Your Go-To Guide for In-Game Advertising

Get a complete overview of the in-game advertising sector, and see how to make best use of the opportunities available.

Game on

It seems hardly a day goes by without a fresh news article or story relating to in-game advertising. Faced with game-changing challenges in almost every aspect of their traditional B2C marketing communications landscape, the foremost brands and agencies are now moving out of the "test phase" with in-game advertising and investing dedicated budgets and infrastructure at a level that will have a measurable impact alongside other core marketing activities.

Early adopters such as Daimler Chrysler, Intel and Red Bull have already captured significant mindshare, but the variety of brands adopting the medium is now as broad as the game genres in which they appear, and every major territorial market is waking up to the unique dual benefits of engagement and measurability that in-game advertising brings.

This first article in a series of three will take a look at the specific categories that exist within in-game advertising, and the ideal uses and benefits of each.

Dynamic advertising

Dynamic advertising is a relatively new method of using embedded software, a dedicated back-end infrastructure and the internet to update, change and track the viewing of advertising placements in a game in real-time. The aggregation of a potentially unlimited number of games, genres and platforms into a network counteracts fragmentation and allows for extremely high potential reach, even when sub-sampled into specific geo-demographics.

Advantages. The advantages to this model include the ability to serve high value 'above the line' creative into a range of standardised ad formats. Dynamic in-game ads also provide extremely high accountability, thanks to a combination of a uniquely engaged audience, minimum size-on-screen impression thresholds and a CPM-style trading metric, effectively guaranteeing delivery. It also delivers the ability to go live with a new campaign within hours, and to localize messaging by territory.

Disadvantages. There are no obvious disadvantages, however segmented reach (territory, genre vertical, demographic, et cetera) has yet to reach critical mass, but it is growing very rapidly. Also there is yet to be a standard impression metric between networks, so it is important for marketers to understand the different options before embarking on an in-game campaign.

Future potential. Once network reach hits critical mass and metrics are proven and standardized, buying dynamic in-game advertising will be as natural and commonplace as TV, print, outdoor or online. Independent market forecasts are currently in excess of $1 billion by 2010.

Static advertising

The term "static advertising" has frequently been used as a catch-all for any non-dynamic opportunities, including product placement. However, static advertising is really the definition of billboard and logo placements that are "hardcoded" into the game environments before the game launch. This was the primary form of in-game advertising until the advent of the internet-enabled console and the subsequent dynamic ad networks.

Advantages. Static in-game ads allow you to reach every user of the game, regardless of internet connectivity, and they are still the only way to reach users of certain platforms, which are not yet enabled for dynamic advertising.

Disadvantages. It is currently impossible to accurately track ad viewing metrics, or to update or switch off campaigns. Long lead times for creative also need to be in place, due to game approval, mastering and distribution processes. There is also fairly limited geo-demographic reach in any one single game title compared to a dynamic buy.

Future potential. Static placements are likely to be substantially replaced by dynamic advertising inventory as volume and penetration of internet-connected game platforms increases.

Product placement

As with product placement on both the big and small screen, there are growing opportunities for brands to include products and product references within popular videogames. However, games are able to go that crucial step further than Hollywood by allowing the player to actually interact with a product and to experience product features and benefits in a completely contextual entertainment setting.
Advantages. No other medium allows marketers to get a fully operational, photorealistic and physically accurate model of their goods into millions of hands in a contextual setting before the product has even hit the shelves.

Disadvantages. Despite offering very obvious value, it is currently difficult to quantify the impact of in-game product placement in raw ROI terms. Opportunities are also limited and very specific, demanding a close working relationship with the game developer / in-game agency, and a healthy pre-launch time schedule and budget. In addition, as with static advertising, the hard-coded nature means it cannot be switched off or updated once launched.

Future potential. It is now possible for product placement to be tracked using similar technology to dynamic advertising, allowing for more advanced metrification. Some companies are also experimenting with being able to insert and update 3D geometry with a view to enabling fully dynamic product placement; however, as with a film script, the intrinsic nature of this kind of opportunity within a game design means that this is unlikely to become truly scaleable. Yet, you can expect to see the lines between product placement and branded content to blur, as new interactive content -- such as licensed cars in a racing game -- are offered free-of-charge or discounted to users via digital distribution channels such as the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Advergaming

Advergaming is the creation of a bespoke interactive game based around a brand, product or event. It typically refers to a web-based game due to the need for a simple, cost-effective mass-reach distribution channel. Advergames are often "re-skinned" versions of an existing game, featuring simple yet addictive gameplay mechanics.

Advantages. Advergaming can be 100 percent on-message and provides exclusive share of voice. Moreover, these types of games are typically very sticky, engaging users with easy-to-play, fun dynamics and often a high score element to keep people coming back.

Disadvantages. Advergames need to create their own audiences, and those audiences need to be relevant and in sufficient volume to make the time and expense of developing them worthwhile.

Future potential. More advanced console-based projects, such as the recent Burger King Xbox games, have brought production values up to date, and digital distribution channels on both console and PC will make finding the relevant audience easier.

Ed Bartlett is vice president of publisher relations Europe and co-founder of IGA Worldwide.