Month: March 2012

Facebook Social Ads Case Study: Zynga’s Farmville

Posted by

0

Here is an example of a site that went viral on a global basis: Zynga network’s “Farmville” game! Could be an example of your success of reaping in millions of dollars, in a comparatively short time.

Let’s look at how Zynga did it . . .

1. Zynga created a simple but addictive game
2. They included an facebook application for retrieving game components (animals, flowers, vehicles, buildings, etc.)
3. They included both free and paid options (a “market” in which you purchase items either with game-supplied free coins or literally purchasing special “Farmville Dollars” via credit card or PayPal). This allowed players to buy limited-time specialty virtual items; or send them to friends
4. They allowed an option for others to “Add Neighbors” and “invite” them to Farmville
5. They made sure neighbor interactivity was an almost-essential component of the game

But note what they didn’t do . . .

When Farmville initially placed their Ads via Facebook Social Ads, they said nothing about purchasing actual Farmville Dollars via credit card or PayPal. They just invited people whose profiles indicated they liked online games (or farming, or graphics puzzles) to play the game. The initial core group who tried it loved it so much, they had no hesitation spending on actual Farmville dollars to purchase the virtual highly-prized items obtainable only through real-world payment.

In addition, players were able to eagerly invite Farmville “neighbors” from their own select group of friends and these neighbors all enjoyed sending each other “gifts”; some “free”, some purchased with Farmville dollars.

One reason Farmville has caught on so firmly?

Its interactivity, a huge component in creating loyalty and a sense of community on Facebook pages. Today, as of this writing, Farmville had over 56,000,000 fans.

56 million . . . That’s a lot of “fans”!

Zynga didn’t stop there in their game development. Note that, as part of their Facebook game page, Zynga provides links to:
– A Farmville blog
– A weekly Podcast
– A steady stream of limited time “special items”
– A Farmville forum
– A press release campaign

But makes no mistake – Zynga’s multi-million-dollar success all started with one simple little game – Reached people because of a well-written, inexpensive Facebook Social Ad!

Farmville players admitted during a “spot” survey that they started playing Farmville only one of two ways:
1. They were “invited” by friends to become Farmville neighbors
2. They “finally” succumbed to repeated Facebook Ads. Not one of them said they went out and deliberately looked for a farming game to play.

Reader’s Digest : Old Logo v/s New Logo

Posted by

0

After 85 long years of improving American lives, the monthly general interest family magazine Reader’s Digest finally said goodbye to its long-time logo in January 2008. A more hip and tech savvy design replaced the timeless logo. Logo Design pointed out some of the noticeable changes:

1. Sans serif vs. serif
2. Emphasis on Digest vs. Reader’s
3. Red stylized apostrophe vs. black apostrophe
4. Speech bubble in “D” vs. no speech bubble
5. URL vs. no URL

New tag line: Life Well Shared.

Target young readers. The magazine’s average reader is 52 years old. One of its strategy to target the younger audience is to shift from direct mailing to online advertising. That’s why URL RD.com is an important part of the new logo. Also, the magazine has partnered with hip brands like Verizon, Samsung, and South Beach as advertisers.

Back: Interactive Quiz 2

Halls Effect : Very Very Strong

Posted by

0

This print advertisement by Halls was held winner at Eurobest 2006. The ad is showing a man taking vapor while keeping just a tablet of halls underneath. The presentation of the advertisement is so strong that it explicitly and clearly spells out the message; the effect of the Halls is so strong that it could be taken as vapor.

The idea was very expressive in itself with a strong visual sense. Therefore the ad is created out of synthesis between expressive idea and remarkably excellent execution.

Back : Interactive Quiz 4

Google Pac-Man doodle ‘cost economy $120 million’

Posted by

0

Source : The Telegraph

The playable Pac-Man Google doodle led to almost five million wasted hours and cost the economy around $120 million dollars, according to Rescue Time .

Animated Google logo designed to mark Pac-Man’s 30th birthday caused millions of dollars in lost productivity, according to one analyst

The launch of Google’s animated Pac-Man doodle led to almost five million wasted hours and cost the economy around $120 million dollars, according to Tony Wright, founder of Rescue Time, a tool that enables businesses to measure how time and attention is being spent.

He estimated that Google had around 505 million unique users on the day the Pac-Man Google Doodle went live, and that the game consumed 4,819,352 hours of employee time, costing the economy an estimated $120,483,800.

“For that same cost, you could hire all 19,385 Google employees,” wrote Wright in a blog post. “That includes Larry and Sergey, right down to the janitors. You could hire them for six weeks – imagine what you could build with that army of manpower.”

Internet users were delighted to discover the animated Pac-Man doodle on Google’s home page . The doodle, which marked the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man’s release, was Google’s first interactive logo. Web users could play the game by clicking “Insert coin”. Clicking the “Insert coin” button twice allowed players to participate in a two-player game, with one of the Pac-Men controlled using the arrow keys on the keyboard, and the other, by clicking W, S, A and D. The game remained online for 48 hours before the Google doodle reverted to the usual logo.

Marissa Mayer, vice president of user experience at Google, said the company had been “overwhelmed, but not surprised” by the reception given to the Pac-Man doodle.

Do you wish to play Pac-Man now on Google ? If yes , then click here .

