NEW YORK ? A Rovio executive at the 2013 IAB Mobile Marketplace said that everything the company does takes on a fan-first approach.

During the ?Consumer First > Mobile First: How Rovio Created One of the World?s Largest Distribution Centers? session, the executive spoke about how the company is continually looking for ways to interact with its users. Additionally, the session presented a look at how Rovio is expanding beyond mobile games.

?I think the big priority for us is fans-first,? said Michele Tobin, vice president of North American brand partnerships at Rovio, Santa Clara, CA.

?The model that we apply to everything is, ?are we surprising and delighting our fans??? she said.

?So whether it?s vetting new games or new content, going into new lines of business or really anything we do, we look at how we surprise and delight our fans. I think that that focus has allowed us to become more than just a mobile game, but really a global, cultural phenomenon.?

Mobile-first
Rovio is evolving from a game company to a global entertainment company.

Although games remain the company?s engine driver, fans want to interact with the brand in different ways.

This has led Rovio to develop a number of different divisions, such as consumer products.

For example, Rovio has a big focus on educational entertainment. The company has partnerships with NASA and National Geographic in addition to its own book publishing business, which produces digital and print products.

Additionally, Rovio has a line of soft drinks in Scandinavia and pop-up retail stores in places including airports, such as Finland?s Helsinki airport.

Rovio is also growing its animation studio business. Originally, the animation studio designed short animations that focused on promotional efforts.

The company?s animation studio is also seeing success on YouTube ? there have been more than one billion Rovio video views.

This combined with Rovio?s 1.7 billion app downloads spurred the company to begin offering animations directly through games. Now consumers can play games and view Rovio?s new Angry Birds Tunes series in the company?s apps.

Fan engagement
For Rovio, everything comes back to understanding the company?s fans. Rovio fans are split equally across gender and demographics, per Ms. Tobin.

Rovio has 35 million daily active users, and as of December had 263 million monthly users.

When it comes to markets, the U.S. is Rovio?s top market, with China close behind.

Part of the company?s transition from a gaming to publishing company stems from creating permanent structures ? such as activity parks or merchandise ? to help fans physically interact with the brand.

?It?s no secret that we look to companies like Disney and emulate what they have done by looking at what they have done for a brand that fans globally have embraced so much and taken it into other lines of business,? Ms. Tobin said.

?Clearly the fans have embraced the Angry Birds characters and we will continue to evolve that franchise and explore spin-offs, such as we did with Bad Piggies,? she said.

?But we are also looking at ways to work with IP owners and create new IP as well.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York