ITV’s The Colour of Money Online Game

This game is geo-locked to the UK but it’s still No.1 on the MemeCounter chart and thanks to a whopping average play time of 17 minutes, we reckon it’ll deliver an extra 10 years worth of Internet broadcast time to ITV during the 10 week run of the TV show. That’s an obscene return on investment! Great example of reaching new & existing customers over the Internet.

So what’s the game all about? Instead of being a viewer of the TV show, you become a contestant on it in this immersive online game. The set, the coloured cash machines, Chris Tarrant, Millie Clode, the countdown, audience reactions and the theme tune are all in there – but most importantly, so are you!

A little technological Matmi magic means that you can upload an image or video clip of yourself into the game which appears on screen as if you were the TV show contestant. If you have a webcam, the game times it so we get a recording of your reaction when you win (or lose!) and that automatically appears in the Leaderboard (if you get a high enough score, that is!).

Although you’re playing for recognition rather than cash (sorry about that), the game runs on a weekly cycle like the TV show. While the show’s on air each Saturday, the Leaderboard locks down to select the highest scoring player to enter the Hall of Fame, so online players get to know their winners at the same time as TV viewers! In fact, it turns out that many of you are watching the show and playing the game at the same time.

Instead of the eight contestants on the TV show to date, 90,000 UK residents have been contestants in the online show. In a nutshell, that’s how online can create a much heavier impact for your business.

April 2009