International development agency Transaid has used an online game to raise awareness of the transport challenges faced by health workers in Africa.
"The Transaid Challenge has given us an entry point to make people understand and respect the importance of transport management and operating skills to the delivery of basic services and livelihood opportunities," says Caroline Beaumont, Transaid`s head of marketing.
The challenge has been played 380 000 times worldwide, and has helped to increase traffic to the homepage by 2 000%, says Beaumont. "Before, we were a very low-profile charity with an equally low profile on the Web, so the challenge has really helped us to communicate with a wider audience."
The game has attracted a new audience that may never have visited the site before. "We already have a really good profile among our supporter companies at senior management level, but we were not reaching operational staff, or younger supporters - a valuable audience who can fundraise and advocate on our behalf."
The game was designed by a digital agency called Fish in a Bottle and developed at a cost of lb9 500, with sponsorship from Barclays Bank, says Beaumont.
"The cost has been a good investment as we have achieved much more than we ever would have been able to by spending the same on more traditional, offline media to promote our cause.
"It`s unrealistic to think that people are going to understand everything about what Transaid does from playing it, but it serves as an introduction to the issues and the resulting traffic to the main site proves that it has motivated a large number of people who want to find out more," she says.
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