Rovio’s Angry Birds take up the fight for Bird Life International
Howard Lake | 4 December 2011 | Blogs
They say birds of a feather flock together and that’s certainly true in the case of the Rovio and Bird Life International.
The critically acclaimed and bestselling Angry Birds created by Rovio will be using their considerable brand awareness to bring attention to the plight of our feathered friends all across the world.
The new Angry Birds website provides a full marketing platform for Birds Life International allowing them to highlight 189 species of birds, those which BirdLife International classifies as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and to ask for a donation.
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“We are delighted to support BirdLife International with this new Angry Birds initiative”, said Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio’s Mighty Eagle and CMO. “We are pleased to be in a position to help such important conservation action and anticipate our loyal fans will respond very positively to our Angry Birds call to Get Angry and Fight Back.”
At the same time players get to take revenge on those dastardly egg stealing pigs using Google’s Chrome Web browser. It’s the classic mobile game from iPhone and Android reborn as a web hosted flash game.
Warning… Game play still addictive set aside your paperwork and clear your schedule!
Let’s talk for a moment about why these sorts of high tech fundraising initiatives are so important.
As mobile phones have become more like portable games consoles it has allowed people who wouldn’t normally think of themselves as gamers to pick up a game and get hooked.
The very nature of playing a game is to engage with it, and if you can cleverly position a donation or social ask within that game world or aligned closely to it players are more likely to complete your action.
It is part of the fantasy aspect that all games are trying to hook you in with: you’re not just an angry bird, you are the director of the Angry Birds, their finger of justice as it were.
They have given you the power to get their eggs back. If you were asked at the same time to use that all powerful finger to make a donation could you resist.
“This is a very exciting opportunity for BirdLife”, said Jim Lawrence – BirdLife International’s Preventing Extinctions Programme Manager. “We are thrilled to be Angry Birds’ charity of choice and we look forward to seeing how this exciting campaign develops and our future relationship evolves.”
Angry Birds has become a worldwide phenomenon with a huge player base. Birds International gets access to the brand recognition of Angry Birds, at the same time Rovio and to a lesser extent Google can promote the Chrome version of Angry Birds to people who might not consider playing using their web browser or even know they could!
Extending the reach of Angry Birds into a new market: it’s win / win for everyone involved.
For Birds International they have struck a partnership at just the right moment. With Angry Birds plush toys and an animated movie in the works, Angry Birds in 2012 is likely to continue its explosive climb to the top of the entertainment charts.
http://birdlife.angrybirds.com/
John Carnell is Head of Digital at Family Lives
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.