TAMBA Internet

Butlin's

Happy Days: Viral Game

In 1936 Billy Butlin created the most recognised holiday company in the UK - Butlin's. The brand enjoys a fantastic reputation for great family holidays and short breaks as well as being a nostalgic piece of UK holiday heritage.

Agency Activity:

In response to this brief we created ‘Happy Days’, a SIMs style game in which players must take holidaymakers who visit their resort and place them in the activities or venues they are thinking about. Players can choose from the three Butlins resorts and layouts in-game are based on the actual layouts of the real resorts.

If players keep enough people in the park happy, they are rewarded with an iconic Redcoat, synonymous with the Butlin's brand.

A prize draw element was included so that Butlins could request email addresses and build their contact database of potential holidaymakers.

Results:

In the first 6 weeks after the game launched, it received over 1 million plays without any paid placement proving it's viral spread capabilities. Average engagement times for players exceeded three minutes giving Butlin's increased brand recognition and positive, frequent social media chatter. The campaign was also awarded Best Use of Viral Communication in the 2012 Travel Marketing Awards.