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Scandinavian Airlines has had the most punctual flights in Europe for two years running and to celebrate this fact they have created an app of time-killing games to entertain the customers of their competition.

The games themselves are rather simplistic and are likely to not entertain people who are waiting for their flight, but you have to do a slow clap for a company that rubs their victory in the face of the competition in such a creative way.

But, let’s face it, this could backfire horribly for Scandinavian Airlines if their performance slips and their customers have to start using this app.

Much like the cake in Portal, the image you see above is a lie.

A short while ago, I received an email from the Netflix team informing me that Solomon has given the company a reprieve and that the streaming and DVD services would not be split into separately branded companies.

Although I initially thought that splitting the company in two would help stem the tide of vitriol, I was very, very wrong. 

To answer yet another wave of anger/mocking online, Netflix has pulled the plug on the yet to be released Qwikster and is instead keeping both of its services under one roof with the same pricing changes that started this whole mess.

I wonder if this will affect the announced addition of video game rentals. As a nerd who likes to dabble, this would have been a good way to get me into the delivery service that I have abandoned.

As a suggestion to Netflix: make sure you get the rights to exclusively air the new season of Arrested Development. If you are partially responsible for bringing back Arrested Development, you will get at least a year of not having to make wildly public reactionary decisions. I promise.

Sony’s recent long form ad ‘Long Live Play’ stars live action versions of many of the company’s well known characters interacting in a tavern and recounting their moments of glory.

For a life-long video game player like myself, this ad creates both a sense of nostalgia and makes me want to buy the product that they are selling at the end.

My only complaint is that they didn’t spend the extra money to cast Kurt Russell as Iroquois Snake.

Starting this weekend, fans of Playstation 3’s Uncharted game series will be able to gain early access to the multiplayer mode of Uncharted 3 by simply ordering (and likely consuming) a 30 ounce beverage from Subway.

The promotional Taste for Adventure cups contain a code that fans of Uncharted (and beverages that are only smaller than the capacity of the human stomach) can submit online to get access to the exclusive multiplayer mode.

This is an interesting pairing of products. The stereotype of video game players does not gel with Subway’s branding as a healthy fast food restaurant. That being said, the sense of adventure and general fitness of Uncharted’s main character Nathan Drake do make sense with the company’s branding.

Original story via USAToday.

In the near future, it may be possible for you to have your Angry Birds score shown on a board at Starbucks while you wait for the person in front of you to order a beverage that is more complicated than the Treaty of Versailles.

Rovio, maker of Angry Birds, and Starbucks are rumored to be in talks regarding adding in-store promotions for Angry Birds to new retail expansion. Customers playing Angry Birds in-store will be able to have their high score broadcast on a score board and have a brief sense of superiority over your caffeine seeking comrades. 

Image via Rovio; story via Bloomberg Businessweek

Great celebrity cameos from multiple sports and television and builds up my excitement for the game.

Capital One has joined forces with social gaming company Zynga to advertise in three of their most popular games: CityVille, FarmVille and Pioneer Trail.

Capital One will have in game promotions that include special items for players to use in their gameplay. By interacting with Capital One in the game space players will be brought to Capital One’s Facebook page and see integrated advertisements.

Image and original story via PSFK 

It seems like just yesterday that the world was holding its collective breath and waiting for a drastic move by Nintendo as the company worked to improve sales of its 3DS handheld gaming device. That might be a slight exaggeration, but there was certainly talk of the company porting its games to mobile phone operating systems to increase their customer base and sales.

After cutting the price of the 3DS hardware from $249.99 to $169.99, Nintendo has seen a 260 percent increase in sales without having to dilute their product and go against their strength resulting from having both games and hardware created by the same company.

Original Story via Gamasutra; Image via Nintendo

Image via IGN.com

Yesterday, we discussed how bigger is not always better in the fast food industry.

Video game developer and publisher THQ is now following a similar philosophy by downsizing from eleven studios to five, including two studios in Australia. This move represents an effort by THQ to both manage rising costs and solidify their production to concentrate on marquee games that will drive company profits.

More and more it seems as if the video game industry is turning to a model similar to the film industry. Profits are driven by blockbuster games and low budget independent games like Angry Birds.

Original Story via Gamasutra

Today we explore contacting key influencers to sell video games, comedy websites and books as well as a story on the marketing lessons that can be learned from food trucks.

Madden NFL 12: VIP package given to influential fans
Game Bandits

EA Sports produces some of the most successful video game franchises in the world - including Madden NFL and FIFA Soccer. Despite this success and position as an industry leader - and in the case of Madden NFL, their exclusive rights contract with the league - the company refuses to rest on its laurels. 

Their latest marketing push has been to send 50 VIP Madden packages to highly influential users. Game Bandits explores the package and a few of the recipients of the special parcel from EA.

Based on this tweet from Patriots Wide Receiver Chad Ochocinco, who has 2,650,646 followers as of the time of this post, their program appears to be working. 

Will Ferrell And Stephen King Reach Out To Klout For Marketing Help
Business Insider; by Cindy Ratzlaff

Speaking of relying on key influencers to help with your marketing campaign… 

Cindy Ratzlaff of Business Insider shows how Will Ferrell and Stephen King have teamed up with Klout, a service that quantifies social media influence, to market funnyordie.com and King’s ebook Mile 81. Through Klout, Ferrell and King are working with highly influential people in the world of social media to increase the presence of their respective products.

What Marketers Can Learn from the Food-Truck Trend
Harvard Business Review (via PSFK); by Grant McCracken

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I have yet to eat from a food-truck. It could be paranoia or simply the fact that I pack my lunch far too often. Luckily, I have a good friend who runs GirlMeetsFood.com and have learned all about the joy of mobile food through her posts and conversation.

Grant McCracken takes a look at the many valuable marketing lessons that can be learned from food-trucks. Food-trucks have been successful for years now and it is interesting to take a look at what can be learned from the business model and how thriving food trucks market their product.  

Have a wonderful weekend and if you’re on the East Coast, I hope you stay safe and dry.

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Image via @ochocinco