The UK-based Barclaycard recently launched an iPhone app called Waterslide Extreme, and since it s launch last month it has been downloaded 4 million times.
The free app has the distinction of being the most popular branded app in the entire iTunes library in 57 countries.
How did this happen Ad Age {link no longer active} lends some insight:
The game is based on a popular TV spot by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London, in which an office worker strips down to his Speedo and gets on a water slide for a high-octane commute home. On the way, he uses his Barclaycard at various points to pay for groceries or train tickets.
In the iPhone game, players negotiate their way down the twists and turns of a massive urban water slide, picking up as many points as they can along the way. Players can ride the slide from a first-person or third-person perspective as either a male or a female character. The app is subtly branded with the Barclaycard logo.
Quick lessons: keep the branding subtle, make the game fun and free, and try to tie it into a larger campaign so it feeds off each other. Simple enough, right Right…
