It’s a sunny day in the city, no monsters in sight, and you are on your way to meet a NPC (non-player character) to have your materials smelted into a new weapon. You take a quick trip to the pub nearby to check the mission board and you see a poster of a shoe brand pinned to it.
That’s when it hit you. You can try to create or live in another world, albeit virtually, but advertisements have a way of finding you.
Technology has created a whole species of customer touchpoints which marketers can leverage, like social media, online advertisements, and digital marketing content. In-game advertising, being the newest of these markets, provides brands with another level of opportunities for visibility and engagement.
In recent years, the gaming industry has proven to be a hub of opportunities, for gamers and marketers alike, especially with the rise of the Esports industry and influx of the play-to-earn business model.
The video game market size in the US started trending upward in 2016, and by the end of 2021, it surpassed $85.86 billion. In Wisconsin alone, the Esports industry produces $300 million in revenue annually.
Through in-game marketing, businesses can have access to a market that will soon be dominated by gaming professionals and people who are looking into play-to-earn games for extra income.
If you’re ready to “level up” (pardon our pun) your business marketing, here are some options to consider when it comes to the gaming industry.
Static
TStatic in-game advertisements are incorporated into the game during its production and development stage. These advertisements are programmed into the storyline of the game. Marketers typically don’t prefer this option because it can’t be changed and the results cannot be tracked or measured.
Dynamic
In contrast, dynamic in-game advertisements can be changed and are capable of geo-targeting, so a billboard within the game can show different advertisements depending on the player’s location. Furthermore, performance metrics can be measure, producing a trackable ROI.
Advergaming
As opposed to static and dynamic in-game advertising where advertisements are injected into some parts of the game, in advergaming, the entire game is an advertisement. Some examples of advergaming are Chipotle Scarecrow, the Doritos VR Battle, and Zool.
Even Netflix has ventured into advergaming. When Netflix Games launched in 2021, game versions of its popular shows like Stranger Things were released. Now, the streaming service company has capitalized on its new spin on entertainment by creating advergames to promote some of their upcoming shows.
In-Game Advertising Formats
There are a variety of approaches when it comes to in-game advertising. One of which is incentivized ads where a player can earn in-game rewards by watching an unskippable ad. A more common form is a display banner which appears at the top or bottom of the game screen. There are also more subtle approaches to marketing in games like partnering with game developers for the hosting of an in-game event sponsored by the company. This is commonly done in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG).
With games creating new places for gamers and marketers to explore, there are still many untapped opportunities when it comes to in-game advertising. Could a potential customer or client be lurking, unnoticed, in these worlds? Let’s go on a quest to find out and give your brand a boost. Contact us at [email protected]
