I’ve been nosing a bit in the mobile world again lately, and especially in the use of (mobile) games for brands, and working with a few communication agencies over that topic (gotta earn real money with stuff I know those days).
Mobile is a great opportunity for brands, and by targeting specific platforms such as the iPhone you can, if you are smart enough, create a real intimate binding with a community of users around your brand image. Yet, it’s important to understand the behaviors related to mobile apps usage, and as such the following slides (especially from slide 12 and above) are really insightful:

iPhone AppStore Secrets – Pinch Media

View more presentations from pinchmedia. (tags: pinch smartphone)

I think games can go far beyond a simple buzz phenomenon and really create a community of users around your brand if you know how to go beyond just delivering an app and start animating your community through events around the application itself. Enabling easy things such as high-scores comparison, time-limited worldwide challenges can bring high virality and create a strong user base – while keeping in mind that the life-span of the app will be about 3 months and that in 6 month the marketing impact will start vanishing.

As I just handed over a couple days ago a huge 40+ pages application file describing the VR-WEAR project for the National Company Creation challenge organized by the Research Ministry, which took a lot of time and energy of both Franck and I to complete in less then a week, this week-end was a no-brainer ! I took some time to enjoy some digital fun and wanted to share a bit of it with you :

On PSP first with “Star Ocean : First Departure” (Square Enix):

Nice RPG where you help the inhabitant of planet Roak fight a strange disease turning them into rocks one after another.

On iPhone with Crystal Defenders (Square Enix):

Little strategy game where you have 3 classes of soldiers you must position on the map and upgrade with wisdom to let them stop the monsters going from one end to another end of the maze.

And finally an excellent book : Ender’s Game

Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill. One of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens, known here as “buggers,” Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers. Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender.