Robin Boyar

thinktank research and strategy

thinktank is a boutique research consultancy, providing customized research.  We specialize in media, technology, video games, and healthcare (B2B and B2C).

We help organizations evaluate new products, identify target audiences, and refine products and positioning.  Typical engagements include focus groups, surveys, UX testing, video game playability testing, and competitive analysis.  

All of thinktank's projects are conducted by senior level researchers and we can manage research worldwide.  We have a key expertise with early-stage ventures, developing predictive and actionable results.  

Selected clients include 2K, Activision/Blizzard, Amazon, August Lock, ByteDance, Disney, DocuSign, Dolby, ESPN, Facebook, Ford Foundation, Groupon, Hasbro, Healthline, Hitachi, IKEA, Intel, Kaiser Permanente, Kapor Foundation, King, Juniper Networks, LG, Logitech, Microsoft, Milliman, Nest Labs, Nickelodeon, Nokia, One Kings Lane, Oracle, Rdio, Samsung, Sony, Supercell, Stockpile, Sutter Health, Tencent, Wargaming, West Elm, Warner Bros., Western Digital, and Zynga.

Selected projects include:

•	Conduct video game market segmentation study 
•	Deploy focus groups to evaluate new digital service
•	Test and develop healthcare brand positioning
•	Develop market sizing and competitive analysis for SaaS company
•	Conduct video games playability sessions
•	Interview B2B IT decision makers 
•	Conduct max-diff analysis for fintech service
•	Moderate innovation workshops around autonomous vehicles
•	Conduct in-home ethnographies around media usage

Founder

Electronic Arts

Led all research efforts for then $3B industry leading video game publisher.  Managed team of five.

•	Provided key strategy, marketing, and development expertise that impacted game development and marketing.  Consulted with executives, marketing, and studio teams on new IP development and brand extensions.  Accurately predicted the outcome of all EA games, especially new releases.

•	Created first centralized research department in the history of the company.  Developed overall strategy and led research efforts.  Hired, trained, and managed team of internal researchers and outside consultants.  Managed budget.  Designed yearly research plans for over 30 PC, console, handheld, online, MMORPG, subscription and mobile franchises.  Coordinated international research efforts in Europe and Asia/Pacific regions.   

•	Managed or oversaw hundreds of research projects including consumer segmentation, competitive analysis, predictive modeling, brand tracking, concept testing, new IP development, focus groups, playability, usability, brand, positioning, packaging, pricing, advertising effectiveness, customer satisfaction, ethnography, and lifestyle research.

•	Pioneered franchise research plan to leverage research throughout game development cycle. Spearheaded communication programs to operationalize findings throughout organization.

Senior Director of Research

Managed research efforts for EA's Online, PC, and Console Products.

•      Facilitated and conducted a variety of research related projects including focus groups, surveys, playability, usability, surveys, and focus group testing.

•      Provided insights and feedback that guided development of Pogo, EA SPORTS and EA franchises, such as Madden, The Sims, Need For Speed, Medal of Honor and approximately 15 other EA franchises.

•      Developed research plans and helped communicate research findings across the organization.

•      Managed research team

Director of Research

Pogo.com

Led research and customer support efforts for leading online casual games portal.

•	Designed advertising effectiveness, customer satisfaction and demographic surveys.  Managed usability and focus groups.  Analyzed and created monthly reports from syndicated vendors such as ComScore/Media Metrix, @Plan, Nielsen/NetRatings, DoubleClick/Diameter, and Ad Relevance.  Provided research and support for ad sales team.  Managed customer support team of two.

Director of Research and Customer Support

InsWeb.com

•	Created customer segmentation profiles, site and customer analysis utilizing data warehouse. Executed brand, behavior and price surveys.  Provided competitive analysis. Developed and researched new strategies for relationship marketing programs.

Customer Support & Insights Manager

Education and Media Consultant

•	Conceptualized comprehensive K – 12 educational website for McGraw-Hill.  Provided needs assessment, market research and strategic marketing assistance.  Conducted interviews, site visits, and focus groups with educators.  Developed functional specs and business requirements.

•      Developed and managed evaluative projects examining the effect of media and technology on children's learning.  Organizations included PBS, Bill Nye The Science Guy, and State of California.

•      Developed language arts database that provided analysis of  K-12 language arts curriculum nationwide.

•      Provided interface, content, and design expertise for a variety of educational and online sites.

Consultant

Academic Systems

Provided support and research services for educational software startup backed by Kleiner Perkins and Accel.

Office Administrator

Trilogy

Led all areas of operations (e.g., administration, finance, HR, facilities) for venture-based software startup that grew from 12 employees to 60 employees in a year.

Operations Manager

With 20+ years' experience in video games and technology, I help organizations research their next big thing.

