Week 6 - Pricing, Promotion & Perception: Mapping Value in the Metrics Maze
Week 6: Fizzling's Fun House – My Role as Marketer
🕊️ Originally written on October 15, 2022, as part of the MS Game Marketing and Advertising course at the University of Advancing Technology.
📘 This post is part of my weekly journal series: Weekly Journal: Fizzling's Fun House – My Role as Marketer, a reflective journey through learning, collaboration, and creative growth within UAT Game Studios.
📊 Each entry brings me closer to mastering marketing’s analytical side—this week focuses on pricing models, promotional metrics, and the strategic decisions that turn numbers into narratives.
Tempe, ArizonaAbstract
In this week's journey through marketing metrics, we explored the strategic dimensions of pricing, promotion, and customer perception. Each metric presented not just a number but a lens into how value is communicated, captured, and optimized across game markets. These insights offer a foundational understanding of competitive behavior, consumer psychology, and data-led marketing actions.
What Are Benchmark Prices?
Benchmark prices are reference points that help compare one product's pricing with another in the same category. In games, this could include comparing the price of a battle pass or in-app purchase bundle to similar offerings across competing titles.
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| Figure 1. Benchmark prices define standard pricing in global markets, like oil, enabling comparative pricing insights. |
What Is the Average Price Paid / Charged / Displayed?
This metric reflects the mean price at which a product is listed or sold. It helps in identifying pricing trends and potential misalignments between perceived and actual value in the marketplace.
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| Figure 2. Visual summary of how average prices are calculated and used in pricing analytics. |
What Are Competitor Prices?
Competitor pricing involves gathering data on how rival products are priced. It informs market positioning and helps avoid pricing too high or too low, ensuring competitive relevance.
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| Figure 3. Competitor pricing can be sourced from FOIA data, GSA rates, and direct databases. |
What Are Gross Comparisons vs. Net After Rebates and Discounts?
Gross pricing looks at the sticker price, while net pricing accounts for rebates, discounts, and special deals. Marketers use both to understand profitability and customer perception.
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| Figure 4. Comparing gross and net revenues reveals the actual price impact of rebates and deals. |
What Are Price Premiums?
Price premiums indicate how much more a brand can charge above the average due to its perceived value, exclusivity, or quality. In games, franchises like The Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy may command such premiums.
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| Figure 5. Price premiums measure how a product's price compares to a market benchmark. |
What Is the Prisoner's Dilemma, and How Is It Related to Competitive Pricing, the "Tit for Tat" Strategy, and Why This Doesn't Always Hold?
The Prisoner's Dilemma is a model in game theory where two parties acting in their own self-interest can end up worse off. In pricing, brands may undercut each other, leading to a price war. While the "tit for tat" strategy (mirroring competitor actions) can promote balance, it fails if one party doesn't cooperate.
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| Figure 6. Game theory explains pricing risks and cooperation in competitive markets. |
What Are the Reservation Price and Percent Good Value?
The reservation price is the highest price a consumer is willing to pay. The percent good value indicates how many consumers believe the product is priced fairly. These help gauge acceptance of premium or discounted pricing.
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| Figure 7. Reservation price signals the buyer’s max willingness to pay; good value reflects perception alignment. |
What Is the Price Elasticity of Demand?
This measures how sensitive consumer demand is to price changes. A highly elastic product sees a significant drop in sales with small price increases. Game expansions may have lower elasticity than cosmetics.
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| Figure 8. Price elasticity reveals how demand changes with pricing — a core concept in strategy. |
What Is Optimal Price, Linear Demand, Optimal Prices - Constant Demand?
The optimal price balances profitability and volume. Linear demand assumes a consistent rate of decrease in demand as price increases. Constant demand pricing assumes sales stay the same regardless of price.
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| Figure 9. Profit-optimal pricing varies by demand type — linear vs. constant elasticity approaches. |
What Is Residual Elasticity?
Residual elasticity reflects the demand sensitivity remaining after accounting for competitors' pricing changes. It reveals a brand's pricing power within a dynamic market.
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| Figure 10. Residual elasticity incorporates your and competitors’ price responses — a deeper pricing layer. |
What Are Baseline Sales, Incremental Sales, and Promotional Lift?
Baseline sales are the expected units sold without any promotions. Incremental sales are those gained from promotions. Promotional lift is the percentage increase due to those efforts.
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| Figure 11. Understanding how baseline sales set the foundation while marketing programs drive incremental gains and promotional lift. |
What Are Redemption Rates and Percent Sales on Deals?
Redemption rates measure the percentage of customers who redeem coupons or offers. Percent sales on deals show how much revenue was generated via promotions.
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| Figure 12. A breakdown of how deal effectiveness is captured through redemption rates and percentage of sales influenced by coupons. |
What Are Advertising Metrics?
These are measures used to assess campaign performance. They include GRPs, impressions, click-throughs, and conversions—vital to optimize reach and spend.
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| Figure 13. Advertising metrics provide critical insight into campaign progress and key performance indicators (KPIs). |
What Are Impressions, Exposures, Opportunities-To-See (OTS), and Gross Rating Points (GRPs)?
Impressions count how often an ad is displayed. Exposures indicate actual viewership. OTS reflects potential views. GRPs combine reach and frequency into a single metric.
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| Figure 14. Learn how impressions, OTS, and GRPs quantify advertising exposure and campaign scale. |
What Are Net Reach and Average Frequency?
Net reach is the total number of unique individuals exposed to a campaign. Average frequency is how often those individuals see it.
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| Figure 15. Net reach and average frequency illustrate the scope and intensity of campaign exposure. |
What Are Frequency Responses (Linear, Threshold, or Learning Curve)?
