Magnum, an ice cream brand owned by the British/Dutch company Unilever, has recently launched its latest ad / interactive advergame or we could just call it an experience: Pleasure Hunt. It was created by Swedish ad agency Lowe Brindfors. In this interactive game player take a young girl on a journey across the internet, collecting chocolate bonbons in an acrobatic style to the ultimate goal: the new Magnum ice cream.
Players have to guide the girl, who can run and jump, through a series of different websites, where she can interact with some of them. She runs into YouTube video, jumps into a car (Saab) or tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab), drives a car or flies a hand glider. In the end, the girl finally reaches her destination and her ultimate pleasure: new Magnum ice cream Temptation Hazelnut with bonbons. At the end of the game player can also see their score and can share their results on Facebook and challenge friends.
During the pleasure hunt the girl jumps/runs into several fictional websites (with fictional hotels and resorts) and some real ones. Brands that can be recognized in an advergame are:
- Samsung
- You Tube
- Dove
- Citrine by the Stones
- Bed Head
- Spotify
- Urbanears
- Saab 9-3
- Casall
- Tiger of Sweden
Our heroine’s pleasure hunt is an opportunity for different brands to be noticed. I chose the word “noticed” on purpose, because user/player can’t be involved with brands, even though it’s an interactive game (well, except maybe in case of driving a Saab convertible). The game is just a showcase or advertising space for brands, from Unilever owned Dove to the aforementioned Saab or Samsung.
The concept is not new, although Magnum’s case involves a bit more interactivity. In 2009 cosmetics brand Lynx (also known as Axe in some countries) used this concept for the Lynx Party across the Internet campaign. You can follow one guy’s path through parties full of hot girls across popular websites before landing on Lynx Facebook fan page. The brands that were used in the campaign were Quicksilver, MySpace and Heavy.
Similar concept was also used by Intel to “illustrate the incredible multi-tasking power of the new Core i5 processors”. They staged a minute and half long chase across a wide variety of programs that run on a computer desktop including iTunes, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Microsoft Office and the Adobe Creative Suite.
The idea behind Pleasure Hunt is based around the fact that the internet is a treasure full of pleasures, with the Magnum ice cream the ultimate treat or pleasure. Pleasure Hunt a game with heavy dose of product placement / ads (hence advergame). In my opinion Magnum created something completely new with this game: a unique experience that can cause mild addiction (to the game or even to ice cream), but with a potential for a “wow effect” and a high brand recall.
Those types of advergames have a lot of potential for advertisers, because it’s a completely new genre. I have to admit that I had played Pleasure Hunt a few times and I like it. But at the end of the day you have to consider this possibility: what if the links in the game were clickable?
…I they were clickable, there would be quite a substential leave towards the end of the game.
Consequently it would mean that the places at the beginning of the game would be much more seen and more expensive if sold. Even more so because of the second effect: the involvement to actually play the game (and not look round or even click a banner end leave) rises as someone has put effort into the game. Generally it means that the player is less prone to other advertising distractions towards the end of the game.
contrary to that one might argue that the the playing gets boring with time, that someone can “lose” in the middle and loses focus etc. all causing that involvement in playing stepps back and advertising becomes much more visible.
In my oppinion al that can heppen, however a general rule stands that placement of commercials at the beginning is much more valuable.
Thanks for the comment.
So you wouldn’t make links clickable? But what would you do if you were brand manager at Urbanears or Casall or Tiger of Sweden?
It very much depends on what the had im mind creating the game.
1) Primary goal selling ad space would mean that they would have to be clickable. The price would heavily depend on the earliness of appearance falling very steeply towards the end.
2) Primary goal to travel securely through the entire game would mean that hey would make ads clickable. The price would still be dependent on the same principle, however in a much easier decline towards the end of the game.
3) It could also be done some way in the midle of the above extreems.
Teh beauty of on-line is, that all of this could easily be tested how and when people leave the game, and change price and/or content acordingly (and eventually prove my theris wrong).
Actually I see you asked me the other way round: what I would do as a brand manager buying ad space.
Actually it is all said in my previous comment: As a brand manager I would pay a lot more for my ad if clickable and placed at the beginning. And much less or nothing if not clickable and/or placed towards the end.
I agree with you about being in the beginning of the journey (or maybe at the last stop)