Kiip is one of the coolest start up companies to integrate gaming into our daily lives. Linking advertisers and developers in conjunction with the latest smartphone technology sums up Kiip. This start-up company’s co-founder and CEO Brian Wong is only 19 years old. It seems that the youth of america is truly our future. Kiip’s innovative technology is not missing a beat. It is keeping up with the latest iphone ios 6 software and even taking its mission international. This amazing company bridges the gap between games and reality.
According to a TechCrunch.Com blog post, Kiip was created by CEO, Brian Wong and CTO Courtney Guertin. They met while working together at a startup company called Digg. The two often discussed creating a “rewards layer for the real world- and Kiip was born”. Kiip is just one of the successful startup companies that are becoming an international sensation. Wong and Guertin used their passion and enthusiasm to keep Kiip relevant in todays ever changing technology dependent world. Their latest software upgrade is linked to the release of the newest Apple IOS 6 software.
Apple released Passbook in september 2012 as a feature in the newest IOS 6 software. Passbook according to the itunes description is,“... the simplest way to store your boarding passes, tickets, coupons, gift cards and more in one place. With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, or redeem a coupon...”
The article, “Kiip Is The Perfect Company To Show Off The Potential Of Apple Passbook. Take A Look.” describes how Kiip linked into Passbook. When an IOS 6 user plays a Kiip enabled app, their rewards are sent and stored directly in their passbook. This makes rewards easy to access and organized. Lets say you had won a starbucks coffee and you went to redeem it a week later. Simply open your passbook and the coupon is waiting for you, ready to scan.
The only downside is that passbook is strictly for iphone IOS 6 users. Android users are not given this update yet. CEO of Kiip, Brian Wong is not worried. He hopes that google will develop a similar wallet gadget for the Andriod.
Kiip is not only making strides in the US. This startup company has moved international as well. TechCrunch.com has been fabulous with covering all the curent milestones with Kiip. An article found on their site titled, “Kiip Takes Its First International Steps, Inks Reward Network Deal With UK’s Yo! Sushi” by Ingrid Lunden, a Techcrunch reporter based out of London tells all about the newest overseas venture. Yo! Sushi! is the first non-US company to sign up for Kiip. As of right now the deal is localized to London, but CEO Brian Wong, believes this is the only the beginning of many deals to come.
According to Ingrid Lunden’s article,
“ Kiip is planning to announce more brand partnerships in the UK soon, and it is “on the verge” of rolling out its first campaigns in the middle east and Asia Pacific, with Kiip’s London office, led by Eamonn Carey, leading much of that growth.”
Wong has good reason to be so optimistic. Kiip recently raised $11 million for funding. Wong discusses in an interview why investors would want a part ofKiip,
This is company that investors want to get involved in because it is truly a revolutionary idea. Kiip’s platform is what sets it apart for all other apps companies. Wong says, “We’re about rewards, not ads,”. He tells more about the platform of Kiip in the first 41 seconds of this video.
Brian Wong is adamant about Kiip not being an advertising platform. Wong believes cramming in advertisements don't work. He wants people to know that Kiip is a rewards network not a platform for advertisers.
Personally, I am very excited to see Kiip expands. Just the idea of getting a free cup of coffee, and a reward that I can use locally is enough incentive for me to play a Kiip enabled game. Just today I took out my phone and searched for Kiip enabled games. I simply typed Kiip into the app store search bar and found 32 games involved with Kiip. I am sure there are more to come, I believe Kiip is the future of gaming and marketing.