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As Angry Birds x Puzzle & Dragons collab goes live, will Japan warm to Rovio?

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We previously told you that Japanese gaming giant GungHo Online Entertainment would be working with Rovio’s iconic Angry Birds on a Puzzle & Dragons collaboration. The results of that collaboration just went live in the P&D app today, as a special in game event showcasing a special ‘Piggy Island’ dungeon. As you can see in our video above, the special level includes most of the same Angry Birds characters that many of us know so well. For me, the most interesting part of how this was presented was that the Angry Birds theme music is featured in the collaboration. It was a pleasant surprise [1]. Of course it’s Rovio’s hope that by featuring their feathered friends inside Japan’s most popular mobile game, that they can get a little more exposure to the lucrative Japanese mobile games market. So far it looks to be working, and as I write this Angry Birds is ranked 69th overall in the Japanese iOS app store. It was ranked 432nd the same time yesterday (see picture below)[2]. Typically these collaborations result in a rather temporary spike in this way. But for Rovio, I expect they’ll be quite happy to find another channel through which to…

We previously told you that Japanese gaming giant GungHo Online Entertainment would be working with Rovio’s iconic Angry Birds on a Puzzle & Dragons collaboration. The results of that collaboration just went live in the P&D app today, as a special in game event showcasing a special ‘Piggy Island’ dungeon.

As you can see in our video above, the special level includes most of the same Angry Birds characters that many of us know so well. For me, the most interesting part of how this was presented was that the Angry Birds theme music is featured in the collaboration. It was a pleasant surprise [1].

Of course it’s Rovio’s hope that by featuring their feathered friends inside Japan’s most popular mobile game, that they can get a little more exposure to the lucrative Japanese mobile games market. So far it looks to be working, and as I write this Angry Birds is ranked 69th overall in the Japanese iOS app store. It was ranked 432nd the same time yesterday (see picture below)[2]. Typically these collaborations result in a rather temporary spike in this way. But for Rovio, I expect they’ll be quite happy to find another channel through which to connect with fans in Japan.

The Finnish company appears to have found Japan relatively difficult to crack in comparison to other markets, with so many other strong character brands to go up against. Although when we spoke with Rovio representatives earlier in the year, they emphasized that they wanted to take things slow. Japan is a hard nut to crack, but this is a good step.

angry-birds-puzzle-dragon-collab
Source: App Annie

angry-birds-puzzle-dragons-collab-2 angry-birds-puzzle-dragons-collab-2


  1. As with past P&D collaborations (see Batman: Arkham Origins), Clash of Clans), players can collect special themed monsters to power up and evolve. Some of these special monsters have been less than great in the past, but the Angry Birds characters I’ve collected so far (surprisingly) do not suck.  ↩

  2. For 9pm Japan time.  ↩

Rovio holds Angry Birds lucky draws nationwide in Japan

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When we last chatted with Rovio here in Japan, the Finnish game developer entertainment company told us that they had a number of local partners on board for their Angry Birds business. One of those partners is Furyu, with whom Rovio is now running a fun sort of lucky lottery campaign. In select locations, Angry Birds fans can pay 500 yen (or about $5) to participate in a draw for some AB merch. You’re guaranteed to win at least a small plush toy, but if you’re lucky, you could walk away with very large one, or the top prize, an Angry Birds travel bag. Rovio’s country director for Japan, Antti Sonninen, showed me one of the locations today at Takashimaya department store at Shinjuku. And while this sort of giveaway at a few stores isn’t really that impressive, if you take a look at how widely Rovio and Furyu are conducting this campaign, then the scope becomes a little more impressive. Check out the map of locations below. While I was surprised to see that the in-store promotion is little more than a poster, the campaign is getting far more visibility by through the Angry Birds in-game news page (or…

angry-birds-lucky-draws

When we last chatted with Rovio here in Japan, the Finnish game developer entertainment company told us that they had a number of local partners on board for their Angry Birds business. One of those partners is Furyu, with whom Rovio is now running a fun sort of lucky lottery campaign.

In select locations, Angry Birds fans can pay 500 yen (or about $5) to participate in a draw for some AB merch. You’re guaranteed to win at least a small plush toy, but if you’re lucky, you could walk away with very large one, or the top prize, an Angry Birds travel bag. Rovio’s country director for Japan, Antti Sonninen, showed me one of the locations today at Takashimaya department store at Shinjuku. And while this sort of giveaway at a few stores isn’t really that impressive, if you take a look at how widely Rovio and Furyu are conducting this campaign, then the scope becomes a little more impressive. Check out the map of locations below.

While I was surprised to see that the in-store promotion is little more than a poster, the campaign is getting far more visibility by through the Angry Birds in-game news page (or ‘pause’ page), where’s there’s a link to the the Furyu campaign page. If you’d like to try one of these Angry Birds lucky draws for yourself, head to one of the locations nearest you to give it a go (assuming you’re in Japan).

