Online
Game Rewards Hostway Customers for 'Blasting the Hassles'
of Web Hosting [October 5, 2004]
CHICAGO,
Oct 5, 2004 (PRNewswire via COMTEX) -- Web-hosting leader
Hostway Corp. has begun using interactive features on
its Web site to engage prospective customers with its
brand for extended periods of time, and is using viral
marketing techniques to attract new visitors to these
features.
To promote its offer of doubled Web
site capacity and bandwidth access, for example, Hostway
recently launched an interactive game at its Web site,
which has drawn thousands of players through a viral
marketing campaign. Each week, the company awards a
free Apple(R) iPod(R) music player to a randomly selected
player of its online game, "Blast the Hassles of
Web Hosting." The game is available at http://www.hostway.com/blast
.
In the game, players must keep users
safe by using the Hostway spaceship to shoot down Hassles
of Web Hosting, which are represented by the enemy spaceships:
Poor Support, Bad Tools, Too Complex, and Unreliable.
If a user is "hassled" by one of the enemy
ships, players can rescue them by shooting down the
enemy ship and catching them as they parachute to safety.
The more points scored by the player, the more iPod
prize-drawing entries the player earns.
"Our 'Blast the Hassles' game is
an enjoyable way for people to get acquainted with Hostway,"
said John Lee, Hostway vice president of marketing.
"Over the years, our customers have come to expect
a hassle-free Web-hosting experience from us, and that's
exactly what we give them. By giving new visitors to
Hostway a chance to literally blast the hassles of hosting
in an interactive game, we're setting expectations --
in a fun way -- for a satisfying and productive experience
for each new customer."
The interactive game is also hitting
home with customers. "Blast the Hassles is a great
promotional idea. My friends will all be on Hostway.com
trying to win an iPod," said David Schrenk, the
first Blast the Hassles of Hosting iPod winner. "Not
only do I have a domain name and Web site, but I am
in the computer consulting business and suggest hosting
to clients all the time. I will make sure to refer customers
to Hostway for hosting."
Lee said the company will provide other,
new interactive features on its site, and will promote
them through untraditional tactics as well as through
online advertising: "These kinds of features keep
prospective customers at our site for relatively longer
visits, which give us an opportunity to tell them our
story in entertaining and effective ways."
Earlier this year, Hostway increased
the storage capacity and bandwidth of its three most
popular shared-hosting packages as a tangible way of
expressing customer appreciation. Current and new customers
of Hostway's Value Plus, Gold and Gold Plus hosting
services automatically receive the new, expanded site
capacity and bandwidth.
About Hostway
Hostway Corporation provides Web hosting
and managed services to more than 300,000 customers
worldwide. Hostway helps individuals, small businesses
and large enterprises achieve more value from state-of-the-art
Web-based technologies by reducing their complexity
and cost. Founded in 1998, Hostway is one of the five
largest Web hosting companies in the world with offices
in North America (Chicago, Tampa and Vancouver), Europe
(London and Amsterdam) Asia (Seoul) and Australia (Sydney).
For more information about Hostway Corporation, please
visit http://www.hostway.com/ or call 1-888-290-5170.
Contact:
Drew Mitchell, Hostway, 312-994-7714,
drew.mitchell@hostway.com
Tina Janczura, Slack Barshinger, 312-970-5841,
tina.janczura@slackbarshinger.com |
