Happy 45th anniversary to Earth Day

45 years ago, the first Earth Day was held on 22 April 1970 to call attention to environmental issues. Today, Earth Day activities have spread worldwide as more individuals, businesses, NGOs and governmental agencies think green.

A wide variety of events are being held online and in person throughout this week, to raise awareness of environmental issues and opportunities worldwide through green marketing for all ages. For example:

• Ocean & Earth Day at the University of Southampton's National Oceanography Centre is a family-friendly open house filled with interactive presentations.
• International Mother Earth Day is the focus of a United Nations initiative for climate-change leadership.
• Rovio, the digital entertainment firm, developed a special Earth Day environmental level of play for its popular Angry Birds game.
• Oxford University Press is offering free access to journal articles about environmental concerns and studies in celebration of Earth Day.

Angry Birds: Looking for new momentum

Rovio, which aims to become a global entertainment empire akin to Disney, just reported lower profits on higher game and media revenues.

Its best-known brand is Angry Birds, and despite a number of new character and mobile game introductions, including the appealing Stella character shown here, Rovio could use a new blockbuster to regain momentum.

The new CEO sees a bright future for Rovio now that the firm has embraced mobile and free-to-play (freemium) games.

Looking ahead, the long-awaited animated 3-D Angry Birds movie will be released next year, with a star-studded voice cast. Will that revive the Angry Birds licensing and merchandising momentum?

Angry Birds tries freemium

Angry Birds' parent company Rovio is now using the pricing strategy that has won competitor King so much profit: freemium. The game is free, but if you want special powers or gadgets, you have to pay.

Freemium has made King quite profitable, as loyal and 'addicted' Candy Crush players pay -- and pay -- and pay for extras. No wonder Rovio is trying freemium. 'It's pretty clear that free-to-play as a model monetises the best, but no matter what model you use, you have to make great games', says Rovio's chief marketing officer.

By design, Rovio has used marketing and licensing to place Angry Birds characters everywhere, from stuffed animals, movie tie-ins and toys to theme parks, candy and comics. Its Stella character will have a new game built around her, plus 'third screen' mobile-access episodes and more. The Angry Birds brand is positioned to extend throughout the entertainment world, not just as a game but as an umbrella for multiple offerings.

Naturally, Angry Birds is a social brand: Its FB page has more than 27 million likes and its Twitter account has 628,00 followers. Also the brand is on Tumblr and -- of course! -- YouTube.

Marketing Social Games

King and Zynga are two of the biggest social game companies in the world, serving hundreds of millions of players every day who log on via computer, mobile or tablet.

If you've played FarmVille, CityVille, Words with Friends or Bubble Safari, you've played Zynga's social games, online or on Facebook (where Zynga has 3.5 million likes). Freemium pricing is the name of the game, with special items available for purchase to help players move ahead. Of course, it's the games that count, which is why Farmville's Facebook page has more than 39 million likes.

Zynga just reported a loss and has purchased the UK game company NaturalMotion to expand its game offerings and provide variety for players. The company is also testing Bitcoin payments.

If you've played Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes Saga, Papa Pear Saga or Bubble Witch Saga, you've played King's games, again online or on Facebook. Candy Crush Saga, the best-known and most popular, has 60 million Facebook likes. King uses the freemium pricing model, allowing you to buy hints and extra levels after you get involved in the free game.

Then there's Minecraft, a super-popular multiplayer game that has tens of millions of players. The Minecraft Facebook page has 8.5 million likes.

Social games remain extremely popular. In fact, Minecraft and Candy Crush Saga were the top apps in the UK Apple Store in 2013.

But don't forget Angry Birds, which is relentlessly expanding beyond the virtual world. Angry Birds Land will open at Thorpe Park this May. In 2016, Sony is planning to release the first Angry Birds movie. Today being Chinese New Year, Angry Birds is celebrating with a new music video on the Rovio site.

Expanding the Angry Birds brand franchise

Angry Birds cartoon shorts debut this weekend, one zany new episode every week for a year. What new characters and plots could possibly be left for fans to discover, after 1.7 billion global downloads in three years? The YouTube channel for Angry Birds has more than 1 billion views and nearly 500,000 subscribers.

Now the brand is flying from mobile screens to big screens to extend the product lifecycle and make its name in broader entertainment. Parent company Rovio is releasing the weekly toons with selected TV partners worldwide, including Roku streaming. 

Consumers will need to update their mobile apps to see new episodes on the toon channel (accompanied by 15 seconds of advertising). Expect a torrent of brand-related offerings and revenue-generating opportunities now that Rovio has expanded its global advertising staff.

In advance of the first episode, Rovio changed its Angry Birds iPhone/iPad apps from fee to free a few weeks ago, attracting millions of new users and rebuilding buzz about the brand. A second season of cartoon shorts will soon be in the planning stage, and a feature-length movie is also in the works, possibly in theatres as early as 2016.

How strong is the Angry Birds brand franchise? Rovio aims to find out as it continues to approve new licensing deals and expand beyond the mobile game category. Stay tuned.

Rovio and birds and Alex

Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 1 billion times. Parent Rovio has introduced a new Pink Bird character and is adding seasonal variations every few weeks to keep players engaged with the game. There are lots of merchandising deals in the works and Angry Birds is likely to remain popular for some time. It's not easy to know when a product has reached maturity, but Rovio is determined to extend the product life cycle and make Angry Birds a brand as long-lasting as Hello Kitty.

Meanwhile, Rovio is readying another brand franchise. It released its first non-Angry Birds game in June: Amazing Alex, about a boy who thinks up creative ways to do things based on physics principles. And of course players get to help! Rovio bought the basics of this game from two developers who had originally called it Casey's Contraptions. Alex has been received well so far, but will it have the long-lasting appeal of Angry Birds?

The Angry Birds Empire

Angry Birds, the hugely popular mobile game by Finland's Rovio, has expanded into a major international brand empire.

Since its release in 2009, the game has been downloaded more than 350 million times. The Angry Birds brand now appears on stuffed animals (birds and pigs, of course), iPhone cases, socks, ties, lunch boxes and--within a few years--it will be the focus of a feature film.

Soon, when consumers visit a Starbucks coffee shop and play Angry Birds, the leading scores will appear on a 'leaderboard' in the shop, adding a very public social dimension to the brand.

Another priority for Angry Birds is getting its game onto Facebook, where Zynga's games (such as Farmville) are among the most popular.

The brand's undeniable global appeal has brought unauthorised competition, such as the Angry Birds game at Window of the World theme park in China. Still, with customers buying 1 million stuffed Angry Birds toys each month, demand for Angry Birds offerings looks strong--until the next mobile fad steals the spotlight.