Barclays’ Waterslide marketing campaign has now become the
number one free downloaded application – or app – on the Apple
iPhone in 57 countries worldwide. Barclaycard’s Waterslide
promotional campaign, originally launched in late 2008 as a means
of promoting its line of contactless debit and credit cards, has
been one of the most successful financial services advertising
campaigns in recent memory, with 9 million consumers having engaged
with the campaign in the online space alone.
But it is the Waterslide Extreme Apple iPhone game, launched in
July this year, that is the most interesting aspect of Barclays’
campaign – and a stark illustration of the power of both social
media and mobile commerce in retail financial services. The game
immediately captured consumers’ attention in the UK by garnering
some 32,000 downloads on its first day, making it the most
downloaded free app for the handset (see RBI
616).
Go deeper with GlobalData
This has now translated into over six million
downloads and a number one free application ranking in 57 countries
worldwide. Paul Troy, head of advertising and sponsorship at
Barclaycard, told RBI the game had “massively exceeded”
expectations.
The Waterslide campaign has also successfully
exploited modern social media tools to raise its profile.
Barclaycard’s existing digital strategy has seen it use online
video to promote the game, offering a demonstration version and
competitions to customers on its YouTube channel, resulting in
user-generated video versions of the game and participation from
over one million people.
A clear sign of the growing importance of
social networking websites in banking can also be found in a new
study from research group Nielsen released on 9 October. The study
showed that the US banking industry’s advertising spend on social
media rose by 98 percent between August 2008 and August 2009.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData
