Fandango Gets in on The Game…
Fandango, the nation's largest movie ticketing service, sells tickets to approximately 15,000 screens and 1,300 theaters. One of the Web's top movie destinations (according to Nielsen//NetRatings), Fandango entertains and informs moviegoers with reviews, commentaries and trailers, and offers the ability to quickly select a film, plan where and when to see it, and buy tickets up to 45 days in advance.
Fandango was looking to create a micro site at www.FandangoFun.com that would contain games and activities that were relevant to the company’s offerings and the movie/entertainment industry. They wanted this site to include games and also be interactive through community elements such as challenge a friend, trophies and contests. The ultimate goal was to keep people interacting on the site for longer periods of time, provide viral tools so that visitors would recommend the site to friends and provide reasons for users to visit the Fandango.com over and over again.
Arkadium and Fandango Work Together to Make Fandango Fun… A Lot of Fun!
Fandango turned to casual game developer Arkadium to help with the development of games and interactive elements for the site. The two teams worked together to launch Fandangofun.com, which included addictive casual games, an interactive Bag Puppet application, weekly giveaways of free movie tickets and a spot for production houses to upload film-specific games.
One of Arkadium’s first recommendations was that some of the traditional casual games planned for the site should be re-skinned to match the Fandango brand. Additional games such as Concession Obsession, Ultimate Speed Trivia and Popcorn Blaster were added to the mix and branded Fandango. This helped to reinforce the Fandango brand as site visitors addictively play the on-site games.
Arkadium recommended a different approach for The Ultimate Speed Trivia game. Of course the game included difficult movie trivia questions, but with the addition of user-generated features the game became the first of its kind to integrate game play with user contribution. Users can create their own questions and include pictures, which helps to personalize the experience. A viral element is also a key factor in this game as it allows players to email their creations to friends, hence driving increased traffic.
The “Bag Puppet Creator” lets site visitors to create their own Fandango Bag Puppet with customized hair, eyes, nose, mouth, clothing and accessories. This game encourages creativity and hands on interaction with the Fandango brand “mascot”. Viral elements are also part of the “Bag Puppet Creator”. After creating a bag puppet, users email their creation to friends and upload to a gallery where other site visitors vote on the best of the best.
In addition to Fandango branded games, the site also includes a section for games created for upcoming and previously released films. This helps to keep content on the site fresh and drives repeat visits and increased interaction times.
Short Time Frame and Great Success…
Arkadium was challenged with delivering the site for Fandango in short order. To ensure that www.fandangofun.com was up and running for the summer movie season, production time, from conceptualization to development and launch, Arkadium delivered the site in less than 3 months.
The site has exceeded Fandango’s expectations. The games and other interactive and viral applications are helping to drive increased interaction times on the site. The Bag Puppet Creator has been a big success with thousands of puppets created and added to user profiles in just a few short months.
Arkadium’s recommendation on community elements and Fandango’s creativity and brand have all contributed to the site's ongoing success.
