In an imaginative foray into the terrain of branded content, digital marketing agency Kerb has developed a viral marketing game for easyMoney car insurance, in which rival insurance firms are hunted down by easyGroup owner Stelios....

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The online game, Insurance Hunter, went live on 15 December on the easyMoney website and across leading gaming sites. The game depicts rival car insurance brands that are being chased and obliterated by Stelios, and is a humorous take on the 1980's arcade game 'Spy Hunter'.

easyMoney.com provides online financial services including easyMoney.com car insurance with cover for as little as £10 a month.

Brands rivals included in the game

The car insurers depicted in the game are notable for their well-known icons and branding, such as the piercing ring of a red telephone, a theme park elephant, a British bulldog and an over-sized blue rat. Each opponent is unique and possesses its own sound effect, and each must be hunted down with a different weapon.

The game is built in Flash 8, and makes use of the most sophisticated programming skills in viral marketing. Kerb completed the project in under three weeks, and the game adds to its growing portfolio of work for easyGroup.

Jim McNiven, managing director of Kerb, comments: "This is another great viral marketing game that we've developed for easyGroup. We pulled together the imagination and animation skills of our team to develop 12 enemies for Stelios to destroy. It's one of the best Flash games out there at the moment in terms of playability and humour."

Stelios, easyGroup chairman, comments: "All easyGroup companies enjoy making serious corporate points in a light-hearted manner. The point behind this game is that the competitors of easyMoney.com car insurance provide supposed benefits and added services, which are not always wanted or needed. They do, however, always allow these competitors to charge consumers more money."

About Kerb:
Kerb is a successful full-service digital marketing agency with almost ten years industry experience. It has developed a reputation for efficient and reliable project delivery that meets marketing objectives. The company's clients include the BBC, Disney and Sony Playstation. Kerb discovered the Holy Grail of animation - how to transfer Flash animation to a broadcast quality format. In 2004 Kerb was awarded "Best Game" at the Flash Film Festival in New York for Microlife, and was in NMA's Top 10 Most Respected agencies for the third year running. Its largest project completed this year was a CDROM commissioned by the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London, containing eight interactive sessions to help depressed teens. In 2005, Kerb has been busy creating content for the BBC digital curriculum, and broadband games and mobile content for Disney. www.kerb.co.uk