I am a huge fan of video games. I grew up playing my Atari 2600 and have played video games for the bulk of my life. I currently live and die by my Playstation 3. Always looking to combine my professional and personal life, I came across a great blog post about advertising in video games.
In case you didn’t know modern day video games are rife with in game advertising. Everything from TV shows to watches to energy drinks can be advertised by sponsorship or in game ads. I was reading some blogs and I came across a great post by Matt Story talking about how advertisers can do more than just product placement to make their advertising standout.
Matt suggests the following things:
Take Advantage of the Experience around the game
Most game launches are bigger than movie launches. A great example of this was the midnight Slushies from 7-11 when Halo 3 launched. 7-11 was able to tie in their product with the massive marketing that Microsoft was planning.
Provide valuable game goodies
When Tiger Woods 08 launched last year Target ran a promotion where you received a free downloadable golf course if you purchased the game at a Target store. Not only did Target get continuing advertisement in side the game, but they also increased sales by giving the gamer a real incentive to purchase at Target.
Take the Game out of the Game
Matt uses the example of World of Warcraft partnering with Toyota to in a joint advertising campaign. Both companies benefited form the shared brand equity and cross promotion.
The Playstation 3 is set to launch a new level of social interaction with its new social application called Home. Home will be a social network geared towards linking gamers around the world. This service will be paid for by advertisements and create a totally unique marketing opportunity for companies.
The real question is are companies ready to make that leap into social advertising? No one wants to be the first to try something. Now Sony is a powerhouse the Playstation has a huge brand, but will it be enough. Do you think Sony can make Home a profitable endeavor for advertisers? Do you think Home might go the way of Second Life? Let me know.
