The average user tends to spend the majority of their time on Facebook through the use of Facebook Apps. The aim of this article is quite simply to identify some of the best examples of Facebook Apps designed and employed by brands. We've selected seven outstanding examples from the tens of thousands that are available to users. From those examples we've based our ratings system on three categories; Design, Longevity and Shareability.
7 of the best examples of Facebook apps that we found:
#1 - Innocent Drinks: Innocent Fruit Picker
Design: 5/5
Longevity: 5/5
Shareability: 5/5
Overall: 15/15
This is one of the best examples of Facebook Apps we could find, and should really come with a health warning. It is highly addictive. Trust me. The premise is simple; the user is in control of a fruit picking patch. You must direct your trusty fruit pickers to the relevant fruit basket, making sure they don't collide with one another or run into the various obstacles scattered around the level. If you're proud of your final score, you have the option of sharing your fruit picking prowess amongst your friends by way of a status update. So far I've resisted the temptation, although a recent high score had me hovering over the share button for a few fleeting seconds. The Longevity and Shareability in particular rank this amongst the best Facebook Apps out there currently.
#2 - Red Bull: Super Mega Nitro Jump
Design: 5/5
Longevity: 4/5
Shareability: 5/5
Overall: 14/15
Of all the brands on Facebook, Red Bull offer some of the best examples of Facebook Apps to their 30m or so fans. Based on a hugely successful game on Miniclip, Travis Pastrana's Super Mega Nitro Jump (catchy name, right?) gives users a choice of vehicles ranging from dirt bikes to magic carpets. You are then tasked with trying to set a respectable score on a simple platform game based on getting from one side of the level to the other. If you're proud of your score, you can challenge your friends to beat you via your news feed. In terms of pure playability, this has to be amongst the best Facebook Apps currently in existence.
Design: 4/5
Longevity: 3/5
Shareability: 5/5
Overall: 12/15
Dominos Play Today is a simple, Tetris-style Facebook App. The twist is that should you reach Level 4 or above (and post this achievement to your news feed), Dominos will donate $1 to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospice. This is intended to make the average user more inclined to share their enjoyment of the game, using the donation as the main motivator for playing the game. In the few days that this Facebook App has been live, almost $2,000 has been raised for the Hospice. It's clearly generating the desired effect and is a great example of Facebook Apps designed by brands with Corporate Responsibility in mind.
#4- Rangemaster: Win A Rangemaster
Design: 4/5
Longevity: 3/5
Shareability: 4/5
Overall: 11/15
Rangemaster offer one of the best examples of Facebook Apps with a prize. Prizes are usually relatively low cost; not in this case. Contestants have the chance of winning a £2,000 range cooker, and there are no tricky questions to answer either. Simply fill in your contact details, and cross your fingers. The brand are clearly banking on users sharing the competition amongst their friends. It's working too, as the amount of Likes that the brand has received has nearly tripled in the last 4 weeks.
#5 - Best Magazine: Eco-Egg Competition
Design: 3/5
Longevity: 3/5
Shareability: 4/5
Overall: 10/15
Best Magazine are one of the most pro-active brands in terms of ongoing Facebook Apps and Competitions. They usually run a new competition once every week or so. The current prize is a basket full of "eco-eggs", a long lasting laundry product. The competition questions are rarely difficult, and the answer is usually written within the text of the application itself. Best Magazine do this to promote Shareability, as users will be far more likely to engage and share with their friends if they believe there is a realistic opportunity to win a prize; whatever that prize may be.
#6 - McDonald's: Golden McRib Quest
Design: 5/5
Longevity: 2/5
Shareability: 2/5
Overall: 9/15
This is less of a game, and more of a quiz-based Facebook App. The user is tasked with answering various questions in rounds of three, before virtually arriving at their local McDonald's. If you've answered the questions correctly and your luck is in, you will unlock the mysterious Golden McRib. Although the aesthetics are great, the long-lasting appeal of this Facebook App is really quite minimal. This explains it's lowly ranking in our list of the best examples of Facebook Apps. We expect more from you, Ronald.
#7- EA Sports FIFA 12: You're Covered
Design: 4/5
Longevity: 1/5
Shareability: 2/5
Overall: 7/15
This is by no means one of the best examples of Facebook Apps. Still, it's relatively engaging and good fun for football fans. Upload a photo of yourself, and fit it into the cover photo template. You then select your nation and your favourite team, and there you have it. Your face is now on the cover of FIFA 12. While it is certainly not amongst the best Facebook Apps, it's still great fun to see how you would look on the cover of FIFA 12.
Have you recently noticed any outstanding examples of Facebook Apps by brands that haven't made it onto our list? Big Dot Media would love to hear from you with any examples that we overlooked.