Review of in game advertising

Video Games as a form of Communications: An Introduction Will Chan

Presentation objectives
Understand what game communications has to offer
Understand it’s strengths and weaknesses
Look at sample case studies
Create a video game advertising campaign.

What is video game advertising?
In game advertising is….
Paid non-personal communication from an identified sponsor within video game media or in a video game format to inform or persuade an audience.
Will Chan 2009

Intro Video

In game advertising:
Becoming an integral part of many games
Highly accountable and measurable
Highly targeted
Accepted by most gamers so long as it is not intrusive and is contextual
Gamers can interact with some adverts
Low lead time for dynamic adverts
Brand appears innovative and on the cusp of technology and current trends

In game advertising disadvantages
Prone to the same noise as regular advertising
Increasingly competitive share of voice (especially in sport sims)
Is the gamer really paying attention?

3 major forms of advertising
Static Advertising
Dynamic Advertising
Advergame

Static Advertising
A hard coded, one off integration into the game
Long lead time, difficult to plan. (must be planned at early development stage of game, anything from 6 months to 2 years)
Long life span
As long as the game is being played
Better for brand advertising
Higher cost than dynamic adverts

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
10 million copies sold
15-25 male audience
Gamer interacts directly with brand
Excellent image transfer
Remains in game forever
Source: http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/7980/Ubisoft-Announces-InGame-Advertising-Partners-for-Splinter-Cell-Chaos-Theory/

Metal Gear Solid 4
4.5 million copies sold
Clever and humorous integration of product…
http://www. youtube .com/watch? v=d4akxDMoBQs &feature=related
Source: http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/4569.html

Dynamic Advertising
Essentially billboard in games, the contents of which can be easily changed.
Adverts are updated via internet connection
Short lead time (one week or less)
Prone to being out of context
Short lifespan
Better for advertising a product

Sims 3
Projected 7 million copies sold
12-18 male and female
Gamer interacts directly with brand
Excellent contextualization
Billboards update frequently
Source: IGA WW personal correspondence

Battlefield 2142 1.8 million copies sold 18-34 audience male Gamer passively receives advert Poor contextualization due to poor execution Source: IGA WW personal correspondence

NHL 2009
ESPN promoting new ESPN360 service on NHL 2009
Sports games naturally have an excellent fit
Prone to becoming overcrowded due to game publisher
EA heavily advocating game advertising

Direct click through on billboards
Excellent tracking of gamer
Typical gamer gets addicted and plays for hundreds of hours….
Low share of voice competition
Football Manager Live

$44,465.78 for one month in Burnout Paradise
Does the content of the game transfer to the political message of Obama?
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6200232.html?sid=6200232

Static/Dynamic Hybrids
Hard coded interactive features supported by dynamic elements.

Football Super Stars Online sports MMOG Purchase branded products to improve stats Cross between dynamic & static

Playstation Home
Part of the standard Play Station 3 experience
users can access virtual worlds similar to Second Life
More accessible than Second Life (less geeky, more moderated)
estimate 3.5 million PS3 units installed in UK
Source: http://news.spong.com/article/16890/UKs_Console_Install_Base_Corrected?cb=935

Red Bull Island
Innovative & Interactive
Excellent image transfer

Diesel Home Store

Mobile games yet to truly take off
But can be a useful promotional tool for established brands
Guitar Hero Mobile: over 1 million downloads
Source: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/30694/Guitar-Hero-III-mobile-nears-1-million-sales

Advergame
A game made for the purpose of promoting a brand or product.

Bolt promotional game for iPhone
Free download garnered 700,000 downloads in 6 weeks
Source: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=96958

Measurement & Accountability

Highly measurable
Contracts arranged by CPM, with very precise measurements. One impression is:
at least 70 degrees of billboard, for at least 2 seconds, covering at least 4% of screen. Each player is counted a maximum of twice in 10 minutes.
Or by contract length (ie 2 weeks, )
Impression figures are prone to fluctuation, however metrics are still measured.
Source IGA, personal correspondence

Concerns about game advertising
Quality of adverts is often not high enough. Has not had the time to mature in the same way as traditional adverts

Will the audience pay attention when they’re so involved?

Considerations
What are your objectives?
Who is your target audience?
Are they playing games?
When do they play games?
(Christmas is peak for video games sales, Summer has fewer releases generally due to better weather and alternative entertainment options)
How many people are playing the game?
Will the player interact with other players or with brand representatives?
How involved is the player with the game?
What are the contents of the game and will they affect the advert?
Does the advert fit the game contextually?

Knock on effects…
Singstar, Guitar Hero, Rock Band contribute to digitally downloaded music and spiked interest in learning a new instrument.
Can a song released only on a video game reach number 1?

Creative exercise
Pick your favorite brand/product
Suggest a video game campaign to help raise awareness of the product.
Consider:
Your audience
Which types of games you would use
Whether you are running a static or dynamic campaign
What is the creative execution?
When you will run the campaign
How might it integrate with other communications?

Example titles: The Sims, Ben10, Bratz Kids Mobile games, Cooking Mama Portable Brain Training, Wii Fit, Tetris Casual Ferrari Challenge Racing PKR Poker, 8 Ball Club, Grand Billiards Lifestyle FIFA, NBA, Beijing 2008 Sport Quake, Thief, Super Mario Action/Adventure Example Titles Game Genres

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Review of in game advertising

by Leeds University on Aug 12, 2009

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Review of in game advertising — Presentation Transcript