Brief:
- Game developer Zynga launched a campaign for its popular social gaming app "Words With Friends" that features celebrities, influencers and organizations sharing their "words with vision." For 20 straight days, Zynga's #WordsWithVision campaign will feature those words of the year on its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, per an announcement.
- Country singer Garth Brooks, which Zynga describes as a longtime player of "Words With Friends," on Jan. 16 kicked off the campaign with a video of his explanation for choosing "connection" as his word of the year. The campaign will culminate with the word "unity," which was chosen by players of the game.
- Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, author Wally Lamb, activist Roxane Gay and the Doctors Without Borders organization are among the contributors who share meaningful words during the campaign. People can participate by sharing their favorite words on the game's official social media accounts.
Insight:
Zynga's "Words With Vision" social campaign aims to raise awareness for "Words With Friends" while inspiring people to share their thoughts about what's most meaningful to them this year and during the new decade. By urging the participation of social media users through enlisting celebrities, influencers and established organizations, Zynga can extend the reach of its campaign organically as people post their words of the year along with dedicated hashtags.
The social effort comes a few months after Zynga revealed a data breach that may have exposed the login information of "Words With Friends" players. A breach monitoring site subsequently reported that 173 million user accounts may have been exposed, including those of "Words With Friends" players, the Guardian reported. It's not clear whether the data breach damped user enthusiasm for Zynga's games. The company reported a 48% gain in Q3 revenue to $345.3 million and a 78% jump in mobile game revenue to $266 million.
Mobile games have become a significant segment in the video game industry, making up 60% of its revenue last year, a study by GoldenCasinoNews.com found. The mobile gaming market is forecast to grow 2.9% annually to hit $56.6 billion by 2024, per the research.
