CorpComms Magazine

A digital agency that talks about 'journeys into the Matmisphere' is one that is determined to stand out from the crowd, and the judges found that Matmi did just that. Although its work encompasses everything from websites to seeding strategies and iPhone applications, the team at Macclesfield-based Matmi has created a niche in the specialist world of 'advergaming', after deciding, in their own words, 'that the Internet was a bit boring'.

Its first game was launched in 2001 and was played three million times in two months. Six years later, Matmi launched Let it flow for Comic Relief, which was played 36 million times.

But these advergames have a serious purpose. When Cancer Relief wanted to promote its 2009 Run 10k events, Matmi created a Rooftop Runner game for a cost of just £10,000. The game was played 4.2 million times, with an average play time of 4.7 minutes, delivering an equivalent of 37.5 years of airtime. More than £500,000 was raised for Cancer Relief through click throughs to the Run 10k website.

Matmi believes that, with so much of the world online, 'advergames are the smart way of reaching your audience in a way that they will remember and talk about'. In February 2010, Matmi created Escape the fear, an advergame to promote Lily Allen's second album on behalf of client Parlophone. Costing just £20,000, the game was played 5.7 million times, for an average of 4.3 minutes apiece - equivalent to more than 46 years of airtime. As the game gained ground, the position of Lily Allen's album on the iTunes chart rose. In May, she picked up an Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Song.

The judges found that Matmi's 'creativity, originality and resourcefulness spring out at you' and that the agency achieved 'excellent performance metrics'. Its first iPhone app, Monster Pinball, which Matmi created last year to 'master the techniques' and 'road test the design and development process for iPhone games', was Apple's Pick of the Week just two weeks after it launched. This year Matmi is tapping into user generated content and creating socialised branding entertainment so that people can take part.

One judge added: 'Their website is set up properly and performing exceptionally well. And if they are doing it for their own site to this level of effectiveness then you can be sure that they are doing it to an even higher standard for their clients.'

Shortlisted entries:

We Are Social