THIS is how you do a branded app

For the last few months every time the idea of an app comes up in a brainstorm or client meeting (whether a mobile app - invariably an iPhone app - or something like a Facebook app) I say the following: Unless it’s a killer idea - a truly useful or entertaining app that almost has the brand secondary to the overall user experience - why insist on building your own*? Why not look for an existing app that fulfils a similar objective, and partner with them by giving them budget to add a feature or content that their users - your consumers - want?

Via Dave King at The Royals, here is a great example of that: Volkswagen for the new VW GTI have teamed up with the Real Racing game - an existing iPhone app with an existing (and large) user base:

“Providing a highly playable 3D game with fairly lavish production values in exchange for this kind of brand exposure seems fair. And now, in the last day or so, the developers of Real Racing have pushed the VW content into the massive install base for the original game. This strikes me as one of the smartest digital media investment strategies I’ve seen. Rather than fund the complete creation of they leverage something with an existing fan base and add great content with virtually no need for media spend at all.”