In Game Advertising

The concept of In Game Advertising (IGA) refers to the usage of computer/playstation games for promotion of brands and products. It is similar to the product placement we have already seen in movies. According to reports, the total budget of IGA in the year 2005 was $56 mn, but is expected to grow to a figure in excess of $700 mn by the year 2010. As these numbers suggest, it might be a nice thing to venture into. It is obviously targeted at the gamers who are increasingly spending more time playing games than watching television. Also, there has been criticism of this technique calling it "pervasive and greedy", as it reaches the customers at a point when they do not want to be reached.

Static IGA
These are messages which are hard coded into the game and cannot be removed or altered. They can appear as billboards within the game, posters on the walls or even as obstacles to overcome (In Splinter Cell:Chaos theory a glowing AXE deodorant ad comes as an obstacle for the player to overcome). Especially useful in single player role playing games (in the league of Tomb raider or GTA etc.), these advertisements are assured of a prime position and sufficient time in front of the player.

Sprite in Splinter Cell

Dynamic IGA

This is a new innovation in the field of advertising within games, wherein the geographical location, date/time of the game being played and key events occurring around the world at that time decide which advertisement to place in a particular location. It is prevalent in online games wherein the cookies will send over the geographical location and the date and time to the game engine located on the internet. On one hand, this might be termed as pervasive but on the other hand it is especially beneficial to the companies making these games. "If a person is standing infront of a brick wall looking at advertisements, then we know for sure that the level was made too hard" says a game developer in THQ.Dynamic IGA in SWAT 4

Online Presence
Permanent online games (like Ragnarok, Second life, World of Warcraft etc) can persistently have advertisements in various parts of the game. These games get a major chunk of their revenues from this kind of advertising, as people registering for the game is deliberately kept cheap so as to ensure maximum popularity. They have all the properties of Dynamic IGA but a lot more flexible as the concept of the game is such that advertisements can even be placed on personal choices (like google ads).

Seether T-Shirts in Second Life

Good or Bad???
I as a person, owuld be horrified if I came to know that the kinds of games I play, the duration of me playing them etc is the kind of information which the game designers can have at their fingertips. Don't ask me why, there're some things which people like keeping close to themselves, as private!
But being a marketing enthusiast, I can appreciate the ingenuity of this new medium of advertising. No wonder, various games are looking out for sponsors to be placed in their games. World favorites like FIFA, GTA, NFS etc are selling their spots at a premium ensuring a prime spot to the companies in front of a large audience. Moreover, these companies get a chance to be seen by a huge chunk of gamers across the globe who are (increasingly) turning away from television.

All in all, In Game Advertising is here to stay, and you better get used to it!!!!

The World of Gaming – Who are the people in it? – Part 3

As promised, here I am telling you guys about the last and final segment of the people totally interested in Computer Gaming. In the previous posts, we have seen the 14 year olds and the college goers who have some very distinct defining characteristics of their own. Now we come to the segment which would be the permanent customers of any gaming company, till the moment they live (in the virtual world I mean).

The Veterans
This is the final stage of gaming and the ultimate upgrade (using the lingo so prevalent in this field) possible for any person even remotely interested in gaming. These people have, ideally, grown up playing games in one form or the other, possibly varying in genres but mostly never in the intensity. I have tried to capture a few of their characteristics in this post of mine.

Addicted
Harsh though it may sound, mostly you’ll find these veterans to be addicted to the whole concept of sitting in front of the idiot-box doing nothing but playing on it. Come to think of it, isn’t it obvious? They grew up playing games, and if they are still playing even though they have families, jobs and responsibilities, they will probably keep on playing the rest of their lives. What I don’t know is how many of them will actually buy original DVDs/CDs of games, but what I do know for sure is that there can be several uses of this information other than direct sales.

Forums
As we all know, there are several game specific/genre specific forums present on the web to facilitate interaction between likeminded souls across the world. Now what the killer thing is, that these veterans are mostly the ones who are respected the most in these kinds of forums. This respect is mostly due to their experience on the forum/game but sometimes it also exists due to their skill in the game.

Schedule
More often than not, these veterans have a fixed schedule in which they play. It could be as frequently as daily or rarely like once a week/month. This is again a logical conclusion as the rest of their day is more or less fixed as far as activities are concerned. Also, if the games played by that veteran are multi player in nature, the friends/clan mates of the veteran would also be fitting into his schedule (as it is necessary for all the members of the clan to be available at the same time to play simultaneously).

Cash Cash!!!
Believe it or not, these are probably the only set of people the gaming companies will ever find, other than professional players, who are always loaded with cash. This is again a very obvious thing to state, but none the less important for anyone planning to target this segment. All the other segments are mostly living off their parents who might or might not be giving them enough cash to buy the games of their choice. These independent gamers, aka veterans, are perfect targets as they can buy any game which manages to catch their fancy.