In-Game Ads can be Effective

BY: BRIAN ROBBINS  |  Gaming, Branding, Online Marketing, Game Industry

There’s a new report out from mediaedge:cia that discusses in game advertisements. The research looked at what consumers think of in-game ads, and how brands might be able to use a video game to reach an audience.

The results reinforce what I’ve been saying for quite a while now: in-game advertisements can work and can be extremely effective, when they are done correctly. When the right brand finds the right style of game, and puts things in place, it works out well for everyone. There’s even evidence to suggest that gamers actually find that this can increase the engagement and immersion into a game world.

However, when it’s done poorly, with the wrong brands and/or bad implementation, it serves the opposite effect, for both the game AND the advertiser.

In my mind, that’s the genius of a well-designed advergame. We build a great game that is completely wrapped around a brand and their selling points. Ideally you couldn’t even remove the brand without changing the game experience. When this works right it can become not only a great and enjoyable game, but also an extremely good form of promotional branded advertainment. Consumers will enjoy it, because they are being entertained, and they won’t mind the fact that it’s an ad because it is enjoyable, and it fulfills their need for entertainment.

(via Mediaweek)