BARCLAYCARD / WATERSLIDE EXTREME
11 August 2009
Waterslide Extreme, an iPhone app for Barclaycard, has become the most popular free, branded game in the history of the iTunes App Store, recording four million downloads.
Launched in early July, the app, developed by Hamburg-based Fishlabs for digital agency Dare in London, invites players to ride the waterslide themselves or in the third person, demonstrating the convenience of Barclaycard's contactless payments.
The iPhone app, which is also the most popular free app in 57 countries, follows the Waterslide TV ad by Barclaycard's ad agency, Bartle Bogle Hegarty in London which was first released in December 2008. In the ad, an office worker commutes home via a water slide using his card every so often for groceries or train tickets. Watch it on Barclaycard's YouTube channel (link opposite) which has so far attracted 1.5 million views. Barclaycard also invited consumers to create their own version of the Waterslide ad, upload them to the YouTube channel and vote for their favourite.
Toby Horry, planning director at Dare, comments: 'What was particularly surprising was the international success: the ad wasn't showing in most of the 57 countries where the app was number one.'
He adds: 'With the iPhone, it made perfect sense to allow people to ride the slide for real. A lot of clients may think that a problem with the iPhone is that it has only 5% penetration, yet iPhone-owners are more likely to be opinion-formers. Having said that, I think it's important to do an app only when the creative execution warrants it.'
The development company behind the game, Fishlabs, was also responsible for the free iPhone racing game Volkswagen Polo Challenge, which has so far been downloaded over 1.8m times.
Michael Schade, CEO of Fishlabs believes that the key to a popular game-based iPhone app is a combination of quality graphics, usability and minimal branding: 'The first step is delivering a level of graphic quality: spend your budget on making a game that looks good. The next hurdle is to make a game that people can play for at least ten minutes.'
He adds: 'Finally, the brand needs to be integrated in a way that doesn't annoy people. If hardcore gamers find a game fun, they will talk about it in forums and generate downloads.'
Waterslide Extreme complements existing work for Barclaycard which imbues it with an instant recognition factor. Apps can risk being clumsily bolted on to existing brand strategy; Waterslide Extreme defiantly dodges that risk.
www.youtube.com/barclaycardcreate
The iPhone app, which is also the most popular free app in 57 countries, follows the Waterslide TV ad by Barclaycard's ad agency, Bartle Bogle Hegarty in London which was first released in December 2008. In the ad, an office worker commutes home via a water slide using his card every so often for groceries or train tickets. Watch it on Barclaycard's YouTube channel (link opposite) which has so far attracted 1.5 million views. Barclaycard also invited consumers to create their own version of the Waterslide ad, upload them to the YouTube channel and vote for their favourite.
Toby Horry, planning director at Dare, comments: 'What was particularly surprising was the international success: the ad wasn't showing in most of the 57 countries where the app was number one.'
He adds: 'With the iPhone, it made perfect sense to allow people to ride the slide for real. A lot of clients may think that a problem with the iPhone is that it has only 5% penetration, yet iPhone-owners are more likely to be opinion-formers. Having said that, I think it's important to do an app only when the creative execution warrants it.'
The development company behind the game, Fishlabs, was also responsible for the free iPhone racing game Volkswagen Polo Challenge, which has so far been downloaded over 1.8m times.
Michael Schade, CEO of Fishlabs believes that the key to a popular game-based iPhone app is a combination of quality graphics, usability and minimal branding: 'The first step is delivering a level of graphic quality: spend your budget on making a game that looks good. The next hurdle is to make a game that people can play for at least ten minutes.'
He adds: 'Finally, the brand needs to be integrated in a way that doesn't annoy people. If hardcore gamers find a game fun, they will talk about it in forums and generate downloads.'
Waterslide Extreme complements existing work for Barclaycard which imbues it with an instant recognition factor. Apps can risk being clumsily bolted on to existing brand strategy; Waterslide Extreme defiantly dodges that risk.
www.youtube.com/barclaycardcreate
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