With over 500 million downloads and 10 million Facebook fans it was only a matter of time before this happened. The Fins went and beat everyone to the punch and opened the world’s first Angry Birds retail store. Helsinki, Finland is where Finland-based game developer Rovio has opened its first Angry Birds store, though the company says plans to expand beyond its home country are in the works.
For now, you can visit the Angry Birds Facebook page to catch a glimpse of what you’re missing—which is basically a clean, well-lighted space full of shelves stacked high with stuffed animals, books, and assorted knick-knacks of either an avian or porcine bent.
Thing is, you don’t really have to go to Finland to get a lot of this stuff. Rovio already offers various items of Angry Birds merchandise online, including plush toys, backpacks, and even a book of egg recipes. The company has been upping the ante on Angry Birds branding ever since the wildly addictive mobile puzzle game caught on, even making the rounds in Hollywood to test the waters for a possible onslaught of Angry Birds comic books, cartoons, movies, and merchandising.
That’s probably a smart move. As Rovio CEO Mikael Hed told Daily Variety a little more than a year ago, Angry Birds may be a massive hit but it’s tough to catch such lightning in a bottle twice. So it’s probably wiser to ride the known success as far as you can take it.
“It doesn’t make sense [to produce a slate of different games] when you have a hit of any caliber,” Hed said at the time. “When you create brand equity, to do that again would be a difficult task rather than nurture and build around what you have.”
I may have to delete this article before my son sees it and wants to go go Finland to check it out. Yes, he is obsessed with Angry Birds.
(Source)
