Stunt Philanthropy, Nekonomics, and SPFBO

Usually when I see a business in another industry do something interesting, I try to apply it to crowdfunding or tabletop entrepreneurship. Today, however, I have no idea how to apply these examples to either of those categories. I think they’re intriguing anyway, though, so I’ll share them, and if you have any ideas, feel free to post in the comments.

Stunt Philanthropy

I recently learned about a massive YouTube channel called “MrBeast” that is kind of a young adult version of Jimmy Fallon’s late-night TV show. It appears that most of the videos on Mr. Beast involve wacky contests and dares involving large sums of money.

Also, full disclaimer: I learned about this channel partially because an article highlighted some controversy regarding the guy who runs the channel. I’m by no means condoning this person or the channel itself.

However, there is one specific aspect of the channel that I really like: Amidst all of these dares are rare examples of MrBeast using his influence and wealth to either make the world a better place or encourage good human behavior. For example, when his channel was approaching 20 million subscribers, he pledged to plant 20 million trees if he reached that milestone. At Stonemaier Games–on a much smaller level–we’ve done things like this when people signed up for Wingspan Oceania and Red Rising launch notifications, and more directly related, I’m looking into an ongoing tree-planting endeavor due to the sheer amount of cardboard we produce.

In this recent video (at 3:07), he flattens his car’s tire on a two-lane road, and after someone finally stops to help, he gives the person the car. I really like this type of stunt philanthropy, and I’m trying to figure out if there’s an application to the tabletop industry.

Nekonomics

Quite simply, nekonomics is “the positive economic impact of having a cat mascot.” This theory was born from a struggling train station in Japan that made a cat its official stationmaster, which had a significant long-term boost on local ridership and tourism for the town.

I’ve definitely seen companies use adorable animals as their mascots (I’m looking at you, Formal Ferret Games), and my cats often appear as Easter eggs in Stonemaier Games products. It’s hard to quantify any financial value added, though, while the cat in Japan had a measurable impact on the local economy (1.1 billion yen).

Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO)

As I learned about on this excellent booktuber channel, the SPFBO is an annual competition for self-published authors with a rather interesting format. Here’s the mission, as described by the person who started it, author Mark Lawrence:

“The SPFBO exists to shine a light on self-published fantasy. It exists to find excellent books that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. It exists to help readers select, from the enormous range of options, books that have a better chance of entertaining them than a random choice, thereby increasing reader faith in finding a quality self-published read.”

The reason this piqued my interest is at least partially because there’s a clear parallel between books and board games: There are a LOT of each published every year, and it’s increasingly difficult for any game–especially first-time designers/publishers–to get attention for their game. I’m incredibly grateful for the wide variety of reviewers who play and discuss so many different games every year, and in addition to that, I wonder if something like the SPFBO could be an asset. Here’s how it works:

1. When the competition opens, anyone can submit their self-published fantasy book, and the first 300 books are accepted (there are a few more requirements listed on the website, but that’s basically it–it’s a very open application).
2. Those 300 books are randomly divided between acclaimed 10 fantasy review bloggers. Those bloggers are committed to reading at least part of each of those books. They pick their favorite of those books, review it, and submit it as their semi-final selection.
3. All 10 bloggers then read and score the 9 semi-finalist books they haven’t already read and review their favorite from this batch. This list is publicly available (it’s a pretty big deal).
4. Finally, the scores are compiled and a winner is selected. Coincidentally, this year’s winner, The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson, was announced just a few days ago.

This format could be applied to the game industry…but should it? Is it needed? Hard to tell, and as a publisher with 11 games under my belt, I’m looking at it from a very different perspective than a new designer/publisher who could hugely benefit from that bandwidth.

Streaming Extension

In March, a Twitch streamer named Ludwig Ahgren launched a livestream and pledged to extend the length of the video by 20 seconds (later changed to 10 seconds) for every new subscriber he received.

He ended up streaming for 31 straight days, adding over 4,000 paying subscribers.

While this reminds me a little bit of social stretch goals, other than content creators literally doing the same thing on Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook Live, I’m not sure how this could apply to crowdfunding or tabletop entrepreneurship. It seems like a fun publicity stunt, giving a creator a change to make a lasting impression on a number of new viewers.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts if you have any ideas about how to apply these zany strategies to crowdfunding and tabletop entrepreneurship!

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