I’m not going to even think about the days getting shorter because I can’t believe we’ve just passed the summer solstice anyway! What a year it’s been so far….

We’ve added Gorillaz, Philips and Red Bull to our client list. The lovely people at Asda and Cancer Research have both come back for more. We’ve won another award for our first advergame for Vimto. I’ve been speaking at Elmwood’s Digital Picnic, Brandhouse’s Digital Sparks and I’m up next at the Develop Conference in July. And we need more desks and IT kit because we’ve got new Matmians on board – great!

Why has the downturn been Matmi’s up? Because we’re getting great results for our clients and making them look really good…..

Although our other halves have sometimes forgotten what we look like, in general the marvellous Matmians have been having a whale of a time this year. And I’m not gloating about it – there’s a very good reason.

What we do is working wonders for our clients and they keep coming back for more. Asda, EMI and Cancer Research have all run their second/third/fourth campaigns with us in the last six months because now they truly understand the power of branded entertainment as the new genre of advertising.

We’re talking TV equivalent airtime in terms of decades – and it’s voluntary, interactive, word-of-mouth marketing too (ie – the most influential type). Take a look at the Digital Diary for the facts and figures.

So what’s changed? Nothing – but when times are tough, people are more open-minded. “Necessity is the mother of invention” and all that. Now that a few big brands have successfully included cutting edge digital techniques (like advergames) in their online marketing, the rest have noticed and decided to catch us up.

That’s slightly scary for Matmi because we like to be “out there” in every sense of the word. But we put our business brains into gear (yes, we have that type of thinking here too) and work out the next move.

I predicted that the fusion of gaming with social media would be this year’s big trend – and it is. So much so that the big shakers like Facebook and Apple are only just keeping up. We’re a minnow in comparison physically, but we have a massive footprint digitally and that’s what qualifies us to show clients how to do the same. It’s no surprise to us that their Matmi campaigns are so successful – but it’s great to still be able to surprise them!

I think this is the beautiful secret of Matmi’s success. Give people what they want online (entertainment) and they’re really happy. Brand the entertainment – subtly – and the sponsors are happy. Come up with great concepts and challenging work and the marvellous Matmians are happy.

When everyone’s happy, you’ve got a success on your hands. I hope you can put the same principle to work in your business.

(And if you’d like to give it a test drive with an advergame, you know who to call).

Enjoy, Jeff.

We have been making advergames and virals for many years but sometimes the outrageous spread and success of particular projects even surprise us.

Take our recent game for Philips called Brilliant Brushes. The audience is kids (and their parents) in Europe.
This is kiddie power at it’s best.

Since “Brilliant Brushers” came out for Philips Sonicare in November 2009, it’s had a staggering 7.2 million plays and knocked our socks off! It’s not Grand Theft Auto by any stretch of the imagination – but those 4 – 10 year olds are definitely making their preferences known.

The game in question is an educational experience for under 10s and their parents to brighten up tooth brushing time – together. And that’s the secret of its success. It tugs on that emotional bond that parents want the best for their kids, and engages adult and child in a pleasurable brush with top dental hygiene for nearly 7 minutes a time.

7 million plays at 7 mins = 49 million minutes
49 million / 60 (mins in hour) = 816,666 hours
816,666 / 24 (hours in day)= 34,027 days
34,027 / 365 (days in year) = 93 years

7 minutes! That’s 93 years worth of educational airtime – and counting!!

Never mind the kids learning a lot from this game – we have too; don’t underestimate your audience. Give them something they like and they’ll do the rest quite naturally. Kids – you’re great teachers and we love it.

Creating emotional connections with the brand helps build customer loyalty and with 93 years worth of positive brand engagement it is clear to see why this is the future of advertising online.

See Brilliant Brushers for yourself right here!

From Vimto to Red Bull in the blink of a bike gear!

Whoa – slow down there! Body armour, full face helmets, a winding downhill mountain-side course on a bike at speeds over 40mph? Oh yes…. the Red Bull Road Rage event on Belgium’s famous Côte de la Redoute racetrack is more a test of mettle than metal.

Our challenge was to bring all the skill, speed, excitement and unpredictability of flying down a twisty mountain road, virtually airborne, and put it at your fingertips to play (safely…) at home. We’ve learned more about bike gears, acceleration, turning angles, skids, slides and crashes than we really wanted to know (only joking…) but the results are pretty darned good (though we say it ourselves).

You can play the game here. And if you get bored of extreme bike racing, you can always try the cliff diving instead. Mmmm – what if we added in some missiles…. . No! Keep it real. Enjoy.

A funny thing has happened in the last year at Matmi; every major brand we’ve worked with has come back for more. We like it; it makes us want to do an even better job next time around.

Cancer Research and the amazing work it does for sufferers of the disease and their supporters needs no introduction. Their Run 10K fund raising races in September and October are part of the nation’s calendar. This year, they’re running in 22 locations around the UK – and we’re helping to promote them again with a free-to-play, three level, online platform game with Facebook functionality.

Last year’s “Rooftop Runner” advergame got off to a fast start, achieving 2 million plays in its first month but its successor, “Rooftop Raiser”, has an immediate advantage. Players will be able to post their scores to the Wall of the Facebook pages, and notify their friends to challenge them to play. The viral anti just got upped – significantly – so we’ll be watching this one with interest.

Successfully engaging people with a brand is all about making an emotional connection with them. The emotional element for Cancer Research is obvious – which may explain the 36 years worth of airtime that 2009′s Rooftop Runner has already delivered.

We’re really proud of the value for money we can deliver –particularly for charities like Cancer Research. Shouldn’t you be taking a look at the advergame advantage for your own brand?

You know who to call.

Play the game here

The lovely people at Asda have come back for more Matmi magic as well – and we’re delighted to be working with them again!

From the green messages of the recycling game “Landfill Bill” in 2008, we’re on the green pitches of the World Cup helping Asda customers to “Make A Save”! What else?! Whether it’s in the net or in your basket, you win either way.

“Make A Save” has had the Facebook Connect treatment so you can post scores to your Wall and challenge your friends to play – which ups its viral potential significantly, of course. You get to be the goalie in the game, facing five football strikers, each intent on landing their shot in the net. Save at least three of the five shots over seven increasingly challenging levels to score points for each save and add valuable multipliers for consecutive saves.

Unfortunately, Jesus (one of our game gurus, not himself) thought this was too easy, so randomly, the football will transform into a more tricky flying object – super-fast cuddly toy, a wayward beach ball or a nastily curving turnip (Jesus watches a lot of Terry Pratchett… ).

Make a save and your player does Asda’s “pocket tapping” move in celebration and you could pick up some cool offers from Asda which they’ll be updating over the summer.

Great to be working with you again, Asda, and at least we know this game will go the distance! Good luck to England – in fact, good luck to everyone from Matmi. People in every country in the world play our games – even Vatican City. Buona fortuna, monsignor…

Let’s hope Rob Green can make a save..

PLAY NOW