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PHYSICISTS TURN EINSTEIN'S THEORY INTO COMPUTER GAME TO ATTRACT YOUTH MARKET
The Institute of Physics is to embark on an innovative viral marketing campaign
targeting the youth market.
The Institute, a charitable body, has created a fun and entertaining computer game
based on serious physics in the run up to 2005šs Einstein Year a year-long campaign
designed to boost the appeal of physics among young people.
Game players assume the role of an intergalactic cartoon bear who has had his time
machine stolen by aliens and is stranded on their alien space base.
The game mixes serious science and entertaining gameplay and is expected to reach
an audience easily in excess of three million during 2005.
It brings to life Einsteinšs famous Twins Paradox and incorporates physics-based
features including lasers, teleportation and even Beagle 2 the British space probe
that went missing earlier this year.
A soundtrack is provided by East London rap artist DJ Vader (the song was inspired
by Einstein), intended to appeal to cynical teenagers.
The game will be sent out virally from next week (Fri 29 Oct) via youth-based
mailing lists, with recipients encouraged to forward to friends and family. It is
also to feature on the Sunday Times CD-Rom The Month in December.
It will also be marketed via links on the Institutešs dedicated Einstein Year
website, in chatrooms and on message boards, and on viral websites such as Lycos
Viral and Viralbank.
It is part of Einstein Year - a major campaign by the Institute to enthuse 11-14
year-olds about physics - and incorporates strong references to the Einstein Year
logo, also specially branded to appeal to youth.
Einstein Year, marking the 100th anniversary of Einsteinšs discovery of Special
Relativity and part of the World Year of Physics, will run throughout 2005.
Einstein Year has attracted corporate sponsorship and support from major brands
including BP and BT as well as government backing from Lord Sainsbury, Minister
for Science. The Institute are still looking for more sponsors for the many
activities planned for Einstein Year.
Earlier this year the charity appointed Paul Danielsen to the newly-created post
of Director of Strategy and Communications to oversee the marketing push.
Danielsen, 42, who previously held senior marketing roles at TXU Europe and Shell,
said: The Institute opted to circulate the game organically rather than use
existing Institute databases so recipients regard it as subversive email
not corporately-driven.
Because our marketing techniques like computer games and rap songs are designed to
appeal to youth, any companies associated with this campaign will raise their
profile with this very important but difficult to crack sector too.
But this is more valuable than sponsoring generic areas like sport this gives
companies the chance to reach out to the nationšs brightest young things.
To find out more about Einstein Year, and how to get involved, visit
www.einsteinyear.org
For further information, contact Kate Sherry at mission21 on
0845 226 0803 or email Kate.Sherry@mission-21.com.
Notes to editors
1. The game was created using Flash Animation and is designed to be spread virally
on the Internet via websites and e-mails
2. The viral version of this game needs the Flash plug-in to work on your computer.
The Macromedia Flash player can be downloaded from www.macromedia.com
3. Stand alone versions for PC and Mac are available which do not need a plugin.
They are available from www.einsteinyear.org
4. The Twins Paradox theory that forms the basis of the game is part of Einsteinšs
Theory of Special Relativity that replaced the laws of Newton and Galileo in 1905
and changed our understanding of the universe forever. He was just 26 when he
did this, showing how space and time are really related.
5. The Theory of Special Relativity shows that measurements of distance and time
depend on how fast you are travelling - a result that goes against our everyday
experiences. As speeds increase towards the speed of light, the so-called
relativistic effects of time dilation (clocks running slow) and length contraction
(objects getting shorter) become more and more obvious.
6. The most famous part of Special Relativity is the equation E=mc2, where E
is energy, m is mass and c is the speed of light. The equation stems, in part,
from the relationship between energy and momentum that Einstein developed to ensure
that the speed of light was the same for everyone no matter what they were doing.
The equation tells us that energy and mass can be changed from one to the other -
that they are equivalent.
7. The game was the brainchild of mission21, the Institutešs retained PR and
marketing agency, and was designed by gaming agency Talking Toons.
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