Over 100 video games franchises. Award winning smart technology. Telehealth.  AI driven software. NFTs and cryptocurrency. The metaverse. Sustainable farming.  Autonomous vehicles. 

As the founder of thinktank, a boutique market research and strategy consultancy, we conduct customized research for media, technology, video games, and healthcare brands.

We help organizations validate product concepts, evaluate positioning and marketing, and test UX and game playability.  Our results are actionable and predictive.

Our clients span the Fortune 100, those hoping to become the next unicorn, and nonprofits making the world a better place.   

Previous to founding thinktank, I led consumer research at Electronic Arts (EA), then the leading video games publisher. I built their first centralized research department, managing a multimillion budget and team.

I began my career as an educational consultant, studying how kids learn and play through technology.  I'm also a veteran of four startups, including companies backed by Accel, Kleiner Perkins, and NEA.  

Based on these experiences, my approach is collaborative, concise, and empathetic.

How can I help you?

thinktank is a boutique research consultancy, providing customized research.  We specialize in media, technology, video games, and healthcare.

We help organizations evaluate new products, identify target audiences, and refine products and positioning.  Typical engagements include focus groups, surveys, UX testing, video game playability testing, and competitive analysis.  

All of thinktank's projects are conducted by senior level researchers and we can manage research worldwide.  We have a key expertise with early-stage ventures, developing predictive and actionable results.  

Selected clients include 2K, Activision/Blizzard, Amazon, August Lock, ByteDance, Disney, DocuSign, Dolby, ESPN, Facebook, Ford Foundation, Groupon, Hasbro, Healthline, Hitachi, IKEA, Intel, Kaiser Permanente, Kapor Foundation, King, Juniper Networks, LG, Logitech, Microsoft, Milliman, Nest Labs, Nickelodeon, Nokia, One Kings Lane, Oracle, Rdio, Samsung, Sony, Supercell, Stockpile, Sutter Health, Tencent, Wargaming, West Elm, Warner Bros., Western Digital, and Zynga.

Selected projects include:

•	Conduct video game market segmentation study 
•	Deploy focus groups to evaluate new digital service
•	Test and develop healthcare brand positioning
•	Develop market sizing and competitive analysis for SaaS company
•	Conduct video games playability sessions
•	Interview B2B IT decision makers 
•	Conduct max-diff analysis for fintech service
•	Moderate innovation workshops around autonomous vehicles
•	Conduct in-home ethnographies around media usage

10 things I wish I didn't have to say anymore as a games researcher anymore (after 20+ years):

1.  Women play video games. 💁🏼‍♀️ 

2.  The gaming landscape is a sprawling global ecosystem spanning multiple platforms, devices, and genres. 🌎 💻 📱 🎮 🎰 

3.  You can't look at gaming statistics in the aggregate. 
(e.g., 48% of gamers are women). 📊 

4.  Because almost everyone plays games. 👨🏽 👧🏼 👵🏼 🧑🏼‍🎤 👩🏼‍🦼 🧑🏼‍🏭👨🏿‍🦱 🧕🏼🧑🏼‍🍼 👨🏽‍🦲   

5.  And some people who play games don't consider themselves gamers. 👵🏼

6.  In reality, the gaming landscape has over a dozen distinct psychographic segments.   🗣️ 

7.  And professionals often define them differently. 📑 

8.  Thus, understanding motivation and use case is key. 😀 🤪 🫣 🤑 😬 🧐 

9.  For example, relaxing is a key motivator for women playing mobile puzzle games 🍭 but competition is a key motivator for men playing PC shooters. 🪖  

10. Unless you're a female 5th grade teacher who likes to work out your stressors of the day by playing COD.  (True story from a focus group.) 🧑🏼‍🏫 

In conclusion, you cannot summarize a global industry.   

Know your market.  
Know the audience.  
Know your players.

#marketresearch #videogames #demographics #ux #genx #genz #gena

Researcher and strategist helping brands build for the future. EA and startup veteran * Surveys * Focus groups * UX testing * Video games playability

"$1 per hour.  That seems fair."   
This was a recent quote from a gamer in a focus group I conducted.

In the shadow of the UK's Digital Fairness Act, maybe it's time to recognize that we've built free-to-play games on an outdated premise.

Free online content made sense 25 years ago, when consumers were grappling with this thing called "The World Wide Web."  

In the race for consumer adoption, companies such as AOL, Yahoo!, and Excite gave content away for FREE (often as incentive to sign up for high-speed internet access). 

(That was a disaster... RIP, Excite@Home and AOL TimeWarner. 🪦)

The quest for online monetization has always been rough, even though many tried with advertising and subscription services.   

And so, like the old SNL skit about the bank that just makes change, when asked, "How do you make money?", the answer was simple:

VOLUME.

