How iPhone and Android could help sell more console games.
Today, Cedemo launched its Video Game Barcode Scanner app in the US and UK, for iPhone and Android handsets.
It lets people scan console games in-store to get more information, reviews and trailers to help their purchasing decision.
We asked VP of marketing Melody Meyblum about how the app - which launched in France last month - will evolve, and what its impact might be.
How is Cedemo working with publishers on this - is it grabbing the content itself, or partnering with them?
Since 2000 Cedemo has built a strong relationship with the publisher community and we regularly produce video marketing material for the industry.
Our relationship means we receive lots of pre-release and beta content. Our journalists also produce Cedemo reviews with extended gameplay.
Sometimes, for practical reasons, we do complement this with content grabbed from public sources. For big retailers who want their own house style and voice over artist, we produce exclusive reviews.
This all means we are well placed to give a range of content for most titles. Because of this we have a lot of support from the publishers for our iPhone app.
What's the business model - how does Cedemo make money from this?
In the future, Cedemo will make money by having paid for promotions, for example when a new title is launched, but for the moment, we just want to build up the audience and complete the features.
This may happen sooner than we anticipated because publishers have already contacted us to find ways of getting more of their content onto our platform.
Was it a deliberate decision not to have price comparison style features in there? Is that a possibility for the future, or would that alienate the retailers?
It was a practical decision: We have loads of good road map features but our first priority was to get the core app out before Christmas.
Our production guys are obsessed with quality - both for the content and user experience, and we feel that a simple link to a comparison web site, which may show you that you can save £2 by travelling 400 miles is not ideal.
We are looking closely at getting the right balance for the user and it is an obvious development for us.
I don't think this will alienate retailers. Most retailers, specialists and general are very well run operations and know that when someone buys in their store, they have their eyes open and there is a strong chance they will have been on the web before.
Price is not the only thing buyers consider and we really think that more information will increase sales by all channels.
We are already seeing from our data that a lot of people are looking at our Top 10 and latest videos each day, not necessarily in-store, so we are increasing people's consumption of video and information around games which can only be good for the industry.
What data can you share from the previous launch in Europe, in terms of how people are using it?
In terms of how people are using it, users have been in touch and said the App has been a great help to choose between two games in-store. It was always our intention that our videos would avoid that retail nightmare where someone cannot choose and in the ends buys nothing.
We are getting the feeling that the App is being used by both gamers and people who are more intermittent buyers to either choose between two games or check out that the game is suitable for someone else.
I'd prefer not to share specific data, but I can tell you that we are exceeding our expectations for downloads and videos viewed.
As I mentioned before, we've also been really surprised at the number of people looking at our Top 10, Latest and Search functions (We've obviously got someone out there who has a thing about Zelda).
How about reviews / ratings - are you looking to do deals with game review websites / mags to use their content, or pull in ratings from Metacritic etc?
We cover all platforms and publishers and the app is free so access to more information is a logical development.
We don't want to compete with game review sites who do a very good job but we are looking at how we could work together.
Personally I think Metacritic is a great service and gives an instant feeling for a title. Our techies are on the job but we want to keep the user experience sharp, with access to more information but without a multi-layer menu which needs a degree in physics to navigate.
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