Malibu and its digital creative agency Isobar are extending that summer feeling all year round with a new Facebook game application launched today. Beach Club is designed to transport Malibu fans from the winter’s cooler temperatures to the hot and sandy experience of the islands—all while being challenged to successfully run a fantasy island resort with the chance to win a trip to Barbados. The Beach Club game marks the first spirit-branded, and beach oriented, game to hit Facebook.
Geared towards adults 21-35 years old, Beach Club provides an escape from everyday brand activities and helps players maintain the carefree and fun-loving summer state of mind consumers associate with Malibu, but often lose with the onset of Fall. While the game is primarily focused on engaging players in increasingly more challenging activity levels and guest requests, the game also includes subtle and organic references to the Malibu brand with features like the beach zamboni, which tidies up the resort beaches while dropping Malibu brand impressions into the sand.
“The Malibu consumer is extremely savvy when it comes to digital media. We’ve been successful in distinguishing our brand in the marketplace by matching our consumers’ media and technology expectations—whether that be in the web, mobile or social—and then taking those expectations one step further, keeping them engaged and entertained with unique and ownable content,” said AnnaMarie Battiloro, Senior Brand Manager for Malibu Rum in the USA. “The Beach Club takes the fun, viral nature of social media games and adds a level of sophistication and intelligence to the game that really does transport players to another world where managing Tiki bars and beach activities are what’s on the day’s agenda. The summer and beach environment of the game creates a unique opportunity for us to naturally communicate our brand messages without detracting from the fun. Without saying a word, it helps us communicate that Malibu Rum is the drink of choice, no matter what time of year.”
In Beach Club, Facebook users are invited to the eccentric Sonny Beachbottom’s island to help manage his luxurious island resort, and, if they do well, Sonny may give them the resort. There are ten different beaches around the island, and participants have their hands full as they are challenged to earn points at each level by keeping resort guests happy with plenty of interactive beach activities. Players can also earn additional virtual cash and points by bartending at the Tiki bars, all while learning how to mix classic rum cocktails. there are multiple opportunities for players to invite their friends to join the game by gifting them their own duplicate collectables, helping them jump start their own collections.
Island points are converted into sweepstakes entries for chances to win an all-inclusive four day/three night trip to Barbados—the birth place of Malibu. The Beach Club game sweepstakes will be available to U.S. residents on Facebook for a limited time—September 15-December 15, while the game will run indefinitely.
“Beach Club is a great example of a brand harnessing the power of Facebook to engage and interact with its customers in a way that is real and true to the brand itself,” said Jason Beaulieu, Senior Account Director at Isobar Canada. “Malibu is synonymous with summer. Their target audience lives, eats, sleeps and breathes social networks. Beach Club fuels the brand and extends its mindshare well beyond Labor Day into an everyday, any season mindset. The result of a successful partnership with Malibu is a highly engaging game—very fun, simple to play and visually stimulating.”
