Executive Interview
Executive Interviews
An Interview with
Frank Holz
GAWOONI
CEO
GAWOONI was founded in late 2014 and is an international developer / publisher of mobile games, PC games and browser games. GAWOONI operates its own gaming portal gawooni.games in all relevant Western and Asian languages. GAWOONI is also known for its game Tuk Tuk Rush, which will be released in July 2021 on mobile and PC. Tuk Tuk Rush is the first game that will promote Thailand internationally, a unique mix of entertaining game, travel guide and promotion tool for domestic and international tourists.
Publish Date:
3 March 2021
Frankfurt
Location:
Tell us about your background, and how you came to found your company?
I have worked in the games industry for over 25 years. I was Marketing Director of ATARI and other big games publishers for many years. In 2010, I started to support Thai game developers in the area of international business development. In doing so, I learned a lot about the Southeast Asian market and was able to build up a valuable network in this region.
What is most important to you and your organization – mission, vision, or core values? Why?
Games have to be fun and motivating over a longer period of time. That is one of the most important prerequisites for success in this industry. Sounds simple, but it's not. GAWOONI combines gaming with real-world themes. Tuk Tuk Rush is a good example here. While playing, you get to know the fascination of Thailand. This approach makes us unique. At the same time, we are experts in the field of branded entertainment, this means games as a marketing tool for companies to promote the sales of their products. We are already working with very well-known companies in Thailand who use the power of our games to better market their products.
Can you explain briefly how your service(s)/product(s) works?
The process is very simple. A brand company contacts us because they need more sales. We develop a concept for a game that boosts sales. How does that work? Mobile games have a very high attention rate in their target group. That means that gamers are very intensively engaged with games. We combine promotion mechanisms with entertaining game content. For example, gamers receive special promotional offers in the game as a reward for good performance. These offers are much more likely to be accepted by customers because they have been earned and thus have more value for the customer.
How has the industry been changing in recent years?
Gaming is the big winner in Covid-Times as people spend more time on the phone or on the internet. The games market is more than 150 Billion USD per year with an annual growth rate of 5-10%.
What makes you different from what’s currently available in the market?
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Here we have to distinguish between our different core projects:
Gaming Portal: we are the only western games publisher with a special focus on Southeast Asia.
GAWOONI Games: we create unique games with reference to real world topics.
Branded Entertainment: we are experts in developing games for brand companies that increase the sales of their products.
What does the future hold for your company?
In addition to the release of our game Tuk Tuk Rush, we are currently planning our ICO in Southeast Asia. Virtual currency and blockchain technology are predestined for the gaming industry and we will offer special game services around our own gaming coin.