I have seen many neat and entertaining interactive applications on company websites. Some of the programs are so fun for the user they become viral - the point of most of these apps - and thus the company gains what we marketers call "greater brand awareness." But, before you jump on the web application band wagon, make sure your glimmer doesn't fail to give users a clear idea about the company, or the call to action.

Recently, I was asked to create a couple of "games" for a financial company. The only direction from them was to make sure people would want to play. I would add to the direction "and it doesn't detract from the company brand, it allows us to showcase one product or service, and the user wants to continue on to the main site, or sign up for our newsletter, or some other call to action happens."

Web application programming doesn't come cheap, so companies must keep the direction I added in the previous description on the fore-front of the project. For instance, a local newspaper wants to develop a web application program because they see competitors and other companies doing it. The consultant they have hired comes up with a newspaper boy throwing all of his papers to all the houses without breaking a window or landing on the roof. It is mildly entertaining, but what does it accomplish?

Now let's add some marketing finesse to the program, the user registers on the site to keep their score in the newspaper game while agreeing to be on a mailing list. This would increase the company's database. Add to this scenario the last newspaper thrown opens up and exposes the day's headlines which are clickable and now we have database growth and possible hits to the main site. We can ratchet this up by ensuring the look and feel of the game mimics the brand established by the newspaper, and the company logos are static in the users' viewing window. This increases the brand awareness of the newspaper with anyone who chooses to play the game, and it doesn’t detract from the established brand of the company.