Z/Yen and Zaroo announce £4 million marketing deal
Z/Yen, the leading risk/reward management firm, and Zaroo, the innovative Internet applications company announced yesterday that they have signed an major new marketing deal for the web based trading game "FatCat" (UK Patent Application No. 0014010.3). The exclusive agreement, covering Europe and the USA is worth an estimated £2 to £4 million per year (based on 50,000 plus players per year.)
FatCat is a powerful Internet trading game designed for use within a new or existing corporate marketing strategy. The game is a tool to bring visitors to a corporate site and keep them coming back, as they play the game and trade in the designated entities. While many corporate sites have tried to engender loyalty and "stickiness" through graphics, interactive contact, loyalty schemes etc, few have succeeded for more than a short time. FatCat offers a template for a fun game that companies can easily adapt to suit their own needs.
Michael Parsons, Chief Zaroo adds, "This is a wonderful opportunity for Zaroo to build on the existing successes of FatCat and work with many new clients. Z/Yen and Zaroo share the same commitment to delivering high quality Internet applications and supporting the business needs of our clients. We look forward to continuing to work closely together"
Z/Yen recently surveyed more than 150 online trading and investment games, and concluded that many of them were disappointingly dull (the report, "On Line Financial Trading Simulations", is available from Z/Yen). Michael Mainelli, Director of Z/Yen says, "FatCat was the most promising of the many games we looked at. We are excited by the flexibility and stickiness it offers companies, and the entertaining and involving games it promises the players"
In one instance, the game has been adapted tailored for visitors to a youth oriented Internet Portal. The traded entities are selected web sites within the Internet Portal and a number of its advertisers. Registered players buy or sell shares in these web pages to increase the value of their fictional investments. Trades are matched in real time by a powerful trading engine that can handle many thousands of transactions daily, including complex derivatives should the need arise.
Players surf around participating sites to evaluate their investment options, and will begin to drive traffic towards those sites they seek to promote as their own investments. Imaginative prizes are available to participants, and competitions can be run on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. Promotions and incentives can be used to highlight any individual web page or entity and drive additional traffic its way.
Mary O'Callaghan, Marketing Manager for the project concludes, "We are very excited by this new venture. While FatCat can be adapted to suit almost any site, we see its initial applications being in the travel, financial and publishing/information markets. Watch this space!"
Z/Yen specialises in risk/reward management, an innovative approach to improving organisational performance. Z/Yen clients include blue chip companies in banking, technology, publishing and distribution as well as charities and care organisations. Zaroo specialise in researching and launching targeted web Portals, Exchanges and B2B sites.
For further information please contact:
Mary O'Callaghan or Michael Mainelli on +44 (020) 7562-9562,
Email hub@zyen.com
Michael Parsons on + 44 (020) 7917-1768
Email michael.parsons@zaroo.com