In-gameAds
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EA: emerging ad trends in social games
Advertising is poised to take a bigger role in mobile gaming now that Electronic Arts has signed a multimillion dollar, year-long advertising campaign with Unilever, says a report in AllThingsD. Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company that owns such brands as Dove, Ben & Jerry's, Lipton and more. EA is using its popular Facebook game, The Sims Social, as a vector to introduce advertising for Unilever products like Dove. When players enter the bathroom, they will be able to shower with Dove shampoo. During the summer, their refrigerators can be stocked with Magnum Mini ice cream bars. These branded virtual goods are enticing to players because they are often offered for free. This advertising deal isn't limited to Facebook. It's a cross-platform agreement that could push branded virtual goods into The Sims line of games on iOS devices and consoles like the Xbox 360.
EA, Massive extend in-game ad deal through next two years
We can expect ads to continue to be shoved down our throats in games from Electronics Arts as the company has extended its deal with Microsoft's in-game ad firm Massive to offer dynamic ads in games for the next two years. While Massive will continue to offer in-game ads in existing titles from EA, such as the recently released Burnout Paradise, the new deal will allow more advertisers to continue to hawk wares in existing titles, as well as in upcoming games -- including the next two Madden, NBA Live, Nascar, and NHL releases. According to EA, ads will focus on appealing to guys between the ages of 18 and 34, but interestingly will just be served to versions released for the Xbox 360 and PC. For players on other platforms looking for a similar experience, might we suggest taping up ads from your Sunday circular to the television while playing -- at least that way you have the option to take the nuisances down.
Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk getting in-game ad treatment
Anyone who's spent even a little time rocking out to Guitar Hero III has likely noticed the game's heavy-handed approach to product placement, with stages littered with cans of Red Bull and billboards hocking everything from Axe Body Spray to Pontiac. The whole thing feels oppressive and graceless as even the game's underground rock venues are reduced to feeling like props to corporate shilling. And things are likely to get worse before they get better, as Activision today announced that it has inked a deal with Microsoft-owned Massive to provide in-game ads in not only Guitar Hero III, but Tony Hawk's Proving Ground as well. The two titles have been added to the growing Massive Network advertising collective, which also includes Activision's Transformers adaptation, and will made to include "contextually relevant" dynamic ads. Interestingly, it's unclear if this partnership extends to all versions of the affected (afflicted?) games, or just those for Microsoft's console. What is clear, however, is that as games are now a big business, more and more companies are beginning to get in line for their slice of the money pie, and while game companies and advertisers reap the benefits of this arrangement, gamers are left holding the controller wondering just when their games became interactive commercials.
Study: Ads in sports games don't work
By now everyone knows that in-game advertising is the hottest thing since sliced bread. But in all the frenzy to cover every available digital surface with product placement, few people have stopped to ask whether in-game ads actually work. British consulting company Bunnyfoot took on just that issue recently, using eye-tracking software and surveys of gamers to gauge how well ad banners in sports games connected with the player.Their findings are less than encouraging for in-game advertisers. Despite overwhelming brand placement throughout the games under consideration, Bunnyfoot's study showed "a lack of engagement between video game players and in-game advertising." The firm's Sponsor Fixation Index registered some small results with games like NBA Live and Smackdown Vs. Raw but ad-laden Project Gotham Racing 3 elicited what Bunnyfoot called "no consumer engagement at all." Ouch!In-game ads obviously have the potential to be extremely successful, but only if they're done right. Just slapping a billboard in the background might not register a blip among gamers who are used to filtering out advertising in everyday life. On the other end, you don't want to make the ads so overwhelming that they interfere with the game experience. And remember what Morgan says: if you're gonna make money on ads, give the gamers a break and lower the price, huh?
Nielsen adds games to ratings matrix
"The value of an entertainment medium is directly proportional to how well it is measured." This is the proposition Nielsen VP Jeff Herrmann put forth for the creation of GamePlay Metrics, a service that will measure just how many eyeballs are glued to the day's hottest games. Such data is of course highly coveted by in-game advertisers, who want to know exactly how many people are being subliminally attracted to delicious Subway sandwiches.This isn't Nielsen's first foray into the game space. For the past three years, the firm's annual Active Gamer Benchmark has surveyed gamers online to find trends in their behavior. The latest such report found that females and social gamers are becoming a more important part of gaming, echoing the findings of other studiesIn addition to measuring gameplay habits, the GamePlay Metrics data will be cross-referenced with Nielsen's data on TV and internet usage, showing what gamers do with the rest of their free time. In news from the future, Nielsen announced next month a program that will place a tiny surveillance chip in all babies shortly after birth, measuring everything they see and do for the remainder of their lives.
Demon lobbies for lobby ads
Gamers who consider their purgatorial stay in the lobby prior to a multiplayer match a welcome respite from the steady siren call of Burger King may soon experience a whopper of a disappointment. Networking provider DemonWare is touting a solution for delivering personalized advertisements to any game lobby. It's not clear if the product will be aimed at consoles, PCs or both -- or how it squares with Xbox Live -- but DW's current networking customers include Activision, Codemasters, Eidos, Ubisoft, THQ and Sega. Of course, the revenue will be used only to create better games and improve the online experience, or so the champions of progress would have us believe.Are lobby ads a form of in-game advertising you can live with, or should we send this demonic idea back to hell before it starts clogging up our consoles?[Via Xboxic]
MS in-game ad master plan: Less vomit, more BK
Microsoft in-game ad pimp Kevin Browne gave the keynote address at the GDC "Focus On" series Game Advertising Summit. This article sums up the ad happy proceedings, essential reading for those concerned about the phenomenon. Favorite quote:"Think about this consumer as somebody not to vomit all over with messages," Browne said, "but rather to engage in a discussion."Right. A discussion about Burger King.
Study shows more support for in-game ads
According to oddly-capitalised research agency comScore Networks, gamers are a ripe target for marketers. With almost 50% of all Internet users apparently reading game sites, reaching out to these 76 million consumers is big business.The survey also looked at attitudes to in-game advertising amongst heavy and light gamers. Heavy gamers are more familiar with the concept of in-game ads, and are also more likely to buy products advertised in-game. The conclusion across all types of gamers leans towards the inevitable -- in-game ads will be a feature of the future.With only 800 gamers surveyed, a larger segment may produce vastly different results, but these statistics are encouraging for firms like Microsoft's Massive who are working within this market.[Via Gamasutra]
