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King.com
Go ahead, try to ignore the latest Candy Crush video game.
King.com’s “Candy Crush Soda Saga,” the latest entrant in the company’s popular puzzle game series, was officially released earlier this month. People have been inviting one another to join the game, making it hard for users on Facebook to escape visions of candy dancing in their News Feed.
A video posted by King and sent to Facebook’s users through its advertising system, was viewed by 100 million people across seven countries in its first day, Facebook and King said. That makes it one of the most successful video advertising campaigns Facebook has seen yet, reaching about an eighth of the 864 million people who log on to the service daily.
The move is a key win for Facebook, whose advertising business still ranks second to Google in global advertising revenue, according to eMarketer. More than 70 percent of the people who viewed King’s 15-second video did so on a mobile device, another indication Facebook’s mobile advertising business continues to gain clout. Two years ago, when Facebook went public, about 5 percent of advertising was spent on mobile devices. In 2014, it’s expected to reach 22 percent, according to eMarketer.
One of Facebook’s efforts to juice its advertising business is its Creative Shop, which helps companies and agencies brainstorm advertising campaigns. One of the other most recent efforts was McDonald’s “Fry Futbol,” in which the fast-food chain produced 30 videos re-enacting key moments from the 2014 World Cup soccer matches using french fries as players. That effort reached 125 million people in 158 countries during the monthlong event. By comparison, King’s video reached 100 million people in a day.
“When you create a mobile video, you need to bring your story to life in a matter of seconds,” said Rob Newlan, regional director of Facebook Creative Shop, in a statement.
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Facebook and King have a long history. King’s key title, “Candy Crush Saga,” was originally designed to be played on Facebook’s website before it was released for mobile devices. Released on the social network in April 2012, Candy Crush quickly rose in the social gaming ranks, helped in part by a mobile launch in November 2012 on Apple’s iOS operating system and on Google’s Android OS a month later. A year after its release, it had surpassed the flagship game from King rival Zygna, FarmVille 2, on Facebook and would go on to be the most downloaded iOS app of 2013.
Candy Crush Soda Saga marks the first sequel for that game, though other “Saga” titles have been created too, such as Bubble Witch Saga and Pet Rescue Saga. Candy Crush still generates the majority of King’s revenue, yet the game has begun falling from its astronomical heights. Other titles, such as Clash of Clans from Finnish game maker Supercell, has become a fixture at the top of Apple’s top-grossing charts. Supercell has also been aggressive with its video advertising efforts, buying ad spots on television and on mobile devices.
CNET’s Nick Statt contributed to this article.
