ShiftControlBlog » Brandworthy

Brandworthy.

Mar 01.08

tech vibes, February 28, 2008
By Rob Lewis

HF penguin

Glenda Luymes of the Vancouver Province profiled a local gaming success story today but this time around there is a slight twist. Shift Control Media (check out their site) specializes in Advergaming - the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization, or viewpoint. According to Luymes, Advergaming is a $250-million industry and is expected to grow to over $1 billion in the next five years. The industry is grounded in the popularity of video games, which outrank social networking and video sharing as the #1 form of online entertainment. Read the rest of this entry »

Jan 29.08

Shift Control Media Goes to Work for AKQA and Coke’s “Happiness Factory” Website

Designs 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 »

Jan 18.08

Coke Brings ‘Happiness’ Franchise Online

Adweek, 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 »

Jan 16.08

Coke’s oddball employees invite you into the inner sanctum

Creativity, 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 »

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 »

Nov 23.07

Shift Control: more than just keystrokes

It’s Thanksgiving weekend for our colleagues to the south, which has given me a chance to catch my breath and reflect a bit on Shift Control, our place in the market and game development in general. When I left Electronic Arts five years ago, I could have hardly imagined where I would have ended up. How my exit interview DIDN’T go:

HR director: “So Mark, what are you planning to do now?”
Mark: “I think I’ll consult for a few years, working with a variety of game developers. Then I’ll do a start-up where we build quality games for brands and marketers.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 15.07

Marketing Ideas Whose Time is Now

Gaming was listed today as the first of Media Post’s top ten marketing ideas whose time has come. We agree, and we’ve seen incredible results from the few innovative brands that have chosen to get into games in meaningful new ways. Think about Burger King’s forray last holiday season launching three original Xbox titles under the BK Games moniker that reportedly sold over 3.5mm units at $4 apiece, and drove double-digit same store sales growth. Or what about Oribtz’s omnipresent in-banner games? Games offer a great way for brands to build meaningful dialog with consumers, but they are also a measurable way to drive marketing ROI. Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 25.07

What are brandworthy games?

Light games that grab people’s attention and provide brands with authentic means of connecting with them – online, on mobile devices or through networked next-generation game consoles.

Brandworthy Games respect both the brand and the consumer equally, offering a level of depth and sophistication that significantly exceed that of traditional advergames, and with a higher level and quality of brand integration than either casual games or traditional console games currently offer.

Traditional Games—product placement and billboards in existing games
Advergames—shallow online games often re-skinned for sponsors
Casual Games—downloadable games with little to no brand integration

“Brandworthy games are entertaining first and foremost. They are authentic, on-brand, and offer a depth of gameplay that allows them to stand alone with or without brand participation.”

- Tim Zuckert, President & CEO, Shift Control Media

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Designs and builds four casual games for digital environment based on brand’s animated fantasy commercials

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