Unlike television commercials that break up the experience for the viewer, in-game ads (if implemented with care) have the advantage of actually being able to aid gameplay while simultaneously marketing a product.
A recent study by Nielsen and DoubleFusion reveals that gamers are responding well to these ads. We speak with DoubleFusion founder Guy Bendov about these results and where in-game ads are headed.
In-game advertising has come a long way in the last 12 months. The questions most frequently associated with the young industry used to revolve around whether it would survive and gain traction among mainstream corporate sponsors. In a very short period of time the big question has shifted towards "How far can we take this technology?" Video games as a viable medium for an advertising message is now a given, thanks to strong lobbying from the young companies jockeying for position within the space, and from game publishers themselves.
A major study conducted by Nielsen and in-game advertising firm DoubleFusion
Positive Response
Nielsen and DoubleFusion's survey was conducted with 900 players of Metro3D's PC game London Taxi, a Crazy Taxi-inspired title where gamers pick up and deliver customers against the clock. In both pre and post game questionnaires, gamers responded favorably to in-game ads, with 50 percent stating that it makes a game more realistic, and only 21 percent disagreeing.
[ "I believe the response to in-game ads has been so much more positive than the response to advertising in other mediums because it doesn't interrupt or delay the experience," Guy Bendov, Founder & Executive VP, DoubleFusion ]
Realism isn't everything, however. Just because some gamers conceded that in-game ads heighten the realism of an experience doesn't mean that the marketing has a positive response on players. The study's results indicate that product awareness was raised by players after their London Taxi experience, sometimes significantly, depending on the type of ad included.
"Our gut feeling was that 3D interactive advertising elements, elements that are part of the game experience itself, would be more memorable," Bendov said. "They turned out to be twice as memorable as other in-game elements."
London Taxi featured a Procter & Gamble car cleaning product called Flash˜running your taxi through the Flash-branded carwash made it cleaner and made it easier to attract fares. The study indicated an impressive 60 percent increase in product awareness after playing the game. Bendov was quick to note that such interactive elements have to be handled with care and won't always be relevant, however.
"Those types of insertions have to be handled on a case-by-case basis, and can't be put into every game, but will be extremely valuable to advertisers" he said. "Even simple interactivity would increase effectiveness, such as crashing through a billboard."
Bendov also noted another surprising result was the effectiveness of truck ads, which essentially function as moving billboards. They were also recalled more by survey respondents than static billboard ads.
Gamers Remain Priority
Bendov echoed what everyone in the space has been saying from the start: all in-game advertising must remain sensitive to the players.
"Everyone is defending the gamers," he said. "We don't want to upset them in anything we do."
Bendov's gamer-centric focus doesn't necessarily come from a philanthropic or benevolent place˜for the marketing to work gamers have to ultimately be accepting of it. If things get too intrusive, it will cease being effective and would actually have a negative brand effect.
"I believe the response to in-game ads has been so much more positive than the response to advertising in other mediums because it doesn't interrupt or delay the experience," Bendov said. "In television for example, advertising stops the show. In-game ads are more like product placement on TV, which isn't seen in the negative light that commercials are."
The Future of In-Game Ads
If in-game ads truly have established themselves enough that the "big question" has now become "How far can we take this technology?" then is the industry ready to answer that question? Bendov's ideas seem to indicate a resounding "yes."
"I think in the future music will be an excellent way to utilize in-game marketing," he said. "The same audience that is buying music is playing games. I think we'll see music labels releasing singles and as part of their marketing mix putting that single into in-game radio of popular games."
"I also believe that monitors and animated billboards are an excellent opportunity. We already have the technology to take an existing flash video and drop it right into a game. I think it's important to note that just because we 'can' be somewhere doesn't mean we 'need' to be there. I think the industry will move into those areas only when the market is ready."
