These project have won International awards, been translated into 6-languages and launched in over 18 countries hand-in-hand in our clients.

Now, ePlay has created a game that needs its own unfair marketing advantage. Any technology company that creates an app with no unfair marketing advantage they are doomed to spend a lot of money on Facebook or ESPN advertising. ePlay has key unfair marketing advantages that lower Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC). Anybody that has ever invested in an app company knows that an unfair marketing advantage is a must. They know that paying for customers is expensive, and creating a breakout hit requires careful planning and strong go-to-market plan. If an app publisher's marketing plan is to buy Facebook and ESPN advertising, perhaps the best advice is to invest in Facebook and ESPN in hopes that some investor does hand over their money to this high customer acquisition cost (CAC) strategy.

If you have ever played the Heads Up mobile app, it's because you or somebody you know heard about the app from its owner, on the owner's, Ellen DeGeneris, TV show and social media account. Ellen knows that getting downloads without paying Facebook or CBS for advertising is difficult and expensive. The CAC for Heads Up would be nearly $0, if indeed not $0. Ellen and some of ePlay/Mobovivo's clients have proven this model soundly. The opposite is true, large marketing budgets focused on advertising in the tends of millions of dollars can also work, but lead to CAC of $75-$100, or more, per user. So, if an app publisher follows this model a million users could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

In 2016 and 2017, ePlay was building games and prototypes for giants like CBS, Thales, and Cineplex. The marketing challenges were CBS, Thales, and Cineplex's to solve - for their investors to fund. In 2018, ePlay was building Big Shot, testing with target audiences, and working with partners to establish unfair marketing advantages. This is not CBS or Cineplex's problem to solve, it's ePlay's.

ePlay has learned from some the biggest and best companies in the world how to leverage celebrity, live events, athletes, and influencers. The company has learned that product placement, merchandising, TV, social media, and live sports and esports provides an unfair advantages that are key to customer acquistion through owned and earned media, while minimizing the need for bought media. Some investors and companies may prefer to simply buy all the media they can afford to help make a product a success in the marketplace. These companies and investors make Facebook and Google great investments. ePlay works with its target audience, focuses on organic growth, owned and earned media, and leverages merchandise, celebrity, and product placement.

The company will continue to execute on its low CAC marketing strategy, leveraging celebrities, good will with target audiences, and deliver value to end users, partners and investors in the newest of technology verticals - esports and Augmented Reality. Consumer marketing in the technology world has started and the next steps are already at play for early next month.