The scale of the web means that companies can go from a bedroom startup to multi-million (or billion) dollar companies within only a couple of years, but getting traction and stealing customers away from competitors remains as difficult as ever.
In high profit-margin sectors like internet gaming, firms try and grow their customer base by creating tie-ups with the latest movies, like the blockbuster themed pokies games at Lucky Nugget Casino, or other tie-ups with comic books or sports events like UFC.
These entertainment brand tie-ups have proved to be very popular with users, but for companies looking to go viral, some firms have made larger plans…
Sponsoring a huge online war
Space-based Eve Online is widely considered one of the largest and most sprawling massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMPORG), where players have been engaged in everything from corporate espionage to Ponzi schemes within the game – all of which are legal within the confines of the game.
In recent months, a galactic empire they called “The Imperium” has emerged, with more power and control within the game than any previous coalition. As the distrust of The Imperium’s leaders has grown by other smaller groups in the game, one gaming firm has taken on the role of arming a rebel army and funding what could be the largest war ever in an online environment.
Buying a grilled cheese sandwich for $28,000
Back in 2004, while banned from more traditional marketing methods for their games, a Caribbean-based gaming decided to get creative in gaining headlines by paying a whopping $28,000 on a grilled cheese sandwich that appeared to show the face of the Virgin Mary.
The controversy about the religious aspect of the “image” and the ridiculous overpayment for the sandwich played into the gaming company’s hands, with the story ending up in newspapers around the world.
Selling oil
Entertainment tie-ups may be the most common way to bring gaming into the public’s consciousness, but back in 2006 when gas prices were hovering around $3 per gallon, one since defunct firm decided to give away thousands of gallons of oil to the car drivers of New York to help get the word out about their new game.
Eventually, NYC police shut down the promotion as it was wreaking havoc with traffic flow in the city, but the stunt proved successful enough for the firm to repeat the trick in Los Angeles a few weeks later.
Betting to save the Albatross
In 2004, a UK bookmaker let customers bet on 17 Albatrosses as they made their migration across the Southern Ocean. The birds were electronically tagged, and the firm provided live updates on the birds’ locations on its website.
The company donated all proceeds from the promotion to charity, but the promotion got the brands name and website featured in news outlets around the globe.
High rollers
Attempting to spread the word about the oddly titled and now defunct gaming website, the company held the world’s largest dice roll. Customers were offered the chance to bet on the roll, with two huge dice weighing half a ton each dropped from the air onto a mountainside in Greenland.
Photograph by Christopher Michel