A Flappy Kind of Success

By Rica Estrada

Two weeks ago a new breed of birds has taken over social media — a flappy kind. Flappy Bird became an instant hit. It was the number one downloaded app in iTunes. Its in-game ads have averaged $50,000 a day. It makes you wonder — why is this game such a marketing success? The answer lies in the simplicity of the game. Let’s breakdown this simplicity piece by piece:

Graphics SIMPLIFIED: Flappy Bird sports a very Super Mario-esque graphics. In the age of 3D, high-def animation this 8-bit style is refreshing. And for kids of the ‘80s , this is extremely nostalgic.

Mechanics SIMPLIFIED: Compared to Candy Crush with its hundred levels and complicated play, Flappy Bird is incredible simple. All you have to do is tap the bird so it flies over a set of pipes. If the bird hits the obstacles, the game is over. If the birds successfully through the pipes, you receive a point. But make no mistake. The rules maybe simple but this game is hard! People spent hours trying to reach 5 points! When you think about it — the tapping, the long duration and the difficulty curve are all designed to get you hooked. Now wonder, this game has been dubbed the “drug” of the App Store.

Sharing SIMPLIFIED: Flappy Bird leveraged on social media through sharing. Once the game is over, you have 2 options: you can acknowledge defeat by tapping OK or you can your share your score by tapping SHARE. This game has gone viral in a matter of hours after its release. So never ever underestimate the power of the SHARE.

If there is one key takeaway from Flappy Bird, it is that we don’t have too over-complicate our marketing strategy. Because more often than not, simple is till best way to go.

Originally published at www.nextcollision.com on February 12, 2014.