The creator of one of the most shared games of all time Angry Birds has accused advertising agencies of failing to take a long-term approach when they develop mobile games as part of campaigns.
Speaking with Mumbrella Asia, Peter Vesterbacka, the CMO of Rovio Entertainment, said the group had several more Angry Birds games in development including a role playing version of the game.
On agencies getting into gaming he said: “Everyone wants to get into mobile gaming, but games without a lifespan do nothing for a brand. Of course, marketing people will always say that you need to think for the long term, but that thinking is not being seen in practice with branded games.
“There’s a sense of urgency to create a game, but it seems that this is not being carefully followed through in the delivery. For some reason, brands seem to think, hey, mobile games are easy. Would they approach making a movie with the same attitude? I don’t think so. And yet making a good game that people want to share is a difficult thing to do.”
ADVERTISEMENT
When asked if he expected Angry Birds’ popularity to prove as enduring as classics like Monopoly, Vesterbacka said it was impossible to predict what would happen in the fickle world of apps.
“I think that Angry Birds is so much more than a game now. It’s a brand. Forty-seven per cent of our business last year came from consumer products, not games. Even if we dropped everything now and stopped working, I don’t think it would possible to remove Angry Birds from the planet.
“But it’s up to us now to keep the brand fresh, offer more and better games and more and better experiences in all shapes and forms. We want to ensure that we’re a permanent part of popular culture. We have the brand awareness and we want to build on that. Ninety-three per cent of the population of China knows of the brand, and pretty much everyone in Korea recognises it. I’d say we have about the same brand awareness as Coke, globally”.
Read the full interview at Mumbrella Asia.
Robin Hicks