Marketers Leverage Brands Via Video Game Industry
Video game advertising is hot, and the medium is only projected to grow. By 2009, advertising in video games is expected to rise to $800 million from nearly $120 million in 2004, according to The Yankee Group.
That was one of the many findings released during the first annual Advertising in Games Forum in New York on April 14. The forum, which drew 250 game developers, advertising agency executives and publishers, outlined the challenges and opportunities surrounding the insertion of ads in video games.
For the time being, product placement remains a popular choice for brands. Brands including Honda, Coca-Cola, New Line Cinema and T-Mobile recently have signed deals with Massive, Inc., the New York-based video game ad network, to get their products included in video games. Video game advertising is expected to grow to $1.4 billion in the U.S. by 2010 and hit $2.5 billion worldwide, said Mitch Davis, CEO of Massive, Inc., the forum’s keynote speaker.
Placing brands in video games is not a new concept, but it has become a more sought-after option as the popularity of the 30-second TV spot continues to fade, speakers said. Video games are even finding a home among cell phones. According to the forum, 100 million game-capable cell phones are in use today.
One of the more popular forms is “advergaming,” whereby advertisers create a game around a product. By 2009, $266 million (or more than one-third of advertising in games) will come from advergaming, Yankee group senior analyst Mike Goodman said.
Early on, both game designers and some brands thought that game ads were “pimping out” the video game product, Davis told attendees. But as the core gaming audience—males 18 to 34—watch less and less TV, the popularity of video game ads increases. Though in its early stages, video game advertising is “very powerful and it’s working,” Davis said.
The reason is simple. Players are fully immersed in the games, whereas consumers tend to multi-task during TV commercials, Davis said.
“People don’t do only one thing when they watch TV,” Davis said. “They are doing anything except paying attention to the commercials.”
The key to successful brand matching within video games comes down to relevance, said Tomas Melian, VP-integrated marketing for Vivendi Universal Games, a guest speaker at the forum. Video game designers have to ask themselves early in the process “What brands make sense here?” Melian said. For product placement to be effective, brands must make sense to the storyline, the placement can’t be obtrusive, he said.
“It enhances the realism,” Melian said of product placement. “That’s the magic.”
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was the top-selling video game in 2004, with 5.5 million units sold since its launch, according to the NPD Group. Rounding up second and third place, respectively, were Halo 2 on Xbox with 4.5 million units sold and Madden NFL 2004 on PlayStation 2 with 3.5 million units sold since its launch.
The top selling PC game of 2004 was The Sims 2, with 750,000 units sold, the NPD group reported.
