Don't Hate The Advertiser, Hate The Game!

As both an advertising student and a gamer (much MUCH less of the latter recently), I have seen first-hand the different ways that a company can execute in-game advertising (IGA). Mentioned in the lecture, IGA can be in a form of a "static" item within the game, a rich media item within the game, or the entire game itself. With the consistent progression of different forms of gaming (mobile/social, console, MMO, etc.), IGA is becoming a very attractive channel for brands because of the increase in accessibility and interactivity both inside and outside of the game. Especially with the development of technology such as the Oculus Rift, IGA will continue to be a very logical choice for advertising.

So how effective is in-game advertising? A recent report by MediaBrix, an ad network for mobile and social gaming, shows that video ads associated with gaming sites generate an average CTR of 3%, which is roughly 30 times higher than the CTR of standard online advertising campaigns (0.10%), Facebook ads (0.03-0.11%) and rich media banner ads (0.12%). Throughout the different gaming platforms, an average player spends 30-40 minutes per gaming session, with some regions going all the way up to 50 minutes (compared to the average of 5 minutes that 80% of average news site visitors get). In addition, players play games with the mindset of being fully engaged in the experience (a positive frame of mind). Essentially, this is one of the reasons why IGA is producing better rates than ads on other forms of entertainment.

Here are other reasons why in-game advertising should be taken into consideration when it comes to an advertiser's media planning:

• … Advertisements can now be dynamically delivered and updated in-game based on multiple criteria, such as players’ demographic, regional, and gamer profile, time of the day, etc. (Frontiers)
• Apart from reaching an ever-growing, diverse audience and the possibility to dynamically place, track, and alter ad units in games, the appeal of IGA also lies in the long shelf-life and replay value of games (the average game is played for up to 30 hours), and the fact that integrating ads into digital games can provide brands with the opportunity to become an integral part of the digital game experience, reaching out to players in a highly vivid, interactive and immersive entertainment environment. (Frontiers)
• Casual gaming offers advertisers a low-risk, brand-safe environment. Advertisers don’t need to worry that their ads will be placed next to content that is either band for the brand to be associated with or in a forum where people are likely to be discussing that brand in a negative light. (Mediapost)

Lastly, I would like to share some statistics that Microsoft concluded from one of their campaigns for Bing.com. In additional to traditional channels, Microsoft decided to include in-game advertising... And here are some of the results:

For more information on the entire case study (especially on the execution of the in-game ads), click HERE to download the PDF.