Zynga teams up with Lady Gaga through GagaVille

Zynga is rocking out with Lady Gaga. In a first of its kind partnership, the social game publisher has created a marketing alliance with the pop icon so that fans will be able to connect with Gaga-inspired wares in Zynga games.

This kind of marketing promotion shows that Zynga’s social games are novel enough to attract celebrity star power. In the attention wars, such tie-ins will help Zynga rise above other social game companies and get better fan recognition.

On May 17, Zynga will launch GagaVille, a neighboring farm in Zynga’s FarmVille game. This will be a Gaga-inspired farm inside the game which will showcase Lady Gaga’s style and themes from her albums and videos. It will have things like crystals, unicorns and sheep on motorcycles. Users will get exclusive access in FarmVille to songs from Gaga’s Born This Way album before it is released on May 23.

From May 17 to May 19, players can unlock and stream a new unreleased track once a day. From May 20 to May 23, players can unlock and stream a significant portion of the songs from the new album, plus special bonus remixes.

Users in the U.S. and Canada can get $25 Zynga Game Cards at Best Buy that also include a free download of the Born This Way album plus exclusive bonus tracks, redeemable on May 23. There’s also an exclusive Lady Gaga unicorn for FarmVille players. Zynga will also havea  contest for seven winners who can get a day “On the Set With Gaga” during the artist’s next music video shoot.

In Zynga’s Words With Friends mobile game, there will be a Words With Gaga contest. If a player plays the special Gaga word of the day, they will be entered to win tickets to a concert on Lady Gaga’s next tour, plus a signed copy of Born This Way. Users will be picked randomly from May 17 to May 26 in the U.S.

Zynga is also partnering with Lady Gaga to offer exclusive virtual items across 10 games. Players can log into Zynga’s meta rewards platform, RewardVille, to redeem zCoins for exclusive limited edition Gaga-inspired virtual items. Those items are available in CityVille, FrontierVille, FarmVille, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker, Café World, Treasure Isle, YoVille, PetVille, and Vampire Wars.

FarmVille players and “little monsters,” as Lady Gaga calls her fans, will get a chance to listen to new songs via streaming powered by Clear Channel’s iHeart Radio player.

“I want to celebrate and share ‘Born This Way’ with my little monsters in a special way that’s never been done before,” said Lady Gaga. “Zynga has created a magical place in FarmVille where my fans can come play, and be the first to listen to the album.”

Owen Van Natta, Zynga’s executive vice president of business, said Zynga is focusing on new ways to entertain and surprise players.Back in March, Zynga and Lady Gaga teamed up to raise $3 million for Japan relief efforts.