But volume doesn't keep the lights on in Redmond.  (Azure does.)

Even in those early online days of Xbox 360, the currency exchange was suspect.
- 800 Microsoft Points= $10.

So whether it's been digital currency, downloadable content, microtransactions, loot boxes, etc., for kids or adults, it's all been built on a wobbly value proposition:

We (the company) will give you something for free, but at some point, we need to get our money back.

It's not an equitable proposition.

There have been countless times I've spoken to gamers who have played games such as Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, or Slotomania for years, and when asked about their spending habits, they'll say:

"I've never paid for anything."

In the hundreds of console focus groups I've been in, one of the most frequent comments is:

"I hate DLC.  They're just trying to cheat us."

To which I have a common retort:

 "Well, the game company has to make money somehow."

(Not paying for play is a distinctly older (45+) and Western POV, reflective of gamers who grew up with the proposition of $40 for 40 hours.  In Asia, pay to progress and gacha game mechanics are far more accepted.)

Among those that did pay for games, we used to call them "whales," until they were renamed "VIPs".  

In Ilkka Paananen's recent letter, he uses the analogy of a family buying tokens at a theme park.

But ask yourself... Did that ever really seem fair?   Didn't you always yearn for one more ride or beg your dad for another roll of tickets?

It's not unlike kids hounding their grandparents for Roblox gift cards.

In the US, Epic has already been fined by FTC $275M for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and an additional $245M for "dark patterns."

I joke that video games have kept a roof over my head for two decades (and in full transparency, Supercell has been a client), so I too, have profited.

But I wonder... 

Is there is a better way than to engage with our customers than the unsustainable cycle of UA, F2P, and microtransactions?

#videogames #monetization #marketresearch #ux #genx #millennials #genz #gena

The beauty of LinkedIn (when it works): When you view the profile of someone based on a simple comment and realize, “Whoa.  This person is OG.” And you follow them.

Every day we are getting smarter. 

(Maybe “can” is the operative word.  That algorithm…)

Thank you.   Collective wisdom. 

We are all in this together. 

Have a great weekend.  😍

#videogaming #life #marketresearch

This fall: the death of the movie star opening weekend?  
1. Channing Tatum, Roofman (~$8M, US)
2. Matthew McConaughey, The Lost Bus (limited theatrical release, AppleTV)
3. Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another ($21M, US)
4. Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine ($5.9M, US)

Fall is "awards season," where more serious movies are released.  So F1 (Brad Pitt, $55M US, $144M globally) is not necessarily applicable, as it's targeted at a four-quadrant summer audience.

Historically, having a marquee actor would guarantee box office success.  But in this streaming era, genres such as comedy, drama, and action are struggling.

But generally not horror... a genre favorite of Gen Z, it's best experienced in a theatre environment with friends.

The new math: if you have a star that commands $15-$20M, it's difficult get your ~3x ROI,  especially as you can no longer rely on DVD sales on the back end.

And the reality: Dwayne Johnson just had the lowest opening in his career.  The film had potential: sports bio based on MMA fighter, Mark Kerr, writer/director Benny Safdie, co-star Emily Blunt, A24.  (Though one could argue that any sports bio that focuses on interpersonal dynamics is going to be a tougher sell.)

We've seen in comedy that once bankable stars (e.g., Adam Sandler) have already retreated to the smaller screen.   

In the case of Roofman (produced by Miramax!?), it had a $19M budget, so not unlike the video game business, smaller scale "indie" titles may be able to succeed.

How, if at all, do international release affects the bottom line?  After the recent hand wringing around Warner Bros' One Battle After Another, international gross ($83.5) exceeds domestic ($54.5M).

As the fall continues, it will be intriguing to see how actors influence consumers' desire to see a movie in a theatre.  

For example, The Lost Bus reads like Speed + climate change + school children heightening the drama.  Having watched it on the small screen (and as someone who has experienced firestorms), I can see how much more impactful it would be in a theatre environment.  

But does the average person want to spend their Saturday evening worrying about kids being roasted alive in a tin can?

The next three weeks include a variety of genres and stars:
- After The Hunt: Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield
- Good Fortune: Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogan, Keke Palmer
- Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere: Jeremy Allen White

You might ask why I have not mentioned Tron (and it's not because I want to avoid the brilliant insights of Chris Heatherly and Simon Pulman), but because it's IP (that spectacularly failed in 1982).

But yes, Jared Leto.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the supremely talented movie star who pulled in movie audiences for five decades, transitioning from leading lady to mom to sassy retiree.

Diane Keaton.

May her memory be a blessing.

#movies #videogames #marketresearch #boxoffice #demographics #babyboomers #genx #millennials #genz #gena

The last great (unlicensed) tabletop IP?  Netflix just captured rights to Catan for scripted, unscripted, live action, animated TV and movies, as well as video games. 

