"Branded applications" are fun gimmicks that new media users pass around to their friends (hopefully). Branded apps are programs for gadgets like the iPhone and social media sites like Facebook that typically don't have any sales conversion. The Audi driving challenge above, created for the iPhone, is nothing more than a basic driving game you might find in an arcade.
How useful these apps actually are is up for debate. The Audi driving challenge probably didn't inspire anyone to buy an Audi. On the one hand, creating a nifty app that people love can't hurt. The Audi driving challenge got 370,000 downloads in its first week. 370,000 eyeballs is nothing to sneer at, especially when you can design your app to reinforce your brand with beautiful photos of sleek, sporty cars.
Another problem with branded apps is that recent research by
Pinch Media showed that only 20% of users who download a free app will use it again after the first day, and only 30% of users who pay a price (usually in the range of $1) will use the app again. And you can't guarantee that your app will be a hit -- Facebook has more than 33,000 applications and the iPhone has more than 25,000. The vast majority of those apps are flops with only a handful of users. So make sure you've got a brilliant marketing team like Campbell Consulting to help you come up with a killer idea ;)
For a good example, we can look to Burger King, who created the Whopper Sacrifice application for Facebook. The app encouraged users to delete their Facebook friends in exchange for a coupon.
"Now is the time to put your fair-weather Web friendships to the test," the
Whopper Sacrifice site explains. "Install Whopper Sacrifice on your Facebook profile, and we'll reward you with a free flame-broiled Whopper when you sacrifice ten of your friends."
The funniest part: The "sacrifices" show up in your activity feed: for example, "Judy sacrificed Renee for a free Whopper." The app was shut down by Facebook but it had a good run -- it destroyed more than 233,000 Facebook friendships and got covered by CNET, AdWeek, The New York Times, ABC News, etc.
Check out this
article at Ubercool.com to read about more creative branded apps.
