Why:

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (TBRPC) wasn't being heard. Their mission: to awaken business owners to the perils of natural disaster and poor risk planning. The problem was business owners, especially small businesses, tend to make risk mitigation a low priority against the day to day battle of keeping the lights on.

Over the years, TBRPC had produced large workbooks full of information on how to prepare for any type of disaster but had a difficult time getting the small business owner engaged in the tool. After all, who wants to read a 500 page workbook in their "spare time"?

How:

Red Frog knows first-hand that when you sprinkle in a dash of fun to learning you get a better result. We developed an interactive online game that takes the small business owner through a series of strategic choices and subsequent events.

Ohoy Maties! Welcome to Pirate Bay- a theme park where only the savvy will survive.

The player is the owner and before rolling the first digital die, he/she fills out an interactive survey answering questions pertaining to their level of insurance coverage, monthly payroll overhead, number of employees, and environmental facets of their specific business that could add or mitigate risk. After rolling the die, each square that the player lands on prepares the player for forthcoming disasters such as hurricanes, bomb threats, loss of key personnel, floods, fire, and of course, what theme park would be complete without the risk of salmonella poisoning?

Money comes in and money goes out, simulating the cash flow situation of the small business owner. You must process payroll, manage law suits, and accept the bonus feature of a holiday weekend cash influx. However, with increased traffic the player must ensure that the theme park is fortified with certain types of insurance, reinforcements, and personnel.

At the end of each game, the player may print their score, and download a customized sheet of recommendations on how to redeem better results, reduce disaster occurrences, and build a healthier sustaining organization overall.

To drive traffic and engage interest in the free online game, it's availability was highly publicized through HTML emails through the media, and within business (governmentally promoted) organizations.

Results:

When launched, the online game was an immediate success with a 30% direct response rate. During a survey taken post launch, (and when the visitor to the site signed in to play the game), it was found that small business owners were 70% more willing to engage with the interactive game, versus the workbook, to learn the importance of properly planning your small business for disaster preparedness.

Red Frog was awarded the Gold Addy for Interactive Design and Marketing by the Tampa Bay Advertising Federation.