Social Game Company: Zynga (San Francisco) (Case Study Sample)

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Case study
Zynga, a company started in the year 2007 is a social game company whose headquarters are in San Francisco. The games developed by this company work on mobile phone platforms. Some of the mobile phone platforms using them include but not limited to Apple iOS, Windows and Android. The social games are also accessible through the company’s website called Zynga.com. Moreover, social networking sites such as Facebook and Google+ host these games (Abatecola, 2013).
The entrepreneur behind this company is Mark Jonathan Pincus. Mark is also the one who established Freeloader, Inc, support.com and Tribe Networks. In the initial years of operations, Mark was known to offer quite effective leadership in this company; an effort which saw him awarded the CEO of the year award in the year 2009. He was also named the Founder of the Year and awarded for the same in the year 2011. The leadership in this company has registered various successes and failures. The company has employed strategies which have seen it make huge revenue which it has used for various charitable causes. Since its establishment in the year 2009, the company has generated more than $15 million. These resources have been used to support charitable organizations across the globe (Abatecola, 2013).
The resources have also enabled the company to come up with over 95 in –game social impact campaigns targeting various global relief agencies. Over 3 million players have participated towards this course. In the year 2010, the company for instance was able to raise $1.5 million in a span of only 5 days. These resources were utilized in the assistance of people who had been affected by the earthquake which had hit Haiti (Janakiraman & Crowder, 2013). The resources were generated through a number of promotions which run across various popular games. These games included but not limited to Farm Ville, Fish Ville, Mafia and Poker. Outside disaster relief, the company has also engaged in admirable philanthropy. In December 2012 for instance, it partnered with Toys for Tots in a global charitable campaign which had nothing to do with disaster relief. This is a campaign which saw the contribution of over $745, 000 and it aimed at providing about 60, 000 toys and books to deserving children across the United States. The company has recently come up with a number of programs to contribute to the education sector. These programs are specifically focused on education technology. These cases clearly portray the company as one which has achieved a commendable success owing to its effective leadership (Walker, 2013).
The leadership in this company has also registered a number of negative activities. The leaders of this company have for instance been accused of ripping off other games; accusations which have had it engaged in a number of court battles. The leaders have been accused of ripping from the designs of other firms in the same line of production. The Mafia Wars Games for instance are a case in point as far as these suits are concerned. The company was sued by David Maestri in the 2009 for copying Mob Wars. This suit saw the company pay a total of $9 million in compensation for damages. The company was sued over the same game again in the year 2010. The second suit was instigated by Digital Chocolate which is a mobile game company. The leaders in this company have also been accused of insider trading. These leaders sold off their shares a few moments before it tanked (Janakiraman & Crowder, 2013).
The strategy used by this company according to many researchers is one which involves copying what others in this field have and then trying to rip maximum benefits out of them. This is a strategy which as mentioned has seen the company get entangled in numerous court cases. The launch of Mafia Wars for instance saw a swift reaction from the developers of Mob Wars. They claimed that Zynga copied virtually all the features of Mob Wars to make Mafia Wars. In its defense, the leaders of the company have termed this as a traditional trend. They were for instance quoted claiming that the makers of video games have always launched related titles for each genre of a game. These remarks were made by Mark Pincus. The company can therefore be termed as one which does not invest in research aimed at coming up with new innovations. This is clearly a less sustainable strategy which can only see the company get involved in non ending problems involving court battles with its competitors. The strategy used by this company involving copying according to researchers in its field of operation has led to very low levels of brand loyalty as well as market empathy (Janakiraman & Crowder, 2013).
A good strategy which the company can use to stay ahead in its line of production is one involving the creation of good will in its fan bases. This would assure the company high levels of brand loyalty hence increased revenue. The creation of good will makes clients quite excited with t...