Hi friend – Rob here.

The idea of this is to share one-page frameworks that can help you get unstuck, even if you're not a trained strategist!

Plus a tangible example showing it in practice, because templates without tangibility are just stuff.

In today's edition: Gamer Need States.

Based on a great chart by BAMM, and a link to the full report which is also great.

Let's get into it.

🎥 What's this, ~video content~?

Yep, i'm experimenting with more video, and Template Temaki felt right for this.

So, if you're more of a video person, the contents of this email are available as a Loom.

But if not, all cool, you can read the write-up below – same content.

💡 Take a look at this beauty:

(Full report).

👍 What i like about it:

1. It addresses the fact that gaming has both a social and a solo nature to it, and even within some games those two needs co-exist
2. It also addresses the fact that you don't have to be a stereotypical 'guy with blue hair on headset' to be technically speaking a gamer
3. It covers a full spectrum of genres, especially when you consider the marketing industry has a strong bias for, like, er, 2 games?
4. (Case in point, did you know that more people play Minecraft than Fortnite in the UK? Yep, 2.6m vs 2.3m per TGI... and yet)

Proper segmentation around gaming use cases can be a powerful way to debunk a) which games to tap into b) how to tap into them.

This isn't just about doing interventions within games, but understanding how they're played so you can better understand audience motivations.

💪 This principle at play:

Using an example like Baldur's Gate 3, just because it offers a full spectrum of use cases.

If i were doing the comms planning for BG3 (not that they need it, they're doing very well), i might brief messages around:

1. Achievement through rich storylines, customisable character development, and making choices that matter
2. Enrichment through level 9,000 world building and how every character feels much than a NPC, there's real depth
3. Livelihood not through direct monetisation, but through being able to stream, produce guides, analysis videos
4. Connection through online multiplayer options, which further reinforce your ability to craft stories with pals

✍️ How you can put it to practice tomorrow:

1. Survey people to get a sense of which of these use cases are most prevalent, and with whom (or use panel data)
2. Get a group of committed and casual gamers into a qual environment and explore what this might look like for them
3. Use their gaming preferences to infer what else might appeal to them (e.g. more casual gamers = give me lighthearted ways to escape)

So even if your brief isn't about gaming, you can use gaming need states to get a sense of people's preferred forms and contexts for other media.

That's it for today: the first edition of Template Temaki, in write up and video form!

Thanks for reading until the end.

If you have feedback on the content or format (do you prefer emails? Video? Keep both?), please reply to me.