In a recent conversation with Luis De La Camara from Rovio, we covered everything from attribution after ATT to the role of brand in building long-term demand and how to navigate community expectations when working with iconic IPs like Sonic.
Here are some of the most valuable lessons he’s learned through experience, and what other mobile game marketers can take from them.
Lesson 1: Attribution after ATT is still evolving
“When ATT hit, we leaned heavily into SKAN, thinking that was the direction the whole industry was going,” Luis explained. “In hindsight, it was probably a mistake to go so heavily into it.”
For a short period, SKAN performed well. But over time, results decayed while networks like Applovin, that resisted SKAN surged.
Today, things look different. Big platforms are abandoning SKAN in favor of their own attribution solutions. Partners like Singular, AppsFlyer, and Adjust offer workarounds.
Luis’s reflection: “Things have gotten a lot better nowadays to know where your paid customers are coming from. But on the organic side, we still have a lot more to figure out.”
Lesson 2: Brand creates future demand
Luis has been thinking a lot about how we talk about demand in mobile gaming.
“We’re so UA-focused that we think of marketing as harvesting demand through direct response,” he said. “But if you have a strong brand, you don’t just harvest demand, you create future demand.”
He pointed to Supercell as an example. Even when DAU dips, their strong communities and brands give them the ability to reignite excitement with new features.
Ultimately, it’s a shift in mindset. Mobile marketing has become obsessed with ROI in the short term, think dollars in vs. dollars out. But Luis’s takeaway is that brand building should be seen as an investment in long-term demand creation, not just a cost.
Lesson 3: Ads work when they align with motivations
The topic of “misleading ads” came up and especially those popular puzzle-style creatives.
Luis explained that Rovio ran research on this. “We saw that ads which weren’t exactly the same as the gameplay still performed very well. They worked because they ticked the same motivation boxes as the game. Players want to feel smart, challenged, like they’re progressing.”
He compared it to food advertising: “The burgers in a McDonald’s commercial are painted and glued together. You can’t eat them. But they sell the experience.”
The lesson is that ads don’t have to be literal, but they do have to connect with the player’s core motivations.
Lesson 4: Community trust is the real brand currency
With Sega’s massive IPs, another layer of trust is community expectations. Hardcore fans are passionate, vocal, and quick to push back if they feel something stretches the brand too far.
“The best way to keep them happy is to make sure you’re doing enough things they really care about, with enough authenticity and passion. If you do that, they’ll be much more forgiving when you experiment.” according to Luis.
He shared an example from Sonic Rumble. Sega made the mistake of promising specific launch dates before KPIs were ready. “Fans were forgiving the first time we pushed the date, but when it happened again, they were really upset,” Luis admitted. The takeaway was to not apply console-style hype-building to mobile free-to-play. Launch when the game is ready, not when the calendar says so.
Conclusion
Attribution, brand, advertising, and community are the four forces Rovio and Sega constantly balance. The big lesson from Luis: while tools and tactics evolve, the fundamentals don’t change. Build trust, respect your players, and think beyond short-term ROI.
That’s how you set your game up for long-term success.
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