CCP Games launched an interactive online campaign Thursday, supported by Interpolls' rich media widget in banner ads on AOL, MSN and Fox Interactive to promote EVE Online.

The campaign, which runs from Oct. 1 through the end of the year, relies on a viral widget to reach beyond the more than 300,000 gamers that EVE Online supports today to grab new players through viral marketing. People can embed the widget on blogs, Facebook, MySpace or any of the 10 other social network sites.

"We recently started an in-house agency within CCP and the next step was to explore rich media," says Oscar J. Garza, advertising lead, CCP, White Wolf, Iceland. "It's been an opportunity to share video trailers, as well as identify some of the major archetypes in the game. That's the kind of player you might be when you join the game, such as the developer or explorer."

Historically, CCP focused on testing and optimizing marketing. And although widgets have been available for years, Garza believes the next step for the game maker was to embed a video of its game in a widget and place it in a banner ad.

It's all about the data. Garza says the widget will allow CCP to cull large amounts of data, such as who watched what video, length of time, and whether they paused it or turned up or down the sound. It will allow CCP to analyze the data to determine whether the games work and which parts of the games are most interesting to players. "We'll not only get information through rich media on how to sell the games, but we'll also find out how our videos are viewed in a viral environment," he says.

The rich media widget technology will enable CCP Games to show its latest games, house videos, and allow consumers to try or purchase EVE Online from the banner ad unit.

People will have an option to click through to learn more about the game and check the latest news through Twitter and Facebook connections. The message enables a user to enter their friend's AIM or Yahoo Messenger name and send friends a prewritten message about EVE Online. They also can share the widget with friends through Windows Live Messenger.

The technology allows people to download the campaign-themed widget from popular sites, share it with friends, and place it on personal Web pages, such as Facebook and MySpace. Peter Kim, president and CEO, Interpolls, says people can grab the embed code and place it on nearly any social network page. "If CCP has all the assets and video updates available, we can change the content on the fly," he says. "Once someone grabs a widget and places it on a Facebook page, all the additional impressions are provided for free. We also will track and report the widgets on sites people embed them on."

Garza expects the three-month run to garner at least 30 million impressions. At least that's the media buy, he says. The game company will release its winter expansion, Dominion, during that time. EVE Online offers two free game expansions yearly.

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