Easter Eggs All Year 'Round

One of the guys in the agency was very excited to show me a new Easter Egg from Google yesterday.

One it’s not Easter, it’s November and why are Google doing Easter Eggs? If you’re not a techie geek like me, you may well be thinking of the yummy chocolate version. Whilst not as tasty, these eggs are as much fun. We’re talking about intentional messages or features hidden within a computer program, webpage or video game.

The term Easter egg was coined by Atari when they first hid a message in a 1979 game called Adventure. Why call them Easter Eggs? Cause you have to hunt for them of course. Eggs are now widely seeded in all sorts of software, movies and books. And there are entire websites devoted to discussing and hunting Easter eggs with all kinds of rewards for hunters.

“Do a barrel roll” is the latest in a long line of Google Easter Eggs. It was trending massively on twitter and other social media networks. We don’t want to be spoilers so just type the phrase into Google and see what happens or watch the video (But hurry, it’ll only be available for a while.)

Also, it’s HTML5 so doesn’t work in all browsers or iPads (to see other Google examples click here). If you like that, try “tilt” in Google too.

We love it. It’s a great expression of the quirkiness of the Google brand which completely engages and connects with it’s users, not just the nerds like me.

So after enjoying my couple of Eggs, it got me thinking. Maybe more brands should think about loosening up a bit and allowing people to interact with them as part of their overall brand strategy. Whilst you might not choose to use Easter Eggs, there are plenty of other ways to reward and surprise brand fans. Consider Old Spice, “Interflora – Random Acts of Kindness”, or “Burger King – Sacrifice your Friends” for starters.

Brands that are willing to allow consumers to engage with them in a relevant way will strengthen the depth of their connection. I can’t think of any brand that doesn’t need some more of that. Egg, anyone?