Take It Face To Face

In the world of the video game, advertisements are a way of life. Expensive cars race past familiar gas stations and soft drink billboards. Baseball players head home past colorful signage for sporting good companies and fast food chains.

Though product placement is often viewed as a blatant, pesky interference in film and television, video gamers seem to embrace the practice with open arms. These advertisements, many consumers say, add to the realism of the game and consequently enrich the experience.

The practice got a major nod of approval from Barack Obama in 2008 when he became the first presidential candidate to pay for in-game advertising, prompting billboards with his message to appear throughout the game Burnout Paradise.

Because the demographic of males in their 20s and 30s has become increasingly harder to reach, video games have become a critical tool for advertisers. With a decline in television viewership, it’s necessary to find a new place to focus these efforts.

And these efforts, it appears, are not in vain. According to an article that appeared recently in AdWeek, the recall for in-game ads is high, and the impression of the company is overwhelmingly favorable for free casual online games.

Despite the success of this approach, several companies, with Pizza Hut at the forefront, are still seeking to rewrite the advertising rule book. Though bombarding consumers with images of a company’s name and logo is good, adding an incentive to the mix is better.

It started when the pizza chain developed a function in EverQuest II which allows players to order a pie through the game. It generated a good deal of buzz, and one Pizza Hut representative reported it prompted a decent number of orders.

And then came the newest campaign. Registered players of the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles can now compete in an online tournament with prizes of up to $599 in Pizza Hut gift certificates. Rather than a passing glimpse of the chain’s name, the chain has become the game’s entire focus.

The advertising ante has just been upped. And now I wish I knew the first thing about car racing games (beyond Super Nintendo Mario Kart, that is) because I’m suddenly in the mood for pizza.

Do you think Pizza Hut’s paving the way or is this sort of tournament old hat? Tell us your thoughts.

I have very strong political beliefs. I don’t talk about them at work because my beliefs are my own and I never want to alienate people. I do love talking politics when it comes to innovation and communication.

Regardless of what you think about him Barack Obama knows how to use technology. Not only can you sign up to receive a text alert about who the Senator will pick as a running mate, you can download a host of other tech goodies. Regardless of what you think about McCain it can be said without a doubt that he cannot.

All I can say is wow. This is a great move for Senator Obama for two reasons. The first is the mobilization of voters. According to one post I found it could cost around $1.70 for a company to send out a SMS message to a potential voter. Compare that to the cost of sending someone door to door or even a direct mail flyer. If a $1.70 can turn into a potential voter, that is money well spent.

The second reason is much more devious. The legality of solicitation via cell phones is something that lives in a bit of a gray area. A marketer cannot call a cell phone to solicit unless the owner of that phone has given the marketer permission. By subscribing to Sen. Obama’s text alert you are opening up to receive more solicitations from his camp.

I am almost certain Sen. Obama has no mal-intent with is email and I am actually glad to see politicians tying to engage their constituents with new media. Do you think Obama announcing VP via text is a good move or a bad move? Do you think this would be a good move for any other clients?