My ears perked up the first time I heard about the addictive mobile game Angry Birds, because its creator Rovio is Finnish, as were my grandparents. Even though Finns are known for their sisu (tenacity, or sheer guts), I wondered how this tiny company came to be an international powerhouse.
Angry Birds, which features wingless birds that are launched at fortresses of egg-grubbing pigs with physics-based demolition, has been downloaded 300 million times across all platforms. Forbes magazine (7/18/2011) reported: “It is the biggest-selling paid app ever and still number one in 80 countries.”
Q: The biggest-selling paid app ever? How did that happen?
A: Through the help of an effective and influential channel partner—Apple.
Here’s the story: Working at game development since 2003, Rovio nearly went bankrupt in 2006 and had to downsize from 50 employees to 12. When the iPhone was introduced in January of 2007 with its touch screen and impressive display, Rovio made a strategic decision to spend any extra time on game development for the iPhone.
Having previously developed 51 games, Rovio released Angry Birds during the December 2009 holiday season. It didn’t make much of a splash internationally, but Apple changed that.
In February 2010, Apple featured Angry Birds on the front page of its App Store. (And Rovio created a YouTube video with a basic version of the game and 42 new levels.) According to Forbes, “Within three days of Apple featuring Angry Birds, the app had jumped from the 600th-most-downloaded app to number one.”
From spot 600 to number one? In three days? That’s just crazy. That’s what the reputation and ability of a strong channel partner can do for you—elevate your brand, give you visibility, and give your customers a fighting chance to find you.
It’s never too late to assess the value your partners are bringing to your business and work with them to create stronger business relationships. Are your partners enhancing your brand? What value are they creating for your end-customers? How are they promoting your products to end-customers?
Chances are, the next time you see an Angry Bird, you’ll think of your channel partners. And I’m guessing that won’t be so very long from now. Every month, 50 million people play the game.