Advergaming

Online gaming is hot. According to Jupiter Media Metrix, it’s the hottest form of entertainment currently on the market, with over $6.5 billion in sales in 2000. Of course, anything that’s hot these days attracts the attention of marketers, and the lure of combining advertising with online gaming could not be denied. Thus, “advergaming” was born, a new ad genre that Forrester Research predicts will generate about $1 billion by 2005.

Interestingly enough, the kinds of companies that are willing to take a risk trying their hand at advergaming are some pretty conservative traditional companies like Nike, Nabisco, Burger King, Quaker Oats, Jack Daniels, and Ford Motor Company. The appeal of advergaming is that it allows marketers to intelligently gather consumer data and build their brand, while at the same time engaging their consumers in a bit of fun. Sounds like a win-win worth knowing about.

How It Works

Advergaming is simply the combining of interactive gaming technology with an advertising message. Branding and products are incorporated into the game itself through either associative or demonstrative methods, meaning that the game can be used to demonstrate the use of a product or to associate the product with an activity or lifestyle. At its best, the advertising message becomes an integral part of playing the game, encouraging consumers to interact with the brand or product.

Distribution Methods

There are three ways to distribute an advergame:

1. on theadvertiser’s web site
2. via a third party siter
3. via e-mail

Perhaps the least effective is for the advertiser to host the advergame on their own site. While it enhances the site’s “stickiness”, the advertiser must still rely on site traffic in order for the game to be played.

To circumvent this pitfall, advertisers can put their games on third party sites. The third party site can either be a non- gaming web site or a gaming aggregator like Boxerjam or Flipside. The goal in either case is to put the game on a site where traffic already exists.

When the advergame is distributed by email, the benefit is that it has pass-along value, with with users forwarding it to friends, family and colleagues.

Advergaming Results

For better or for worse, the Internet’s inherent tracking abilities lead most advertisers to focus on the numbers. While this may be slowly changing (see last week’s about branding titled “Web Advertising - Making a Case for Branding“), advergaming does provide excellent returns. Better yet, those returns positively affect aspects of branding and lead- generation, and data collection. To illustrate this, here are a couple of case studies that showcase advergaming’s flexibility and ROI.

Case #1 - Nike Shox

The first example is from Nike’s Shox basketball footwear. The game was distributed via email to a select audience, and begins by asking players to choose the shoe color of the basketball player they will control in the game (Nike begins its information gathering process). After playing the slam-dunk game, recipients can then click to buy the shoes. To make the campaign viral, Nike enables players to email the game to their friends with their high score and a snapshot of their best dunk. The forwarded email encourages the player’s friend to beat the score. Nothing better than rousing into action someone’s competitive spirit!

Case #2 - Ford Escape

Ford Motor Company employs a similar tactic when promoting the Ford Escape SUV. The advergame centers around a race using the Escape. Players forward the email to friends asking them to beat their best score, and throughout the game Ford collects data such as e-mail addresses and vehicle color preferences. Ford is currently experiencing a 40% response rate to the initial email, while the tell-a-friend viral aspect receives an 80% response rate.

Case #3 -BBC American & Samsung Monitors

VirtualGiveaway created advergaming campaigns for BBC American and Samsung Monitors. According statistics provided by VirtualGiveaway, the campaigns were madly successful:

• The average user spent 7 minutes per visit playing and interacting with the game
• The games generated average opt-in rates of 73%
• 66% of the players were repeat visitors
• Across the board page views increased 27%

Producing Advergames

As you might have guessed, developing an advergame isn’t cheap. Depending upon the complexity, costs can range from $3,000 to $100,000+. Simple advergames can be produced using out-of-the- box software solutions, but the more complex, innovative games require specialized development.

A few other companies that specialize in creating advergames include:

• YaYa
• 3DGroove
• WildTangent

   

The Benefits

While the cost of producing an advergame can be viewed as excessive, there are a number of benefits that justify these costs in the advertiser’s eyes, particularly if branding is the goal. Advergames tend to be played over and over by the same individual, the act of which is brand-reinforcing.

Advergames also help provide that all-crucial data that enables manufacturers to build new products around trends they see in their advergamer market segments. Data can also be used in customer relations management (CRM) efforts.

Advergames are a fun and innovative fusion of non-intrusive advertising, permission marketing and branding. They are proof- positive that engaging customers can lead to more than just direct sales.

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