gaming and advertising: a promosing upturn

Gaming & Advertising

Pieter-Jan Adriaensens

Gaming & Advertisinga promising upturn

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Content

1. What is the situation like today?2. How did the past had its influence on the

present?3. Advergaming and in-gamevertising4. They come in many forms and shapes5. Advergaming and social gaming6. Advergaming, crossmedia and communities7. Advergaming and protest8. Conslusions

What is the situation like today?

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The gaming-public has broadenedCliché images are fading

Gaming is an interesting channel for advertisers to reach the difficult

to reach target group 18-36 yrs old

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When we were young we used to hook up with our friends to play Playstation games. Nintendo’s Wii brings back those emotions

Gaming has and will become more and more a social event

How did the past had its influence on the present?

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Inception & first experiments: 60’s – 80’sThere wasn’t much technology available in this period. Creating games was almost unaffordable andthus held a huge risk . One of the first companies to start advertising through games was Ford (Mustang), quickly followed by Coca-Cola & Bud in the early 80’s (booming of the pc market)

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The advent of PC games: 90’sThe upcoming of the personal computer was promising but advertisers kept making the same mistakes as in the period before. A positive evolution of this period was the bringing of in-context advertising: content contributes to the realism of the game and is not irritating (more subtle).

A new era with new possibilities was needed and thus the Internet made her entry in the early 90’s, rapidlychanging the possibilities & experiences of the gaming industry

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Internet & Flash: the new millenniumAdvergames knew a huge popularity boost because of the fast uprise of the Internet. They could be spread more effectively and a larger audience could be reached. The introduction of Flash offered new possibilities: it was fast in development, cheap and had excellent sound.

2000: America’s Army: the biggest online advergame ever made. It was created to influence young people to choose for a career in the US military

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Gaming is booming!

89% Of Americans

watch primetime TV

4% Of Americans

watch a movie in a theater

58% Of Americans play

some kind of a computer/videogame

Source: 2006 Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc.

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Video Game Advertising Revenue(in Millions)

$34.0 $71.9$173.1

$302.9

$432.7

$562.5

$69.0$83.6

$113.7

$153.3

$203.5

$259.9

$312.2

$10.0

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

In-Game Advertising Advergames

Source: Yankee Group, 2005Source: Yankee Group, 2005

“Offline advertisers buy time, interactives create time”

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Q. Do you play games online? (%)

55.952.6

63.6

58.8

50.453.3

58.2 57.4

44.147.4

36.4

41.2

49.646.7

41.8 42.6

Total Male Female 13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45+

Yes No

More than 83 million gamers are currently online (2006)Women take in more than 60% of the online gaming population. They often play casual games and are the ones with spending power. Games are ideal to reach the difficult to reach segment 18-34 of age (they avoid traditional media more often). The green bar are the ones responsible for purchase.

Source: Nielsen Interactive Entertainment 2006 Active Gamer Benchmark Study & Media Metrix, July 2006

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Gaming in comparison with other more traditional media

The Gaming category reaches majority of web users

Total Monthly Minutes (billions)

Games tops the number of monthly minutes users spend by category

Total Monthly Online Users by Category

83MM people went to a gaming site in July 48% of online population

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Gender balance is evening out

"With the explosive growth in casual games over the past few years, it's no surprise that the gaming population, overall, is beginning to strike a more even gender balance than it had previously, when it was oriented heavily toward young males," says Mr. Verna. "This shift is creating opportunities for marketers to reach highly coveted demographic segments that in the past were not readily associated with video games."

M. Verna, eMarketer Senior Analyst of Universal McCann

16Source: http://blog.delaranja.com/?p=836 & http://business-model-design.blogspot.com/2007/01/nintendos-blue-ocean-strategy-wii.html

Nintendo focussed their attention on consumers in stead of the brand. They put ‘fun’ central.

Nintendo’s Blue Ocean Strategy

Advergaming & In-gamevertisingSay wuh?

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Advertising Format

Integration

Description

Advergames Custom-made games specifically designed around a product or service. In many cases they also bring out a message about the brand.

Static In-game Advertising

In-game Not changeable advertising inside of a game.

Dynamic or Interactive In-game Advertising

In-game Changeable and/or clickable advertising within networked games.

