Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment has announced it plans to start marketing virtual goods based on its movies in the teen-oriented virtual world of Habbo. Initial items offers for sale will include items based on Mean Girls,The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Beowulf; the deal gives Habbo rights to market online goods for all three properties throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Habbo is an established virtual online world for teens, with localizes communities set up all around the world. Teens get together in the virtual space to socialize, play games, buy/sell/trade in-world items, and (of course) customize their in-world characters, known as Habbos. According to Habbo, the service has over 86 million registered users, averages over 8 million visitors a month, and over 60 percent of Habbo users go to Habbo every day. About 1.8 million of those users are North American teens
“The Habbo audience demands that their community reflect today’s real world pop culture entertainment landscape,” said Teemu Huuhtanen, EVP, Habbo business and President, North America. “By establishing a licensing deal with a leading studio like Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, we are able to produce themed virtual goods relevant to the movies our teen audience is watching, while simultaneously implementing impactful promotional campaigns for the studio.”
Paramount’s presence in Habbo will be both a marketing and promotional opportunity, as well as a chance to set up a new online revenue stream through micro-transactions.
