Interactive Branded Entertainment

Game Ads Up to $875 Mil. By '09

The in-game advertising market will grow from $118 million last year to $875 million by 2009, representing a whopping increase of over 640 percent, according to an analyst from the Yankee Group.

IGA Worldwide Acquires Hive, Launches In-Game Ad Group

"We are now able to offer brands a more cohesive approach to getting inside the game," says IGA Partners North America CCO, Darren Herman, "Hive allows us to not only build out our media network but allows the in-depth static and plot-integration deals that generate buzz for advertisers."

Présentation de quelques jeux développés pour ces nouvelles consoles.

Ils sont les vedettes de cet E3. Les jeux «next gen» se démarquent d'abord par leur esthétique. Haute définition, beauté et profondeur des décors. Mais les consoles du futur proche ne peuvent se contenter d'une révolution graphique. Elles doivent, pour devenir incontournables, explorer de nouveaux territoires ludiques. Ce qui devrait prendre plusieurs années. Déjà, quelques rares titres montrés cette semaine portent en eux un sentiment de «jamais joué». Sélection.

Donnell bows Brand Arc to place Toyota

Rob Donnell, previously executive director of J. Walter Thompson's Amplify division that had represented Ford Motor Co. in Hollywood, announced the opening of his own branded entertainment company Brand Arc, with Toyota signed on as its flagship client. Based in Santa Monica, the company will specialize in strategically focused brand entertainment initiatives from concept through final execution that are designed to complement and enhance a brand's overall communications plans.
"We don't want to reinvent the brand in the name of entertainment -- there is often a lot of great work and thinking that speaks to the essence of a brand," Donnell said.
"It's our job to take all that thinking and translate it into brand entertainment plans and opportunities." Donnell has appointed two staffers with backgrounds in production, entertainment and advertising to service Toyota and future clients.

(Gail Schiller)

Making a game of marketing

Massive Integrates Brands Into Video Games
Massive is doing for games what the original ad-serving networks did for Web pages.

Who: Mitch Davis, CEO of Massive
Why you need to know him: New York-based Massive integrates advertisements into video games -- a venture that could enable marketers to put their brands in front of consumers who have turned games into a $10 billion-a-year business.

Taking phones where they've never been before

Jeff Hallock is in charge of making content deals for Sprint's wireless devices.

What content is working on mobile? "Games are front and center. There are 20 publishers in the game space, some from console games and online, and others made for mobile. In the music space, ring tones and [other technology given the type of mobile phone] the equivalent of satellite radio, 24-hour commercial free, multiple channel content. Screensavers. Text messaging applications, picture mail and video mail. Imaging [printing camera photos] is a high growth area. Video on demand."

Survey Discusses Gaming Influence In Mainstream

According to a new AOL-commissioned survey of more than 1,005 Americans between the ages of 12-55, video games continue to infiltrate the mainstream of Western culture.

The survey found that approximately four out of five (79%) "gamers" ages 12-55 have played video games with their families. Correspondingly, the survey also found that nearly half (46%) of all U.S. consumers, ages 12-55, have played an online, video or cell/PDA game.

MS Officially Unveils Xbox 360

Friday, May 13, 2005
It's official. The next Xbox console will be called Xbox 360 and it will launch this holiday season. Details such as price point and backwards compatibility have not yet been addressed, but the console's specifications and main features have all been confirmed.

"Starting today with Xbox 360, our ambition is to revolutionize the way people think about fun," Robbie Back, Chief Xbox Office

Online game with Virtools Dev for worldwide launch of the new Peugeot 1007

Paris, May 4, 2005 - Virtools˙, the leading provider of interactive 3D authoring tools, announced today the official launch of an online game developed by the interactive communications agency 3E-‘IL using Virtools solutions, to highlight the new Peugeot 1007.