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Madagascar

By 18th October 2005Design and Build, Games

We created a collection of branded online content to promote the DVD release of DreamWorks box-office hit animated film, Madagascar. This is the third film marketing project the agency has completed for DreamWorks, having previous successes with Shrek 2 and Shark’s Tale.

“Our long standing relationship with DreamWorks has enabled us to earn the company’s trust and creative respect,” said Rob Heasley, Creative Director of Naked Penguin Boy Ltd. “We are fortunate to have a client that allows us enough flexibility and time to create the most engaging interactive content possible.”

The agency produced a Madagascar microsite, five online games, a variety of downloads and other marketing materials. DreamWorks provided the new online content for its marketing departments worldwide, for regional distribution. The online content was also used by DreamWorks affiliate business partners, maximizing exposure for the Madgascar DVD release.

“When an agency can quickly understand the objective of a project and then provide creative input with little hand holding from the client, this is a relationship you really want to keep,” said Allison Grant, International Marketing Director of DreamWorks Interactive and Special Interest. “Naked Penguin Boy has delivered impressive work for Shrek 2, Shark Tale and now Madagascar, and we plan to continue using their services.”

The games developed for Madagascar are highly viral and have a long life span, providing DreamWorks with content that will become a popular online destination, and last for many years. Previous content created for the online promotion of the Shrek 2 and Shark Tale DVD and video releases remain a top destination on the Internet.

“We try to develop games, downloads and content that is timeless and will be as much of a classic in entertainment as the films themselves,” said Mr. Heasley. “Our team of illustrators, animators and programmers are able to create exceptional creative material using a client’s key art, without compromising any of the licensing or branding elements.”

By visiting the Madagascar microsite, fans found, in addition to games, mobile wallpaper of the stars of Madagascar (Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Gloria the hippo, Melman the giraffe), downloadable Desktop Buddies featuring the psychotic Madagascar penguins (Skipper, Riko, Kowalski and Private), wallpaper, screensavers and an email signature that could be downloaded for use in Outlook and Outlook Express.

Campaign Measurement In addition to online content, DreamWorks iused a new Tracker, developed by NPB, to measure success of the Madagascar online campaign. The NPB Tracker collected quantitative data for the microsite, games and downloads. DreamWorks was able to determine what sections of the site were most, or least popular, count the number of downloads made from the site, know the number of times games were loaded and played. The NPB Tracker measured where and when visits occured to the site and enabled DreamWorks to view the total statistics worldwide and localised the data, showing country-by-country progress.