Video games have become just as influential on American culture as baseball and apple pie, if not more. According to Nielsen Entertainment, three-quarters of U.S. households with a male ages 8 to 34 own a videogame system. Now the $10-billion industry is attracting advertisers.
According to Massive Inc., a video-ad placement company, gamers see real-world ads and product placements as an enhancement of a game's realism. An Independent Harvard Business School study showed that more than 90 percent of "core gamers" do not mind in-game advertising.
But Mariano Suarez Battan, of Three Melons "advergaming," said some companies have implemented poor in-game advertising campaigns.
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| Despite gaming critics questioning Subway's Counter-Strike campaign, the test was very well received by gamers. |
In Counter-Strike, Subway logos randomly popped up in rooms. After the game hit the net, several video game critics questioned the ads. But David Smith, vice president of business development for Engage In-Game Advertising, said the gamers complaining about the Subway test ads did not even play the game.
"Unfortunately, there is a small group of hardcore gamers that don't like any form of in-game advertising," said Smith, who helped Subway develop local ads in the California region for Counter-Strike. "In the markets we ran those ads, we had zero complaints."
In fact, the Subway / Counter-Strike ad reached 31,000 unique gamers and achieved more than 19,000 eyeball hours of exposure in one market alone, according to an Engage news release. The release said all Subway markets running in-game advertising saw a measurable increase in traffic and sales.
"Not only was the campaign incredibly effective in connecting with our target audience, but it was cost effective as well," said Shawn Hazeghazam, a local advertising board chair for Subway. "Our post-campaign survey showed a 94 percent ad recall among our target audience. For every penny we paid, our brand received one minute of exposure. This in-game program really delivered for us, at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising mediums."
Video-game ads are evaluated by how long the user views and interacts with the ads. According to Massive Inc.'s evaluation standards, one impression equals a gamer seeing an ad for 10 seconds.
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Effective placements
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), the world's largest video game publisher, recently landed a multimillion-dollar product placement deal with McDonald's for The Sims Online. In the game, players can buy virtual McDonald's food for their hungry "sims." This is an invaluable placement, said Tiffany Young, creative director for Smashing Ideas, an entertainment and marketing services company.
"The true long-term success for video-game ad placements is sponsoring or paying for engaging content," Young said. "The consumers don't want to be playing a game and suddenly hear about the latest chicken sandwich. They're online looking to fill up 10 minutes of their time, and the placement has to make sense, or else it will ruin the game."
According to a MEC MediaLab report, advertising placements that mimic real-world ads — such as billboards in sports or racing games — are generally accepted by gamers, because they are perceived to add to the realism of the game.
"You'll never see advertising in a Mid-Evil warrior game," Smith said. "The ad has to be relevant and probably needs to be set in a real-life situation such as an urban environment."
Battan cited a Burger King placement in EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 as the best placement from a QSR. In certain rounds of the game, Burger King logos are etched in the ring's corners. And at one point, the Burger King mascot actually becomes part of a player's in-game entourage if players complete a side-mission challenge. There are even Web sites dedicated to providing gamers "cheat codes" on how to unlock the King to enter a fight.
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| Advergaming experts consider Burger King's in-game ad the best in the QSR segment. |
But despite the fandom following the BK King among young adults, some gamers, as well as advertisers, question allowing advertising in games.
"I guess that's a question for 'advertising' as a whole concept. Are ads more important than products?" Battan said. "Video games are a new communication channel where interactivity and game play are the main stars. We are still far away from understanding and creating all the possibilities to integrate a brand and its message in videogames."
As long as the ad doesn't affect the game's function or integrity, and has not ruined the picture, then gamers will be happy, the MediaLab report said. To help advertisers understand their limits, MediaLab created a dos and don'ts of in-game communications.
Do: "Give players the opportunity to customize products in-game — to increase involvement."
Don't: "Consider advergames as a cheaper way of reaching a gaming audience."
