Advergaming and Mobile Advertising
Of the many companies successfully using advergames in 2012, one of the clear leaders is the Walt Disney Company. As the company has over a dozen brands or characters they actively market with many of them worth well over $1B in sales annually (Rocks, 2007), Disney has a rich legacy and series of branding assets to draw from in creating their advergames and integrating them to mobile strategies. Their most pervasive theme is the use of Mickey and Minnie in various adventures and scenarios meant to make them more familiar to the youngest members of their customer base, typically those children below 5 years of age. The games are designed to allow for adult supervision. Disney hasn't integrated all games to mobile marketing, yet many of the ones specifically designed for generating interest in the amusement parks globally have this unique attribute (Edwards, Grover, 2011).
Analysis of the Mickey and Minnie Block Blast Game
The Mickey and Minnie Block Blast Game is designed to get young prospective customers involved in the basic tactile functions necessary to navigate the more complex Disney games while making the characters recognizable in the context of the Disney brand. The needs of educating consumers about what Mickey and Minnie are doing to feed their dog Pluto (showing responsibility for taking care of pets) and the need for quickly reaction times to win at games are both illustrated in this game. Disney is also attempting to show how a team can work together to accomplish more, with immediate feedback on progress. The concept of shared task ownership necessary for accomplishment is also communicated in the game. Disney is deliberately creating these fundamental concepts of human behavior to make the game acceptable and attractive to parents, who are the decision-makers on this game used by children. The game is also is designed to bring the person playing it into the lives of each character in a fun and playful way, showing how each person's reaction and effort pays off. The game succeeds in creating the opportunity for a prospective customer to find their role in a Disney series of brands, and at the very least finding their favorite character.
Second, the game makes excellent use of the Disney core branding assets, not overdoing their presentation but making the customer experience and usability of the game highly effective. The game also relied on the traditional, iconic imaging of Disney by having even the cursor appear as Disney ears as the load progress continues. All aspects of the game are aligned to create a memorable and fun experience for the player, in addition to showing them that the light, colorful and bright world of Disney is intuitively easy and inviting to visit. All of these factors together are also meant to further underscore how safe, fun and interesting a visit to a Disney amusement park is while also educating the player as to each aspect of the core branding aspects of the company. The following is a screen capture of the game.
Source: http://disney.go.com/mickeymouse/#/games/block_blast
Mobile Advertising at Disney
At the initial Mickey and Minnie Block Blast game screens there is the potential to also use this on a tablet or smartphone by setting parameters. Disney is one of the leaders is using HTML5 and auto-sense technologies that allow games to immediately be configured on the fly for a given device they are going to be used on (Edwards, Grover, 2011). For this game, when accessible on an Apple iPad for example, the configuration and screen resolution completely changes and supports the device it is being viewed on. This supports the technology leadership position Disney has in these gaming areas. The full configuration of the game for Mobile is so transparency the player doesn't have to do anything on the most popular devices.
Disney has also created the ability to give parents control over many of the advanced functions of their most popular games that are accessible on mobile devices. The continued research in terms of the effects of mobile advertising-based advergames are having on children show on the one hand hwo effective they are, but also highlight the need for controls to be in place as well (Mallinckrodt, Mizerski, 2007). Disney has been ahead of this trend and has also been one of the most vocal in support of the legality of advergames as well
You’re 84% through this paper. Sign up to read the full paper.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.