The best job anyone can ever have is one they’re passionate about. Tired of walking down a career path that wasn’t inspiring, Clemille “CJ†Peters, Jr. created his own lane. Eight years ago the 34-year-old founded Konsole Kingz, LLC. Originally a DVD-based magazine, it has since evolved into a multimedia technology company that uses hip-hop culture to market and promote video game brands. Peters, along with partner Marcus Matthews, 40, were able to generate close to half a million in revenue in 2010, through celebrity tournaments, song placement deals, ad revenue and developing games for iPhone, including Kandi Burruss‘ Kandi Koated Spades app. BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the tech savvy duo to see how they earned their crown in the video game industry.
What type of business is Konsole Kingz?
Matthews: Konsole Kingz is a brand that connects followers of the hip-hop lifestyle with the video game industry. We have a consumer arm that has a community of gamers who are into hip-hop. We provide relevant content, such as video reviews and virtual goods. Additionally, our business arm provides PR, business development, and event services to video game companies, which includes celebrity tournaments, character likeness rights, and soundtrack placement.
What was the inspiration behind starting Konsole Kingz?
Peters: I was inspired to start Konsole Kingz because I wanted to make my mark on the world by utilizing my passion and God-given talents. Not to mention, that with all the help I’d given others throughout the years, I noticed it was time to help myself. I believe the best way to make your mark on the world
is to do things rooted in your passions. My passions are hip-hop music, video games, design, technology and beautiful women. I was looking for a way to put all these things into one vehicle, hoping the world would accept them. My first attempt, a hip-hop DVD magazine, proved unsuccessful. However, from it I extracted Konsole Kingz, which actually turned out to be a better-suited vehicle to showcase my passions and talents.What were some of your biggest hurdles getting the company out of the red and in position to be a profitable brand?
Peters: In the beginnings, the company’s success was planned to be from our flagship product, The Konsole Kingz DVD magazine. Having limited access to capital to properly market a national niche product proved to be a very dooming challenge. We overcame it by deciding to go all-digital via the Xbox 360 and not the Internet. At the core, our product is for consumers who play video games. When Microsoft announced their updated XboxLIVE service would be able to play streaming video, we knew we had to drop the DVD format.
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What did you see as the problem with the DVD format?
Peters: Getting on XboxLIVE would solve a number of problems we were facing. 1) We could bypass the “cost to entry.†Getting a DVD product in a retail chain is a very costly. It requires producing and shipping tens of thousands of physical goods at a minimum. 2) It would put us directly in front of consumers. What better way to show gamers our video content than through the actual video game system they’re playing. 3) It gave us instant credibility.
But the twist is that putting video on the XboxLIVE didn’t translate into revenue, but it did get our foot in the door. We truly overcame this challenge when we decided to take advantage of another opportunity on their service, gamer pics. Once we noticed the gamer pics were being well received, we phased out our video efforts and focused on what was actually generating real revenue.
Is that how the company generates revenue now?
Peters: We generate revenue by releasing new virtual
goods for our customers to consume every month. Our company has two business models, a B-to-C and B-to-B. Our B-to-C is the standard B-to-C where we produce a product and market it to the consumer. Our B-to-B model is one of a PR firm/agency.What projects are in the pipeline that will help the company attain its projected revenue goal for 2011?
Matthews: We’re [released] our first iPhone game release, Kandi Koated Spades featuring Kandi Burruss from the Real Housewives of Atlanta that should generate revenue in the low six figures. In addition, we’re in current negotiations with Microsoft to expand our celebrity-based, virtual content offering to their Avatar Marketplace on XboxLIVE that should also generate revenue somewhere in the low six figures.
What makes Konsole Kingz unique compared to similar online sites?
Peters: What makes Konsole Kingz unique is that we’re a brand and not just a website. Our website is only one small part of what Konsole Kingz is and does. When Marcus [Matthews] and I first mapped out the vision for Konsole Kingz it had four verticals–content, online events, developing games, and being an urban PR agency for games. After being in business for eight years, those verticals have transformed into virtual goods, influencer PR services, and
Web branding. At the core, we’re content guys. Being a content guy, you find ways to put your content into any vehicle that makes sense to get from point A to point B. Being simply a website doesn’t work for our core strengths.What do you consider to be the most important contribution you have made to the gaming industry?
Peters: I think one of our important contributions to the gaming industry will be proving that the hip-hop/urban gamer demographic is real and very influential. Konsole Kingz is the manifestation of what their market research shows, but often goes neglected.
Another major contribution will be one that comes indirectly. I believe Konsole Kingz is blazing a trail for minorities of color to follow into the gaming industry. As we deal with our corporate clients and engage our consumers, I think we will open doors for others to legitimately look at the gaming industry as a real business opportunity. As we continue to be successful in this industry, I hope we inspire and ignite the passions of others who aspire to be in the gaming space as an owner, publisher or developer.