Golden Tee Swings at Social Networking

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., Feb. 1/PRNewswire/ -- Few are using social media like Incredible Technologies, a coin-operated video game manufacturer in Arlington Heights, Illinois.  IT is the creator of Golden Tee Golf, the #1 bar room video game in the world.

Golden Tee's key demographic is a fun-loving guy who enjoys socializing in pubs and spending time online. IT was among the first to use tools like Facebook, Twitter and blogs to enhance its online presence.  IT is using social media to enhance the customer's experience by actually embedding it into the heart of its flagship product, an 18-hole video golf game found in over 10,000 bars worldwide.

Anyone who's been in a bar in the last 20 years knows Golden Tee.  While 5,000,000 people play Golden Tee, its bread and butter are the half-million diehards who play every week.

Like serious competitors of any game, these players love regaling each other with tales of their greatest shots.

IT's game development team figured out a way to bring their players' words to life.  Players not only record their legendary shots for all posterity, but they also share them online, courtesy of YouTube.  If one is playing Golden Tee and hits a virtual hole-in-one, he's invited to upload the "Great Shot" to YouTube, free of charge.  Within five minutes, the replay is posted online.

As soon as it's posted, IT will shoot the player an email with a link to the video.  If he has a smart phone, he can watch the replay in the bar where he just made the shot.  It's instant gratification (in HD, of course).      

In just one year, nearly 70,000 Great Shots have been uploaded.  They've been viewed over 1.2 million times.  It's a winning experience for players and for IT,  as their online branding is experiencing exponential growth.

Also, players can post the video on their Facebook page. Since 80% of Golden Tee players are also Facebook users, IT sees opportunity in developing programs that interface with Facebook.  

Another of IT's goals for using social media was to build its online presence and since it's done so, website traffic has doubled.  

Check out a few Great Shots at...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9xU6isoBjw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52sPQSSYwI4

SOURCE Incredible Technologies