In addition to this localized promotion, Rovio is planning even bigger things this upcoming weekend, kicking off its weekly series of videos on March 16th and 17th. In addition to being able to watch these short videos inside their app (which is currently free, ostensibly to help increase visibility this weekend), a number of broadcasters are on board to help distribute the animations as well. Here in Asia, that includes JEI TV in Korea, ANTV in Indonesia, and the Cartoon Network in India.

Why Angry Birds prefer not to be early birds in Japan

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See the Japanese version of this article It has been a while since I last spoke to the folks from Rovio, the Finnish company behind the wildly popular Angry Birds mobile game. But I recently had a chance to catch up with a few members of their flock in Tokyo, as the company gears up to open a new office in the Japanese capital, likely this spring. And while it might make for a more dramatic story to say that the company is making a furious push for Japan, that’s not the case. In fact quite the opposite. They are taking it slow, and that’s how they want it. I would argue that Rovio’s Angry Birds has achieved the kind of pop culture icon status not really seen since the days when Mario Bros revolutionized gaming. But the company realizes that if it wants to permeate uber-cute Japan, which has a culture of firmly established brand icons like Hello Kitty, Anpanman, and yes, Nintendo’s Mario Bros, they need a long term game plan. Peter Vesterbacka, ‘Mighty Eagle’ [1] at Rovio explains: We want to figure out how to build a proper presence that lasts – not just for the next…

Right to left: Peter Vesterbacka, Antti Sonninen, Henri Holm
Right to left: Peter Vesterbacka, Antti Sonninen, Henri Holm

See the Japanese version of this article

It has been a while since I last spoke to the folks from Rovio, the Finnish company behind the wildly popular Angry Birds mobile game. But I recently had a chance to catch up with a few members of their flock in Tokyo, as the company gears up to open a new office in the Japanese capital, likely this spring. And while it might make for a more dramatic story to say that the company is making a furious push for Japan, that’s not the case. In fact quite the opposite. They are taking it slow, and that’s how they want it.

I would argue that Rovio’s Angry Birds has achieved the kind of pop culture icon status not really seen since the days when Mario Bros revolutionized gaming. But the company realizes that if it wants to permeate uber-cute Japan, which has a culture of firmly established brand icons like Hello Kitty, Anpanman, and yes, Nintendo’s Mario Bros, they need a long term game plan. Peter Vesterbacka, ‘Mighty Eagle’ [1] at Rovio explains:

We want to figure out how to build a proper presence that lasts – not just for the next year or two. We want to be a leading entertainment brand, one that’s more Japanese than many of the Japanese [brands].

Learning locally

But at the same time, they recognize that the business models in Japan leave much room for innovation and disruption. And while the company has been active on the ground in Japan making deals with local partners, they still haven’t really made a significant marketing push in the country. I asked if they’d ever consider television ads in Japan, as that’s a common tactic among the major internet companies here – but Peter says they would likely do something else. Rovio always takes a somewhat different approach in its marketing, he notes, and that’s likely to be the case in Japan as well. Of their existing merchandising partnership with Sanrio, the makers of Hello Kitty, he explains:

It’s always important to have the best possible local partners, because we can learn a lot from them. This was the same reason we wanted to work with LucasArts on Star Wars [2].

angry-birds-japan

I’m told that the downloads that Rovio is seeing from Japan still have a long way to catch up with neighboring Korea, as smartphone penetration still has much room to grow in Japan. This is another reason why playing the long game in the country might be a wise idea, because a all-out marketing push at this time could indeed be premature.

But in the interests of giving locals an idea of what Rovio and Angry Birds are all about, they recently published a sort of Japanese language primer about what Angry Birds is all about (pictured right). Antti Sonninen, Rovio’s country director in Japan, points out that the site launched just a few weeks back. This is actually a common tactic for digital companies bringing a new digital product into Japan. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – all have done similar things. They hope to answer many of the basic questions about Angry Birds here, including profiles of the different birds, as well as an explantion of in-game items.

Global migration patterns

Meanwhile in nearby China the Angry Birds brand has truly taken flight. I’m told that in a recent survey of 1,000 people that about 94% were familiar with the Angry Birds brand. The company has never been too upset about the IP infringements that usually accompany expansion into China, because it’s only a precipitate of passion for their product. Without going into too many details about their upcoming plans in the country, Peter says with a smile that “there’s a lot going on in China.”

Currently the company has a headcount of about 550 people, with 90 percent of those in Finland. But from what I can tell, the team is very adept at spreading their message, focusing their energies in the right places at the right time. Peter was recently in Russia where Rovio hopes to open activity parks in the next year, as well as push their new Angry Birds branded cola.

Looking at other top mobile games in comparison, there aren’t many that can even come close to what Angry Birds has done in terms of building such a recognizable and iconic brand. It will be interesting to see if this long term strategy works for Rovio, not just in Japan but across the globe.


  1. If I recall correctly, I believe this is the actual title on his name card. Fun stuff.  ↩

  2. Published in conjunction with LucasArts, developed by Rovio and Disney Mobile.  ↩