Inter-Level Advertising

In-game Video or rich media advertising that is presented in a natural break in game play, typically between levels.

Plot Integration In-game A product plays an active role in the game; the player experiences the product features & benefits in context with the game play situation.

Pre- Roll In-game Video or rich media advertising that is presented as the game loads

Product Placement

Around Game, In-game

Integration brand messaging, sponsorship and/or products into the game.

Sponsorships Around Game, In-game

Website, Leaderboards, Tournaments, Sweepstakes, retail promotions.

Source: IAB Belgium

They come in many forms and shapes

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Advergames: loyalty & sales

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Advergames: corporate responsibility

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Advergames: brand experience

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Advergames: online multiplayer games

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In-Gamevertising (1)Ads can not change

Static In-Gamevertising

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In-Gamevertising (2)Ads change according to time & location

Dynamic or Interactive In-Gamevertising

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In-Gamevertising (3)An activity in the game… …triggers an email to the player*

…promoting trial of the product (in this case).

*requires player opt-in

Source: AdScape

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In-Gamevertising (4)

Inter-level In-gamevertising

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In-Gamevertising (5)

Pre-Roll In-gamevertising

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In-Gamevertising (6)

Product Placement In-gamevertising

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In-Gamevertising (7)

Sponsorship In-gamevertising

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In-Gamevertising (8)

Plot Integration In-gamevertising

Plot integration is when the products play an active role in the context of the game, allowing the audience to experience specific product attributes e.g. solving crimes with the help of a car and sophesticated technology.

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Casual Games

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Based upon the old game ‘bricks’

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Mobile Games & Mobile AdvertisingMobile gamin is set to known a huge growth in 2009

Advergaming & Social Gaming

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The Lost ExperienceGames can become powerful in social networks: they can act as a katalysator between people and unite them according to interest.

Source: http://www.thelostexperience.com/

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Virgin Records ‘the collective mind’

What happens when you create a good mix between Advergaming, crossmedia & communities?

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GoSupermodel – Village gameCommunicate towards a specific community with its own values and needs. In this case girls can become a virtual supermodel by playing the advergame

Source: http://nl.gosupermodel.com/

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Community GamingDolling Shopping

Express Yourself! Socialisation Fun Economy

All elements are inter-connected

Online Mobile

Crossmedial concept

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Why do they like it?• Safe ’hang-out’

– High security, Girls only!

• Broad palette of services– Entertainment, Community, Creative

challenges, Excitement

• Real life aspiration– Users are in transition phase (Kids -> Young

adults)– Shopping, dressing up and ”Express yourself!”

• The generic ”Princess Dream”– All young girls dream of becoming a beautiful

Supermodel surrounded by ”glitter & luxury’Young females represent the fastest growing

segment of Internet usage (Mediascope Europe, 2006)

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SHOP

SHOP

Let users buy and interact virtually with your brand

In-game shop

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In-game magazine

Magazines

Establish your magazine online - in the right context

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In-game trailers

Movies

Exploit the richness of Online media

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Some figures (dk)

Target group is: Girls 12 - 17 yrs old

0

10,000,000

20,000,000

30,000,000

40,000,000

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

World Wide

Denmark

• 334.000 registered profiles in Dec06

• 144.000 Unique Visitors in Dec06

• 39 million Page Impressions in Dec06

Advergaming used as a way to protest

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Criticism against corporationsAnti-advergames are to detract from or call into question a set of products or services for expressive, cathartic, social, or political purposes.

Source: http://www.mcvideogame.com/

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Let people think about something. Bring over a certain message

Disaffected – serious gameSource: http://www.persuasivegames.com/games/game.aspx?game=disaffected

What can we conclude?

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We have entered the domain of the user

• In-game advertising is an exciting prospect for brands and is a marketing tool still not being used to its fullest potential

• Always look to enhance the gaming experience, not detract from it

• Understand the gamer: their knowledge, their expertise, and their reason for playing

• Don’t interrupt your consumer unnecessarily (do not make your ad irritating)

• Make the ads relevant to the title, and make sure the title is relevant to your brand

• Don’t assume that it is enough to run your outdoor or TV ads within a game. Make them relevant

Thank You !

Pieter-Jan Adriaensenspj_adriaensens@hotmail.com