Hot on the heels of the re-launch of its main Web site in September and a Blizzard Fan Club site in October, Dairy Queen has rolled out an engaging online game and in-store promotion aimed at the 8-to-12-year-old market.
The “DQ Deeqs” are customizable avatars that live and act in an online game community at http://deeqs.com.
Supposedly by-products of soft ice cream experiments by Dairy Queen’s two founders back in the 1930s, the Deeqs have gotten out of their freezer and scattered across the map. Players can personalize their own Deeq by gender and with different colors and apparel. They can then send their Deeq on in-game adventures to recover map pieces and reunite the Deeq nation.
Along the way players can earn points redeemable either for features and gear inside the game or in Dairy Queen outlets for merchandise. Future game enhancements will include codes on Kids’ meal bags that will unlock hidden game features and Deeq trading cards that will also convey game codes.
The Deeq.com site includes an e-mail sign-up for notices about upgrades to the site and a monthly newsletter about in-store DQ promotions. Kids younger than 12 are requested to submit a parent’s e-mail address in order to get a game password and any other e-mail from the game. E-mail from DQ or Deeqs.com will then be sent to both parents and children.
E-mail registration at the site allows for signing up multiple children for individual passwords. Parents can also opt to complete a short survey about recent trips to DQ stores.
A notice to parents on the Deeqs.com site says that the company will not allow interpersonal communications such as file sharing or instant messaging on the site.
“Kids live in the digital world and this site and the Deeq characters really speak to them, said Tim Hawley, vice president of marketing communications for International Dairy Queen in a statement. “Giving kids a fun, safe, challenging online adventure game is the perfect way for young fans to DQ to interact with our brand.”
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