Why?
And where is the value?

Beloved by generations, the game, originally entitled "Settlers of Catan" was created by a German dental technician, Klaus Teuber in 1995.  It's been a family business for decades.

Since then, over 45 million copies have been sold and it's been translated into 40 languages.  

You can buy the games (as there are variants) via Asmodee (acquired by Embracer in 2022) and now publicly traded in 2025.

Its appeal may lie in its simplicity but balanced game design.  Often described as a mix of Monopoly and Risk, players sit around a hexagonal board.  The goal: trade and build on the terra incognita of Catan, a bucolic world resembling an unspoiled Nordic island.

Many have described Catan as their introduction to tabletop games. There's a sweetness about how players talk about their experiences engaging with family and friends.  There's often a focus on the emotions and interactions between players that often feels nostalgic.

Given the high overlap between playing tabletop games and video gaming (about 60% according to a thinktank research & strategy study), there have been more than a dozen Catan video games on almost every platform.

As an IP, Catan brand strengths include:
- Global appeal
- Name recognition 
- Positive sentiment
- Audience crossover 

But to quote the late writer Gertrude Stein (about Oakland, CA), "There is no there there."

What Catan doesn't have:
- A distinct setting, theme, or art style
- Memorable characters
- Lore

So unlike other best-selling tabletop games such as Warhammer, Ticket to Ride, or Carcassonne, Catan is a relatively blank slate for TV, film, and gaming adaptions.   

That could be seen as a positive... it's virgin territory for an auteur to come in to create a universe.   

But it's tall boots to fill.

Based on the recent Zach Cregger/Resident Evil fracas, you have to ask: 

- Who is up for that challenge?  
- Can Netflix collaborate effectively with them?
- Will the result(s) meet the expectations of fans?

Or is this more akin to The Witcher, which struggled in the last few seasons.

Finally, is there the risk of TOO much expansion?  Witness what has happened with Marvel and Star Wars in the recent past.

I suspect that the key joy of Catan is around the memories made with people playing*, rather than the world of Catan.  

In some ways, this is like The Sims... a deeply personal experience based on an universally accessible set of game mechanics.

But we will see...  

Wishing them great success with a very special IP.

(*It was for me, when I first played it in San Francisco with Guido Teuber and Kate Connally many many moons ago.)

#videogames #ip #marketresearch #catan #demographics #genx #genz #gena #millennials

Wine and video games... what do they have in common?  Any why are both industries cratering at the same time?

A: They are products that are deeply experiential and are seeing generational shifts in consumption and monetization across the globe.

From a data perspective, the majority of adults do both.
In the US:
- About 70% of adults 21+ drink alcohol
- About 75% of adults play some type of video game on some type of device

During the pandemic, gaming and drinking increased and we have seen a post-pandemic decline in both activities.

But is Gen Z, (those 13-28) also having an impact?

Like most things, yes.

A recent academic Australian study found that Gen Z was 20x more likely to abstain from alcohol than Baby Boomers.   

Some of the reasons: a greater focus on health and wellness, a generation less likely to socialize and have opportunities to drink, and the expense of alcohol.

In a recent NYT article from Eric Asimov, he states that sales of cheaper wine have declined more than pricier ones.  He adds that there's been growth in natural wines; those smaller vineyards more likely to focus on biodynamic farming efforts and a stronger relationship with the land and the quality of the product but are usually more expensive than mass-produced wines.

But this also highlights the economic divide that we are currently seeing in the US: the top 10% of earners account for more than half of all consumer spending, according to a recent government report.

And for some, for better or worse, drinking is a means to end: to self-medicate.   Asimov says, "an inexpensive alcohol delivery system that tastes good."

Which brings me to gaming.
The #1 reason why people game: BOREDOM.
The #2 reason why people (especially Gen Z) game: SOCIALIZATION.

And so, we see the same delineation in these two disparate industries.
In gaming, Roblox, Minecraft, and dozens of free to play games provide that "inexpensive entertainment delivery system that feels good."

And so I wonder, are we going to be seeing more and more of this generational and economic divide in gaming, too?  

Those that will succeed will take a more authentic and artisan approach to gaming (like natural wines), even if it is on a smaller scale because the market has a segment (albeit not large enough to propel growth for the entire category.) that is willing to consume a higher quality product. 

They see its value. 

I think it's pretty evident when we look at the top 30 games on Steam and see titles such as Helldivers 2, PEAK, Path of Exile 2 up there with the usual suspects (e.g., Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, PUBG).   

The ecosystem is slowly shifting, but it's shifting at the <$50 price point.

And so, will spending $80 for GTA going to be the equivalent of buying a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild?      

#videogames #wine #marketresearch #demographics #babyboomers #genz #gena #genx

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