One of the Superhit Ad of 1970’s

Posted by

1

This is a classic ad in the 70’s for Natraj pencil when it was introduced. I believe that was the first company to produce pencils with good graphite and long use. They seem to grow their own trees for making pencils.

Natraj writes like a champion pencil .

Children enjoy writing with Natraj because Natraj writes perfectly. Smoother, Darker , Shaper and Without breaking .So
Nataraj writes longer than any other pencil of its kind.That means more writing pleasure for a longer time.

NATARAJ pencils with a longer lifeline .

Available in attractive colourful designs

Back : Ad Quiz 6

How Raghunandan Kamath made Natural Ice Cream a 50 crore business

Posted by

0

Source : ET

We were probably the first to mass produce natural ice cream in the traditional way. We also took the lead in experimenting with unconventional flavours like cucumber and turmeric. We were possibly the first to have an international celebrity like cricketer Vivian Richards to endorse the brand on television without being paid for it. That’s a lot of firsts for the son of a fruit vendor from Mangalore. It just goes to show how passion and perseverance pay.

Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams, better known as Natural Ice Cream, has come a long way from the time I started it nearly 30 years ago. Perhaps my real journey began in school when I assisted my father in selling fruit and developed a fondness for fruit. I wasn’t a bright student-I barely managed to clear the 10th standard from a Kannada-medium school in Mumbai. So when I turned 19, my family decided that I would help out my elder brother, who operated a south Indian restaurant in the city.

It was here that I first thought of serving something unique as a dessert-a blend of fruits in ice cream. Being the youngest in the family, my suggestions were often turned down, and so was this one. But I was convinced about the concept, so when I parted ways with my brother 10 years later, I decided to open my own ice cream parlour. The timing was not entirely favourable.

I had just got married and did not have the money to start a business. But my wife Annapurna supported and encouraged me, so I borrowed around Rs 4 lakh from friends and relatives. With this I bought and refurbished a 250-sq-ft outlet at Juhu, where most of the Bollywood and small-screen celebs reside. That’s how the first outlet of Natural Ice Cream was launched in 1984.

There were no ice-cream outlets in those days and, unlike today, ordinary people didn’t go out to have desserts; only the rich did. To form a broader customer base, I decided to serve pav bhaji and follow it up with my special ice creams. The place was very small and most of the cooking had to be done at my home. My wife managed the tedious task of grinding the masalas and making the curry. We also started blending fruits such as mangoes, custard apple, jackfruit and tender coconut. The customers lapped it up.

A year later, I stopped serving pav bhaji and dedicated all the resources to the ice cream business. The turnover in the first year was just around Rs 1 lakh, but we did not lose hope. I employed five or six people to make ice cream in the traditional way and these staffers doubled as waiters. What worked in our favour was the word-of-mouth publicity.

Within two years, we had the top movie and television celebrities as our clients.

In 1986, I was watching The Sunny Days, a TV programme anchored by cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. During the interview, Vivian Richards, the former West Indian cricket captain, mentioned that he had been to the Natural Ice Cream outlet and liked the Sapodilla (chikoo) and custard apple ice cream. It was such a thrill, such an unexpected back-thumping for us.

However, we have faced enough challenges too. In 1994, a key staff member decided to quit and set up an ice cream unit in the same area.

I realised that unless I expanded and made my brand’s presence felt, my business would end. So I took a loan of around Rs 65 lakh from Saraswat Bank and bought a 5,000-sq-ft space at Mira road, a western suburb in Mumbai.

This acted as my factory unit. I then employed 15-20 people and started making ice cream on a bigger scale. I also decided to distribute five franchises in Mumbai. My turnover in 1994 grew from a few lakhs to around Rs 3 crore.

Today, we have 100 outlets across the country and serve around 100 varieties of ice cream. We travel frequently, constantly seeking new recipes, and many of them are developed in my kitchen. Some have even been suggested by our customers.

To cater to the growing demand, in 2000, we shifted our factory base to a 25,000-sq-ft space at Charkop, where around 65 people are working. Scaling up also meant that we’ve had to introduce latest technology in the manufacturing process, instead of going the manual way. In the near future, both my sons Srinivas and Siddhant, who are studying, will join the family business.

In the next two years we plan to achieve a target of Rs 100 crore and increase the number of outlets to 250. In the second phase, we want to extend our footprint to the overseas market, primarily Singapore and Dubai, keeping the Indian population in mind. The future surely looks sweet.

Back : Quiz 11

Amul ke Anmol Ads (2011)

Posted by

0

The murder of crime reporter J Dey in Mumbai inspired the latest of Amul’s famous ads, a sombre tribute to the slain journalist.

V Achutanandan, the grand old man from Kerala, called Rahul Gandhi an “Amul Baby” in a political exchange during the state elections. Admittedly, the youthful Rahul started it with a comment on Achutanandan’s advanced age.

After years of acrimony, brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani made peace sending Reliance stocks skyrocketing . Amul had a comment on the Ambani family affairs .

Social crusader Anna Hazare brought the government to it’s knees by the simple method of going on fast. The protest quickly gathered momentum, mobilizing public support.

Shuttle star Saina Nehwal’s gold at the Commonwealth Games was the medal that took India to the number one spot, narrowly beating England .

Back : Ad Quiz 5