Consumers love playing games, especially when they can win something tangible. So, if you can combine games with your advertising message, you could have an engaging and memorable tool to get your message across. With platforms such as Unity, developing launching and monetizing your game has never been easier. Games have been shown to generate great marketing results and provide a fun, exciting way for consumers to engage and interact with a brand.
Kino Creative has been working with Yakult for over 15 years. Over that time, Yakult has seen fantastic results from games in their marketing strategy. They got in touch with Kino recently to help with their newest endeavour. As part of their marketing efforts Yakult visits events, conferences, schools etc. to educate people on gut health and the benefits of their drink. Yakult take a vending machine along (developed by Aeguana) to these events and consumers can win bottles of Yakult by playing the built in touch screen game. Kino were asked to design and develop a new game for the machine to maintain engagement and keep consumers on their toes.
We presented a handful of concepts to Yakult after which they decided on an endless runner platform game. To harmonise with their current marketing campaign “Science, not magic”, we introduced the familiar Japanese princess character with the challenge of navigating her way through a beautiful Japanese backdrop whilst collecting cherry blossoms. 10 blossoms and you win a free Yakult!
So why are games like this so effective as part of your marketing efforts?
Fun
Games are unique marketing tools because they aren’t seen as marketing. As long as your game is fun and engaging, so consumers can play the game and try to increase their scores or win prizes. Games can also take advantage of leader boards to encourage data capture. The use of the game as part of a competition or promotion also helps to generate good conversion rates.
Engaging
A game can be shared on social media networks and thus have the power to go viral and spread with no additional cost. This works best with online games, however as the Yakult vending machine has no web connection our game included a prompt to hashtag on social media. A high percentage of users are connecting with your brand via social media which makes this highly valuable.
Brand Awareness
It’s not all about engagement stats. Because games are enjoyable and they don’t feel like marketing or work, they improve your brand image. A game can move your company away from the stigma of being a cold corporate giant and give the consumer a more emotional connection when they think of your brand. Fusing this with your marketing message will have consumers wanting to find out more about your company or promotion.
Multiplatform
Online games are multiplatform. With HTML5 technology, they can be viewed and played on desktop, mobile, and tablet. Games can be shared and played from anywhere without the time and expense of creating physical copies for platform-specific formats. The game we created for Yakult has the potential to extend it’s marketing value by converting it in to an online game where it can reach even more users.
Affordable
A common reason for companies being wary of using games in their marketing is due to the misconception that creating a marketable game is expensive and time consuming. This may have been true when the technology first became popular. Now with HTML5 and game engines such as Unity, the time and cost has reduced significantly, saving marketers the time and money that would otherwise go into a marketing campaign.
At Kino, we partner with companies to help plan and create games with all of the above points driving what we produce. If this article has piqued your curiosity and you wish to enquire further, talk to one of our friendly and helpful team members: studio@kinocreative.co.uk