Brands got serious about fun and games this year - on a number of different platforms.
Among the trends we liked this year - promotional games that bridged the digital and the physical, without requiring consumer devices to play. Not that we wouldn't be amped to try Google's Ingress augmented reality game if we get the chance. And Ingress aside, Google made our list this year, along with several major brands.
One interesting note: Many of our top pics this year mixed so many elements - social, mobile, location and so on - so well, that they made some of our other lists, too.
So without further delate, our list of favorite branded games for 2012. We'd love to know which made your list, too.
10. Google Wants to Rock, Tilt & Roll Your World in New Branded Game
Google wants you to go ga-ga over its new game.
9. Kit Kat Launches GPS-Based ‘Golden Ticket’-style Promo in UK
Kit Kat wants to do a heck of a lot more than just give you a break.
8. Mercedes ‘You Drive’ – A TV Campaign You Drive, Via Twitter
Call it a crowdsourced cliffhanger.
7. Magazine Cover Becomes Interactive Video Game
This is one way to make print relevant in... Read more
Tags: advertising, branded, branding, coca-cola, coke, dooh, Facebook, ford, games, gaming, google, gps, ipad, Kinect, kit-kat, location, marketing, mercedes, mobile, mustang, ooh, solomo, twitter, zero
Posted in Creative Best Practices, Emerging Platforms, Entertainment, Social Media, Video, Websites, Wireless | No Comments »
It's the perfect match of medium, movie and audience.
Universal Pictures has launched a virtual/augmented reality mobile app to promote the upcoming remake of "The Thing," which opens Friday.
(Haven't seen the original? Catch this hilarious 'Thing-in-4-min' video to a ersatz Sinatra tune.)
The app's free, of course, and sports 360-degree flamethrower action where players must use their weapons to survive attacks. There's even one of those "Thing Yourself" features where you can see your mug mutilated from the inside out - and share it with your freaked out friends.
Not surprisingly, the app comes from metaio, which is making a big name for itself in this space.
A nice way to get the film's young, mobile fan base fired up for more.
As one of my readers put it, "It's the THING for Halloween!"
Tags: advertising, ar, augmented, branded, branding, entertainment, games, gaming, ipad, iPhone, john carpenter, marketing, movies, reality, the thing
Posted in Creative Best Practices, Emerging Platforms, Entertainment, Social Media, Video, Wireless | No Comments »
This week, Microsoft held a Red Carpet-style Hollywood event to unveil a cast of entertainment features for its Bing search portal. It's a smart move for Bing, which would do well to distinguish itself as a trusted, one-stop search shop for music, television, movies, and gaming information.
Here are some highlights of Bing's new entertainment features (you can find full details in the official Bing Blog post):
Step up your engagement! Don't miss out on the latest tips for capturing the attention of the new media audience. Attend iMedia's Entertainment Marketing Summit, June 29 in Santa Monica, Calif. Request your invitation today.
Music
Bing now provides instant lyric answers for top songs and points searchers toward upcoming local concerts and venue information. Searchers will also find photos, videos, and even tour dates for their favorite acts at Bing.com. In addition, Bing has partnered with Zune to offer full-length, single-play streams of more than 5 million songs (30-second previews are offered after the first play), and also offers a direct connection to purchase and download songs from Zune, iTunes, and Amazon.com MP3.
Movies
Any search engine can help movie fans find local listings, but the new Bing integrates Bing Maps to help searchers plan their... Read more
Tags: bing, entertainment, games, Microsoft, movies, music, Search, social, TV
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In one of the sadder moments of SXSW, as I was feverishly typing away on a live post about Gaming the Crowd: Turning Work Into Play presented by Andy Baio when the Wordpress iPhone app crashed. Worse yet, Mr. Baio has not published the slides. Hope he will soon, because he presented a lot of great insights on game mechanics frameworks. Here's what I remember that I think is worth sharing, a mix of what he presented and what I took from it.
All of social media is a game
Like it or not, make it explicit or not, but every social network (and to me, every interface), is a game. Even if you're not designing it to be a game, the people in the network make it a meta game.
Games are great for teaching complex tasks
Huge underestimation of games right now in terms of just how well they teach people complex task sets. I've noticed this for some time as my kids have grown up: console games all have the challenge of teaching a completely new set of rules and operations. The best games make that process fun and rewarding.
A great example of this is Office Lab's Ribbon... Read more
Tags: brand, games, Strategy
Posted in Emerging Platforms | No Comments »
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