These describe how consumers respond to repeated exposures. Linear assumes a direct relationship, threshold suggests a limit beyond which returns diminish, and learning curve implies familiarity increases response.
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| Figure 16. Marketers use response curves to predict campaign effectiveness across varying exposure frequencies. |
What Is Effective Frequency and Effective Reach?
Effective frequency is the number of times a person needs to see a message before it drives action. Effective reach is the percentage of the audience that sees the message enough times to make an impact.
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| Figure 17. How often is enough? Discover the balance between frequency and reach to drive consumer action. |
What Is Share of Voice?
Share of voice refers to a brand's advertising presence relative to its competitors within a specific channel. It shows how loud a brand is in the marketplace and correlates with market share.
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| Figure 18. Share of Voice compares your ad presence to the competition—vital for tracking market mindshare. |
What Is the Advertising Elasticity of Demand (AED) and Dorfman-Steiner Theorem?
AED measures how sensitive sales are to ad spend. The Dorfman-Steiner theorem helps determine the ideal ad budget as a proportion of sales revenue.
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| Figure 19. Discover how advertising elasticity and economic theory guide optimal ad budget allocation. |
What Are Pageviews / Hits / Eyeballs (Impressions)?
These metrics indicate how many users view a page or ad. They're commonly used to gauge awareness and traffic, but must be contextualized with deeper engagement metrics.
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| Figure 20. Distinguishing technical server hits from actionable impressions and visitor metrics. |
What Are Rich Media Display Time and Interaction Rate?
Rich media display time measures how long interactive content is viewed. Interaction rate shows how many users engage with it (e.g., hover, click, swipe).
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| Figure 19. Rich Media metrics capture both visibility duration and depth of user interaction, helping evaluate the true impact of advanced digital ads. |
What Are Clickthrough Rate, Bounce Rate, and Analytics?
Clickthrough rate shows how many clicked a link or ad. Bounce rate reveals how many visitors left without interacting. Analytics help interpret user behavior across platforms.
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| Figure 20. Clickthrough rate reflects ad engagement; bounce rate gauges site stickiness; analytics provide the performance story behind user behaviors. |
What Are Social Media Metrics, and Why Should You Track Them?
Social media metrics track how audiences interact with a brand’s content—engagement, growth, and reach. They provide insights into brand awareness and community impact.
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| Figure 21. Effective tracking of social media metrics ensures that campaigns align with goals and clearly indicate performance across objectives. |
What Are Social Media Metrics: Friends, Likes, Shares, and Followers?
These metrics reflect user interactions and loyalty. Likes and shares show content resonance, while friends and followers measure audience size.
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| Figure 22. This visual breaks down key user interaction metrics that define social network engagement—Friends, Likes, Shares, and Followers—and the associated cost models. |
🛠️ UAT Game Studio – Project Lead Tasks
This week, our tasks focused on reviewing promotional approaches, exploring pricing strategies, and examining competitor benchmarks. I also created an ad sample and reflected on how more effective approaches, such as playable and reward-based ads, could better prioritize user engagement over interruption.
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| Figure 23. A visual summary of Week 6 responsibilities—focused on reporting deliverables and building team synergy. |
🔺 Conclusion
This week's exploration of pricing and promotional metrics revealed how data illuminates strategy, consumer sentiment, and market positioning. The precision of marketing isn't just in setting numbers but in understanding the perceptions those numbers shape.
Each metric builds toward better pricing stories, clearer communication, and more confident decisions.
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| Figure 24. Accurate pricing and promotional decision-making require continuous analysis and metric tracking—fundamental to long-term brand growth. |
📘 References – American Psychological Association (APA) Citation
Benchmark price. (n.d.). Wikipedia.
Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark_price
Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB). Price premium. Common Language Marketing Dictionary.
Retrieved from: https://marketingdictionary.org/p/pricepremium/#:~:text=Average%20price%20paid%20%E2%80%93%20The%20unit,average%20price%20in%20the%20category
The Investopedia Team, Kindness, D., & Velasquez, V. (2022, March 22). Gross revenue vs. net revenue reporting: What’s the difference? Investopedia.
Retrieved from: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/102714/what-are-difference-between-gross-revenue-reporting-and-net-revenue-reporting.asp
NEWORMEDIA. (2021, December 21). The 10 advertising metrics every publisher should track.
Retrieved from: https://newormedia.com/blog/advertising-metrics-to-track/
Chen, J. (2021, March 26). The most important social media metrics to track. Sprout Social.
Retrieved from: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-metrics/
ProfitWell. (2021, March 16). The pricing strategy guide: Choosing pricing strategies that grow (not sink) your business. RECUR.
Retrieved from: https://www.profitwell.com/recur/all/pricing-strategy-guide/
Muhammad, F. (n.d.). 25 key advertising metrics all digital marketers need to be tracking. Instapage.
Retrieved from: https://instapage.com/blog/key-advertising-metrics
Series Navigation
← Week 5 – Metrics, Maps & Mastery: Navigating Game Marketing Through Data-Led Decisions
→ Week 7 – Financial Foresight & Marketing Metrics: Navigating KPIs in Game Studios
🕊️ Thank you for reading this sixth journal entry in the Fizzling's Fun House – My Role as Marketer series.
💡 This week’s deep dive into pricing strategies, promotional metrics, and perception-based value reminded us that marketing is as much about meaning as it is about margins.
🎯 From elasticity and optimization to impressions and engagement, we explored how precision in pricing and clarity in communication shape not only market behavior, but player trust and brand story.
✨ These reflections are offered with intention and insight—affirming that behind every number is a narrative, and behind every decision, the opportunity to honor both data and dignity.
You are always welcome here.
Reflecting on systems, stories, and the evolving practice of game design.