Generating Brand Engagement With Viral Games

I’ve read several interesting posts by Rachel Clarke at BehindtheBuzz.com on the merging of games and puzzles with advertising, and how they can provide brand immersion and can foster consumer engagement.

These range from simple viral games like this one she writes about for Lufthansa, to massive Alternate Reality Games like the one she mentions for Guinness.

Of these, Alternate Reality Games are the most interesting to me. With their deep complexity and their extended timelines, they can be tailor made for generating viral buzz behind brands or new product launches. To get more in depth background on ARGs and their promotional power, this article from Wired Magazine provides a lot of great background.

Also, there are more examples on the 42 Entertainment site, which is an agency specializing in ARGs. They were the agency that developed the “I Love Bees” ARG that supported the 2004 launch of Microsoft’s Halo 2 game.