Case study: Zippo recaptures that concert moment
By Simon Fuller. App lighting. The Virtual Zippo Lighter mobile application recently hit the 5 million-download mark, a milestone the company claims makes the Lighter the most popular free, branded app to date.
Launched last year, in collaboration with mobile content outfit Moderati, the app was built to recapture those classic lighter-swaying moments at arena concerts, and the app makes the iPhone do everything a common-or-garden lighter could do – apart from provide you with real fire, of course. You flick the iPhone to open the Lighter, use the wheel to light up, and then move the handset around to control the flame. Hours of fun, no burnt fingertips.
“For the longest time, dating back to the arena rock era of the 1970s, people had raised their lighters as a tribute to their favourite band,” says Brent D. Tyler, manager of event marketing and promotions at Zippo. “It was a phenomenon coined the ‘Zippo moment’ by music critic Ann Powers. With the influx of cell phones at the turn of the century Zippo began to take a back seat to those devices. We saw the iPhone as a device that could help us recapture that phenomenon.”
Why has it been such a great success? Well, Zippo reckon there are a few basic elements to a fine branded iPhone app – and the Lighter ticks the right boxes.
“[People look for] an app that uses the technology inherent in the device,” explains Tyler. “The Virtual Zippo Lighter takes advantage of the accelerometer, microphone, qwerty keyboard, etc. Future iterations of the app will utilize even more of the device’s capabilities. An app should [also] be entertaining, informational, or provide a solution to a problem, [as well as be] something simple.
“We’ve seen significant increase in traffic both to our website and web store from Apple devices since the launch of the app,” adds Tyler. “Our success with the app has given us a case study status that has created fantastic PR value. [Finally], a halo effect of the app has also brought some attention to our other marketing endeavours like our Zippo Encore program and some of our social media efforts.”
