I was digging through the archives over at Kzero came across their thoughts on the year that was Second Life…. virtual worlds. However, Second Life is getting most of the attention.
If you are looking to really understand what happened in virtual worlds in 2007 and what might become trends in 2008, then check out Kzero’s list.
Here’s a table showing marketing activity across multiple virtual worlds. It’s not an exhaustive list, but it’s pretty close (and will be updated as and when).
Kzero put together this great chart. You would think with all the attention Coke gets in Second Life (here, here and here) that they would be the biggest markets in virtual worlds. However, that is simple not the case as Toyota is leading the pack with 5 different marketing initiatives across varies virtual worlds. You can also check out Kzero’s chart on registered users within each virtual world. They even have a few listed that aren’t launched yet.
[Via Kzero]
Last October Sony launched an in-game ad group which was an announcement that in-game ads are real business. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has just announced a deal with nDreams, which is launching a new division called Brandplay that will work on interactive entertainment for brands.
nDreams was founded by ex-Eidos executive Patrick O’Luanaigh in 2006.
O’Luanaigh previously worked as creative director at SCi, before taking over creative control of Eidos franchises such as Tomb Raider and Hitman, following the acquisition of the publisher by SCi last year.
Fuel Industries has been working in the branded entertainment field for a long time and its something they know really well. I want to call them a Canadian success story having worked with just about every global consumer brand that you can think of. It’ll be fun to watch as nDream competes in very lucrative market.
[Via Next-Gen.biz & Gamasutra]
Posted on 22 January '08 by Duane Brown, under Advertising, Branding. No Comments.
I was surfing around the gaming section of Facebook’s applications this week and came across a casual game by McDonalds. It reminds me of Diner Dash, which is one of the top casual games out there today. McDonalds has 1,319 daily active users playing their game, which is about 9% of the total amount of people who have installed the application.
The comment section is a mixed bag of people loving and hating the game. Ironically they are also allowing you to download the full screen game on their casual gaming site. I should give the game a spin and see how it works.
[update] It’s a parody - i.e. not a McDonald’s game. Note to self, always read the second paragraph in the fine print.
[Via McDonalds Game]
Posted on 21 November '07 by Duane Brown, under Branding. 2 Comments.
Variety got the details on what Chris Di Cesare, Xbox director of product marketing, did to make Halo the biggest grossing video game in history.
This time, Microsoft has ramped up its ad efforts across the board to top the $125 million earned in the first day of release by the first “Halo” sequel, developed by Bungie Studios.
Comedy Central kicks off the effort Saturday with “Fully Loaded,” a series of two-minute interstitials hosted by “Mad TV” cast member Bobby Lee and airing throughout the night on the cabler.
They were taped at a celeb-filled “Halo 3″ party at the Venetian Hotel’s Tao Beach nightclub in Las Vegas timed around MTV’s Video Music Awards and the unveiling of “Halo” star Master Chief at the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
On Monday, Spike TV’s “Game Head” vidgame show will host a live feed from the “Halo 3″ launch event at Best Buy’s flagship store in New York City, breaking into a broadcast of James Bond actioner “GoldenEye” throughout the night.
I’m not a Halo fan, but I do love the marketing and risk Microsoft took when it came to marketing this franchise. Ryan Mugford, Director of Worldwide Business Management, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft Corporation is giving a keynote on Thursday at Media Strategy Forum. This week will be Halo week as everything has been leading up to today’s launch.
Update: AdAge has a run down for one of the ads used in Halo.
Update 2: Wal-Mart Canada Matches U.S. Halo 3 Pricing. Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar is indicating she expects Halo 3 to ship 4.2 million copies into the retail channel by month’s end.
