'Bolt' iPhone Game App Pays Off For Disney
Six weeks since its launch, a free 3-D iPhone "adver-game" promoting Walt Disney Pictures' animated theatrical film "Bolt" has been downloaded more than 700,000 times, according to online marketing agency AvatarLabs. Starring the film's fat hamster character Rhino, the aptly named "Rhinoball" app invites iPhone owners to navigate obstacles as they help the rodent reach Bolt, the dog who doubles as the movie's title character. Players tilt their phones forward, backwards, left and right to guide Rhino through city streets, as he avoids cars and other obstacles on his way to the finish line.
The game makes use of the iPhone's accelerometer, a feature that allows the phone to respond to motion. When the phone is rotated from portrait to landscape, the accelerometer detects the movement and changes the display accordingly.
The Rhinoball app also includes "Bolt"'s theatrical trailer and TV commercial. The film itself just received two Golden Globe nominations--for best animated feature and best song. No. 4 at the box office last weekend, "Bolt" has made $89 million at the box office in four weeks of release, according to Studio Briefing.
In addition to Apple's iPhone, the Rhinoball app is also available to iPod Touch users.
Rhinoball has ranked as high as No. 11 on AppShopper.com's rankings of the most-downloaded free iPhone apps. On Wednesday, it still ranked in the top 100, at No. 70.
With the number of iPhone applications now topping 10,000 and growing rapidly, other brands have also been launching applications. They include the Virtual Zippo Lighter, at No. 37 on AppShopper.com's list, and the Target Gift Globe, at No. 46. The Virtual Zippo Lighter "opens with a flick of your wrist and lights with a turn of your thumb. The windproof flame sways as you move your iPhone or iPod Touch and reacts when you try to blow it out."
As for the Target Gift Globe, "tell us a little about the person you have in mind, shake the snow globe, and we'll provide great gift idea."
AvatarLabs, based in Hollywood, specializes in digital movie promotion, including Web sites, rich media/ad banners and widgets for other current films like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Slumdog Millionaire," and "Four Christmases."
Recent Online Media Daily Articles
-
Yahoo Search Experiments With New Look May 23, 6:30 p.m.
Yahoo Search has been experimenting with colors, features and layouts, as the company tries to determine ... -
Path Seeks Dismissal Of Wireless-Spam Case May 23, 5:07 p.m.
Mobile social network Path is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the ... -
Amazon Appstore Goes Global May 23, 4:59 p.m.
Amazon may have been late to the app store game, but that hasn’t stopped it from ... -
Data Is Springboard For Product Development May 23, 4:44 p.m.
iProspect named Ben Wood to global president Thursday; he's tasked with growing the company's network and ... -
Vice, Twitter Partner For Mobile Show May 23, 2:14 p.m.
Simultaneously expanding its video and social strategy, Vice on Thursday unveiled #dailyvice -- a daily show ... -
MediaVest Database Charts Brand Experience, Social Media Impact May 23, 12:11 p.m.
After a year-long research effort, Publicis Groupe’s MediaVest has created a massive database designed to help ... -
Discovery Launches TestTube.com, Ups Digital Video Involvement May 23, 11:27 a.m.
Discovery Communications is looking to get into digital video platforms in a big way -- launching ... -
Network Advertising Initiative Proposes New Mobile Privacy Rules May 22, 9:03 p.m.
Moving forward with its plan to issue mobile privacy rules, the self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative ... -
Entertainment, Travel Bet On Mobile Banners May 22, 4:16 p.m.
Banner ads have long been the whipping boy of online advertising, and the same is now ... -
Marketers Should Tailor Specific Pitches To Tablet, Smartphone May 22, 2:51 p.m.
Don’t lump tablets in with mobile. That’s the takeaway of a new Forrester study looking at ...
Be the first to comment on "'Bolt' iPhone Game App Pays Off For Disney"
Leave a Comment