The document discusses the rise of Sudoku as a phenomenon in Britain. It became hugely popular as a puzzle for people to solve during their commute or tea breaks. Sudoku grew so rapidly that by May 2005, over 90,000 people were searching for it online each week. This led one company, Starcom, to propose the first Sudoku sponsorship by creating a daily Sudoku channel on PDAs that delivered puzzles and ads, which became hugely successful in feeding the national Sudoku "addiction".

1. Parker 3-in-1

2. The Parker 3-in-1 Challenge
WHY?

3. When do you use a pencil then a pen?

4. The Sudoku Phenomenon
May 05
Source : National Newspapers
SUDOKU…A NEW PHENOMENON SWEEPING THE NATION

5. We knew Sudoku would be big…
Scientists have identified Su Doku as a classic meme…
It is using our brains to propagate itself across the
world like an infectious disease
Observer 15th
May 2005
This simple game has spawned a complex industry. Plans are
afoot to add the game to mobile phones, and a board game &
television show could soon leap onto the bandwagon
bbc.co.uk 22nd
April 2005
The game has become a phenomenon among those who like to
while away their tea break or commute by exercising their brain
with a puzzle
DMail 12th May 2005

6. But not this big!
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
55,000
60,000
65,000
70,000
75,000
80,000
85,000
90,000
w
/c
15th
N
ov
04
w
/c
22nd
N
ov
04
w
/c
29th
N
ov
04
w
/c
6th
D
ec
04
w
/c
13th
D
ec
04
w
/c
20th
D
ec
04
w
/c
27th
D
ec
04
w
/c
3rd
Jan
05
w
/c
10th
Jan
05
w
/c
17th
Jan
05
w
/c
24th
Jan
05
w
/c
31stJan
05
w
/c
7th
Feb
05
w
/c
14th
Feb
05
w
/c
21stFeb
05
w
/c
28th
Feb
05
w
/c
7th
M
ar05
w
/c
14th
M
ar05
w
/c
21stM
ar
05
w
/c
28th
M
ar05
w
/c
4th
A
pr05
w
/c
11th
A
pr
05
w
/c
18th
A
pr
05
w
/c
25th
A
pr
05
w
/c
2nd
M
ay
05
w
/c
9th
M
ay
05
w
/c
16th
M
ay
w
/c
23rd
M
ay
w
/c
30th
M
ay
NumberofSearches
Source : Overture (Yahoo /Altavista / Lycos / Wanadoo / msn)
Starcom
proposes Sudoku
sponsorship

7.  Britain is a nation of business
commuters: we spend 26
minutes a day commuting (a
rise of 20% in the last 10
years).
 Britain is also a nation that
loves crosswords and puzzles:
on their trains, trams and
underground, half of British
people do some kind of
puzzle every day, 20% of
them spend over an hour
doing them.

8. The Sudoku Addiction & The 3-in-1
Pencil Pen
PDA
Stylus
Newspaper Sudoku
Sponsorship

9. We created the first and only real Sudoku
Sponsorship

10. The Sudoku Addiction & The 3-in-1
Pencil Pen
PDA
Stylus
The Independent
Sudoku Sponsorship
CREATE
Sudoku Channel

11. Every PDA ran Splash Pages & Banners

12. A Parker Sudoku Channel
Content changed daily to feed the addiction

13. Outstanding Value
 Banner / Splash page response 3 times average
 Over 180,000 people are sent – at their request – a
Parker Sudoku puzzle every day
 This makes it bigger than CNN on PDAs
 We’d make over £650k per year if they paid a penny a
puzzle a day
 Media owner is rolling it out globally