Social games publisher We R Interactive and Parature, a cloud-based customer engagement software, has announced that players of We R Interactive’s very popular I AM PLAYR Facebook football game can now more rapidly resolve support inquiries online and through the Facebook platform. The new support functionality for the official launch of I AM PLAYR, announced on 5 October, is powered by Parature’s cloud-based suite of customer engagement solutions, including Parature for Facebook™.
With a growing international fanbase, I AM PLAYR, is the first football (AKA soccer) game to let you experience the life of a footballer, through the eyes of a footballer. Leading up to its official launch, We R Interactive needed a way to engage with its gamers 24/7, offer self-service capabilities, as well as an online portal to submit inquiries. The company was an avid SalesForce customer, but realized it needed an intuitive platform specifically focused on customer service and engagement. The company’s biggest needs were access to insightful reporting and analytics on customer service issues in an easy-to-read format. Support within the Facebook platform was also a requirement as game adoption began to skyrocket. Being a social platform-based game, We R Interactive wanted to enable I AM PLAYR gamers to stay within the Facebook platform for support issues, without relying on its wall, which began to get clogged with support inquiries.
We R Interactive selected Parature to power its online customer support portal as well as provide support for its popular I AM PLAYR Facebook game through the Parature for Facebook solution. The company chose Parature because of its expertise and focus on customer service, because of its streamlined reporting capabilities, because it provided multi-channel support through cloud-based technology, and because it supports multiple languages, allowing We R Interactive to easily communicate with football fans all over the world.
Already since its initial test implementation two months ago, We R Interactive has seen measurable results including:
Reduction in inbound inquiries by more than 40% by providing a comprehensive online Knowledgebase for gamers to find answers to commonly asked questions. The Knowledgebase is available directly through Facebook as well as their custom support portal.
An increase of 62% in Facebook post views over the last month now that the company has more time to give to developing the community.
Response time to tickets/queries is now within one working day which is a direct improvement to the three working days offered before.
Resolution times are usually within two working days which is a direct improvement to the five working days offered before.
Parature is the provider of cloud-based customer engagement solutions and is used to support over 30 million end users worldwide. Parature empowers customer service organizations to monitor, manage, resolve and respond to a high volume of service issues across multiple communication channels, including the growing number of service-related conversations that are happening every day within social media channels. With more than a decade of experience, Parature delivers support and social media engagement and management solutions to mid-size and enterprise organizations across a wide variety of industries. Parature is among Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Software Companies and is the recipient of numerous product, technology, and leadership awards. Parature is used by some of the world’s most innovative organizations, federal agencies and companies, including Rosetta Stone, SuccessFactors and Threadless. Parature is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia.
Formed in June 2010 We R Interactive brings together the disciplines of games, film and TV production to create the next generation of social games, with a team previously responsible for many leading global entertainment franchises.
We R Interactive is backed by high-profile figures from film, music, finance and advertising, including Eric Fellner, co-founder of Working Title Films, Elio Leoni-Sceti, former CEO EMI Music, Paul Fitzsimons ex-media sector partner at Apax Partners and Peter Mead, founder of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.
In March 2011 the company launched its first game in open beta – I AM PLAYR, the first ever point-of-view football game. I AM PLAYR allows players to live the life of a professional footballer, pitting themselves against their mates and the rest of the world. The game delivers a new platform for brand advertising and a level of user engagement far beyond typical digital solutions, with brand integrations actively enhancing the user experience – this diversified business model is unique to We R Interactive.
Initial partners to I AM PLAYR include Nike, Red Bull and Alfa Romeo and top football talent featured in the game includes Theo Walcott amongst others. I AM PLAYR was voted Best Football Game 2011 by EPL Talk and named a finalist in the NMA awards for ‘technical innovation’.
Production is well progressed on further titles and product announcements are due shortly. These build upon We R Interactives’ proprietary storytelling technology “Muse” and stay true to the company’s aim of delivering high quality social games that bring a global audience together.
I AM PLAYR is the first ever point-of-view football game to allow players to experience the life of a footballer, through the eyes of a footballer, pitting themselves against their mates and the rest of the world.
I AM PLAYR, created by We R Interactive, is played across Facebook and soon across its own dedicated website, http://www.iamplayr.com.
The game combines live action video, interactive story-telling and first-person perspective game play to create a truly original narrative, where the storyline is dictated by the player’s decisions and actions both on and off the pitch.
Video-based narrative journeys allow the player to experience the consequences of their decisions.
Mobile games enable them to train and improve their skills on the move. Real-life crossovers mean their actions in the real world can affect their status and performance in the game.
Proprietary technology lets the game track multiple narratives, allowing innovative brand integrations to appear around the basic storylines.
I AM PLAYR launched in March in open Beta and has Nike as its Principal Brand Partner. Alfa Romeo is the sponsor of the game’s own football club, River Park FC, with shirt sponsorship from Ginsters. Red Bull is the game’s energy drink.
http://www.iamplayr.com
