All of the iterations of Angry Birds, along with other games and apps, have been an excellent vehicles for in-app advertising. The birds even teamed up with Fox Studios to produce Angry Birds Rio — a game that served as a fun marketing tool for the Fox film “Rio.” Now, Angry Birds Space has added a fun, inconspicuous ad that is giving an American institution newfound appreciation, especially from younger players.
Prominently displayed in the main planet selection screen of Angry Birds is a NASA international space station. When touched, it asks if the user wants to know more about space and NASA and redirects the user to a landing page on the NASA site that allows users to learn more about microgravity and why and how the angry birds move as they do in space and through planets’ orbits.
As the page says, “NASA participated with Rovio on Angry Birds Space under a Space Act Agreement to share the excitement of space with the Angry Birds community, educate users on NASA’s programs, and collaboratively create interactive educational experiences for the public.”
This, in addition to a very active social media presence, has brought new attention to NASA and the work it does. So much so, that the organization’s Twitter account was awarded with a Shorty Award in March. The nomination cited NASA’s efforts to get kids (and adults) interested in science. Add to this the fact that the app was downloaded 10 million times in less than three days, and chance that NASA’s page and social accounts will be visited increases drastically.
What do you think of NASA’s in-app involvement with Angry Birds? Will this open doors for other organizations, businesses and brands to collaborate with game-oriented apps for further exposure? Or is this only a tactic that something as big and popular as Angry Birds could achieve? Share your thoughts with us!
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