Game Nation is rooted in the communities that it serves a fact which will be manifest in the work that it has commissioned from design agency Creative62. The aim is to reflect the brand’s fun credentials, bring more people through the door and connect with a growing customer-base, the majority of which are regulars.
Game Nation is working to raise the bar in terms of AGC branding following a collaboration with design agency Creative62. The company founded by Mark Robinson is currently undertaking phase 1 of a rebrand with a brief to shake-up a sector which according to Robinson has become ‘stale and staid.’
Drawing on his experience working with operators including Showboat, Gala Casino, and Majestic Bingo Mark Robinson outlined the dynamics of working on the high street. He stated: “Every company will have its own set of unique challenges, and for smaller brands, it’s even more important that creativity is at the heart of what they do. They (smaller brands) have to identify their personality and use that to create ideas and visuals that speak out and talk to prospects directly. It’s more challenging for AGC operators because it’s a niche sector.”
Redefining and repositioning the AGC experience is key to Game Nation as CEO Mark Jepp explained: “All of our promotional and marketing activities are about our community of customers and delivering a fun experience” he confirmed. “Over 70 percent of our customers are what we categorise as regulars who choose to use our venues because they are places where they meet their friends, where they are welcomed by friendly venue teams and where they enjoy themselves and have a laugh.
“Promotions such as our ‘Love It or Loathe It’ Marmite Challenge when we engaged with over 3,000 customers in a week is a small example of this philosophy in action. They way in which we present the Game Nation brand on the high street and how that is extended inside the venue is key and must amplify the fun experience that sits at the heart of what we provide.”
The project has seen a bolder use of colour streams to represent the Game Nation values described by Robinson as representing ‘a visual hello from the brand to the customer or prospect’. He added: “Each venue will be immediately recognisable as being part of the Game Nation family, but in turn be visually different. One brand but with an endless number of localised applications which root them in the community that they serve.”
The rebrand will also see a change in the way that screens are deployed on-site. Mark Jepp said: “Screens are a valuable part of the conversation. Rather than being a series of repeated four-minute loops we want them to be a channel for our broader story-telling. They will be a flexible tool enabling us to curate messaging based not just on themes and promotions but also on the time of day. Messaging aimed at a shopper dropping in to one of our venues at lunchtime should be different to that aimed at a waiter finishing a restaurant shift at midnight. We will be adapting the disciplines widely used by other retailers and using them to enhance the way we engage with our customers and in order to amplify our key message that Game Nation is a fun place to visit.”
Phase one of the Game Nation ‘glow-up’ is being rolled-out across the 43-venue estate.
Game Nation glow
Mark Jepp said… “All of our promotional and marketing activities are about our community of customers and delivering a fun experience…
