Promoting a character intellectual property is not an easy task. It calls for solid public recognition and constant daily-life references. Since 2009, Angry Birds has become the most popular mobile App of its time. This year, an amusement park inspired by the game opens in Zhejiang, China. So what’s the story behind its creator, Rovio Entertainment Ltd.? What’s the secret to a character IP success?
| About Rovio Entertainment Founded: 2003 as Relude, 2005 changed to Rovio Entertainment Ltd. IP Assets include: Angry Birds, Bad Piggies Headquarters: Espoo, Finland Revenue: €152.2 million (2012) |
“Twang! —- BOOM!” It came out of nowhere! The Angry Birds craze spread quicker than a viral video and broke a record by scoring 700 billion total downloads. This App game based on simple logic and cute graphics captured the hearts of children and adults alike worldwide. Rovio started from virtual entertainment to now producing toys and other merchandises. Just how did they do it? Today, G!Voice introduces to you the complete Rovio “Project Angry Birds”!
STEP 1 – The Angry Birds Mob Attack
Actions speak louder than words. Always. Picture this: Angry Birds “come out” to meet you in real life! Rovio collaborated with telecommunications company T-mobile and built an actual setting of the game. People were invited to go up on stage and clear each Angry Birds stage right there on the street. This video reached to 17 million views.
Here’s a similar event with Nokia projected the Angry Birds universe in 3D:
STEP 2 – Leaping onto the Big Screen
Everyone wants to be closer to stars — including Angry Birds. Rovio went ahead dealing with studio names and ended up being the perfect mascot for the animated movie Rio.
STEP 3 – Birds, Birds, Everywhere
Rovio understands how the market works. Besides associated itself with bigger corporations, they were generous in licensing character IPs to independent clients. Exposure and publicity soared, and it also achieved reaching out to non-gamers by product placement. The merchandise contributed to 40% of Rovio’s income. Impressive, right? To top it off, Rovio also licenses special holiday products, such as Mid-Autumn festival foods. It sold out immediately in China right upon its release.
▲ The Angry Bird mooncake is too cute to devour.
STEP 4 Attracting the Public Eye: Be Creative!
What do you get when an Angry Bird comes across a candy factory? It probably tastes as good as it sounds. This time, Rovio collaborated again with chewy fruit snacks, so you can not only play with the birds, but have them as a favorite treat, too!
You already know by now how Rovio is innovative not only in its business model, but more importantly, in its marketing decisions. As we all know, the mobile frenzy comes and goes usually without notice. It will be interesting to see in how Rovio secures its line of Angry Birds merchandise in the future. In the meanwhile, Rovio is making much effort to turn Angry Birds more than just an App game. A cartoon series Angry Birds Toons is available on cable now!
Reference:
http: //www. joinad. com. tw/index. php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118&Itemid=86
http: //www. bnext. com. tw/article/view/cid/0/id/20358
http: //www. ettoday. net/news/20120716/75044. htm
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