Brandworthy.
Jun 17.08
Become One With the GameAdvertising Age, June 16, 2008
By Tim Zuckert, President & CEO, Shift Control Media
Games Offer Brands a Unique Way to Be the Entertainment - Not Just Sponsor It
For all their experimentation with social networks, user-generated content and online video, marketers seem content to view games as little more than another advertising platform. Yet with 72% of U.S. consumers playing games of one type or another, according to NPD Group’s Online Gaming 2008 report, they’ve become far too pervasive for marketers and advertisers to ignore. The untapped potential of games lies in their ability to tell stories, thereby more closely linking brand mythology with game play and blurring the lines between brand and entertainment. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Effectiveness, Brandworthy | Author: tim | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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May 06.08
Shift Control Media Wins Webby Award and People’s Voice Award for Coca-Cola Games
Shift Control Media’s series of original online games, developed for Coca-Cola, have won a prestigious 2008 Webby Award in the category of Interactive Advertising—Games and Applications. The entry also won the Webby Awards’ People’s Voice Award in the same category. Open to online fans around the world, who voted for their favorite Webby nominees on a special web site, the People’s Voice Awards were sponsored by Nokia. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Game Development, Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: mark | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Mar 18.08
Findlay on Games
Mark Findlay, Shift Control COO, appears on Vancouver’s Breakfast Television to discuss the Coca-Cola ‘Happiness Factory’ games and the role of games in branded entertainment.
Categories: Game Development, Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Mar 10.08
Do a Little (Presidential) DanceAdvertising Age, March 8, 2008
By Ken Wheaton
You can waste a lot of time in the office these days thanks to your computer. Whether it’s solitaire, online poker, Tetris, Pac-Man, you can get your fix. But one game you likely can’t get away with playing in the office is Dance Dance Revolution. Now, thanks to the folks at Shift Control Media and BarelyPolitical.com, you can get your groove on with the presidential candidates. They’ve created Dance 2DC, a game in which you pick your candidate and hot-step it to DC. I’ve been playing with McCain. I can’t get past the first round, but the man’s 100 years old, I can’t expect that much from him!
Categories: Game Development, Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Mar 10.08
Screw the Drama. It’s Dance-Off Time!AdRants, March 5, 2008
By Angela Natividad
Dance2DC is a new game by Shift Control for Barely Political. (Visit the site to play it and/or watch the video that inspired the madness.)
We don’t know much about it aside from that Hillary is a disco fever inferno and Edwards channels John Travolta. Then it hit us: wouldn’t life be better if we banished ballots and decided everything with sudden death dance-offs?
You can fake a smile, but you can’t fake the funk.
Categories: Game Development, Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Mar 04.08
Shift Control Media Dances 2 DC with New Casual Game for BarelyPolitical.comBranded entertainment company brings humor and interactivity to 2008 Presidential race
Greenwich, CT – March 3, 2008 – Shift Control Media, a branded entertainment company specializing in original game development, has partnered with political humor website BarelyPolitical.com to create Dance 2 DC, a humorous take on the American political process.
Dance 2 DC is an online casual game that’s fun and easy to play. Players can assume the roles of candidates like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, customize their wardrobes for each face-off, then set out on a cross-country dance-a-thon to raise approval ratings. Each level ends with a showdown between candidates, with the ultimate contest set in the oval office at the White House. The game can be found at www.barelypolitical.com. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Game Development, Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Jan 29.08
Shift Control Media Goes to Work for AKQA and Coke’s “Happiness Factory” WebsiteDesigns and builds four casual games for digital environment based on brand’s animated fantasy commercials
Greenwich, CT – January 29, 2008 – Shift Control Media, a branded entertainment company specializing in original game development, has created four original games that are incorporated into the recently launched Coca-Cola “Happiness Factory” website. The games are part of a larger digital environment created for Coke by AKQA that was built around the “Happiness Factory” motif first introduced by the brand in its 2007 Super Bowl TV spot. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Game Development, Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Jan 18.08
Coke Brings ‘Happiness’ Franchise OnlineAdweek, January 12, 2008
By Brian Morrissey
NEW YORK In “Happiness Factory,” an animated TV spot created for last year’s Super Bowl by Wieden + Kennedy, Coca-Cola had an undeniable creative hit. Now, the beverage giant is exploring how far it can extend the concept with a foray into digital games.
Coke shop AKQA has created a Web extension of “Happiness Factory” that invites users to experience the colorful, imaginary world inside a Coke vending machine and learn more about the characters introduced in the Wieden spot. Coke is housing the site at its Coke.com global hub, rolling out versions in over 40 markets worldwide. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Jan 16.08
Coke’s oddball employees invite you into the inner sanctumCreativity, Jan 10, 2008
The Happiness Factory keeps churnin’ out work, and Coke’s Now Hiring site developed by AKQA invites visitors to go through the application process and join the team.
Once inside, you’re greeted with an alien-like receptionist who explains each section of the site in foreign tongue, with text balloons giving you an English outline of what it all entails. Click on “Workplace” to check out the latest Happiness Factory spot via an inflatable screen (which goes from small to large). Then, peruse through job openings, which introduces you to the four major “employees” of the factory including the propellor-lifted, blob-like Chinoink, the bloated furball Kissy Puppy and the shield-wielding, helmeted Capper. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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Dec 03.07
Shift Control Media Launches Game Like Website
Brandworthy game company creates story-driven site that reflects point of view on marketing trends.
Greenwich, CT – December 3, 2007 – Shift Control Media, a branded entertainment company that focuses on original games, has launched its freshly redesigned website, www.shiftcontrol.com. The new site invites visitors to follow a series of character-driven storylines that convey the company’s perspective on the evolving media landscape, as well as the opportunities that original branded games present to marketers.
Based in Greenwich, CT with a development studio in Vancouver, BC, Shift Control Media has created games and emerging media strategies for such clients as Coca-Cola, NBC Universal and Yahoo. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Brandworthy, SCM news | Author: ted | | Comments (No Comments) | Trackback URL
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ABOUT SHIFT CONTROL
Games offer an ideal platform for brands to connect with consumers. Games are the most popular form of online entertainment, and there are types of games that appeal to virtually every consumer segment. At Shift Control we want to help brands create fun, relevant and authentic ways to engage consumers through the magic of games. In this blog we hope to provoke your thinking about games, to share what we find interesting and to inspire marketers to explore this exciting medium. Care to join the dialog? Send us your questions. We'd love to hear from you.
If you'd like to get in touch with us email us at info AT shiftcontrol DOT com