There is a reason that sequels keep being made – they have a ready-made audience. That’s also why brands decide to use existing properties as mascots for their business. For instance, UK bank Halifax used Hanna Barbera’s cartoon creations as part of its advertising campaign, while the Pink Panther was used to advertise loft insulation and Sweet ‘N’ Low sweeteners. But how important is using existing brands and IP when it comes to other areas of entertainment – such as the online casino industry?
Creating Similar Products
The online casino industry frequently uses games that have some basis in an existing property. But it then takes these themes and creates its own products. For instance, the Book of Dead slot game found here on Royal Panda is inspired by the tomb raiding adventurers. The game is clearly based on Indiana Jones and even Lara Croft. It takes what we know and understand about these brands – and how they make us feel – and then subverts them by creating its own character and storyline as played through the game.
The slot game is therefore effective. The likeness to existing material is enough to entice customers. But then the uniqueness of the game sells it on its own merit. Many slot games also exist based on their own ideas, using tangential themes such as African safari or Ancient Egypt. But using just enough inference to something beloved and then adding a new flair is useful to attract customers.
The benefit of creating brand new content but tied to an existing theme is that sometimes the themes are broad enough to appeal to a wide range of customers. Some sites have target audiences who have a huge range of interests. A broad topic, such as outer space, could be enough to attract a large chunk of this target audience.
Franchise Tie-Ins
As much as the online casino industry creates its own material, it publishes tie-ins with major brands and franchises. These tie-ins are sometimes obscure and may have fans intrigued as to how a slot game can be derived from the existing material, such as the Terminator 2 online slot. The game is based on the classic 1991 film. While it doesn’t add anything to the story, it does use the elements of the film to create an immersive narrative experience.
When an online casino product uses a franchise tie-in it helps energize an audience that already exists. The Terminator, for example, is considered to be a cult classic, which means it continues to be popular long after it stopped being shown in cinemas. As such, fans are more likely to engage with new material that is influenced by the film and uses motifs and iconography from the film. The franchise tie-in may be why they stumble across an online casino site, but they then have a chance to try the other features of the site and be converted into a loyal customer.
Not all franchises would work to attract customers, however. The franchise must be something that the audience the site is attempting to attract would want to engage with. So, for online slots, a Steel Magnolias slot game might not attract many new customers. However, a slot game based around the latest Marvel film may do so.
Using existing material across online casino sites is a clever strategy. Not only do customers most likely have some existing opinion of this material, but it can be a way for sites to stand out from competitors. If every site merely offered brand new content, then those new to the industry would struggle to know where to go. The familiar can be helpful in enticing customers.
