EDINA Minn. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Dairy Queen, best known for frozen treats, began selling the game in Target Stores nationwide and online at
“We are excited about ‘DQ Tycoon,’ as it is a way for us to reach out to our fans and to consumers in a new, fun way,” said Tim Hawley, vice president of marketing and communications for American Dairy Queen Corp., which franchises the chain of more than 5,600 restaurants. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Gamers who play “DQ Tycoon” on their PCs can create new flavors of the chain’s signature Blizzard, serve Dilly Bars and decorate DQ Cakes. Players also can manage the operations of four separate Dairy Queens, where they must oversee staff and upgrade equipment. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Video game sales remain hot in the United States despite the fall in consumer discretionary income during this latest recession, and many restaurants have turned to the brand-building technique. According to The NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm, video game sales in November increased 10 percent from a year ago to $2.91 billion. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Burger King sells three video games starring its mascot, The King, for $3.99 with the purchase of any value meal: “Big Bumpin’,” “Sneak King” and “Pocketbike Racer.” The company often has cited The King as a sales driver, whether through television commercials or gaming efforts. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Pizza Hut advertised with a virtual restaurant in the background of last year’s car-racing game “Midnight Club Los Angeles” by Rockstar Games, as did quick-service chains Zaxby’s and The Coffee Bean. McDonald’s licensed and offered as a premium a “McDonald’s Land” game several years ago. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Dairy Queen is not the first brand to develop a simulated-restaurant game. In 2003, Enlight Software released “Trevor Chan’s Restaurant Empire,” which required gamers to manage the career of a culinary school graduate and build a restaurant. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Minneapolis-based GameMill Entertainment and Spark Plug Games created “DQ Tycoon.” —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Jill Anderson, Dairy Queen senior marketing manager, said the chain had no up-front costs associated with the game, as it has a licensing agreement with GameMill that netted the chain an undisclosed advance fee. Additional monies will come DQ’s way if specific sales goals are met, she indicated. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
GameMill approached Dairy Queen about the game, which took some six months to develop with input from a cross-functional team of DQ staffers. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
“There are tons of ‘Tycoon’ time-management games out there,” including the generic “Fast Food Tycoon,” Anderson said, “but they thought it would be interesting to put a strong brand behind one.” —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
Anderson declined to provide sales data but said about 4 percent of the people trying a demo version online purchased the full game, marking a fourfold increase over the game site’s typical conversion rate. —Dairy Queen, looking for additional brand exposure, is selling a video game, “DQ Tycoon,” that mimics running one of its quick-service restaurants, chain sources said.
