In-game ads enhancing engagement and response

(source)

Because numbers are sexy (source) :

• With 250 million computer and video game units sold in 2004, and over $25 billion in revenues, the electronic gaming sector is now the fastest growing sector in the entertainment industry.
• The average age of a console gamer is now 29, with an above-average education and income. It�s no longer about kids in their bedrooms, games are taking media time and awareness directly from TV viewership.
• In 2004, TV viewership declined by 12% in the target group of males 18-34 years old while, at the same time, this group spent 20% more time playing games.
• The fastest growing media segments in 2006 will be videogame advertising (40%), online advertising (27%), movie screen advertising (25%), branded entertainment (18%), local/regional cable television (12.8%) and custom publishing (10%), whereas TV ad spend will actually decline.
• 3/4 of households with a male age 8-34 own at least one videogames console.
• Independent tests by companies such as Nielsen Entertainment show that recall of ads in games is as high as 60% thanks to the immersive and interactive game environments they are placed in.

What attracts people to get a Second Life?

Well via Marketing Facts (yes MF again! lol), I have discovered why that many people start a Sexual Second Life. I guess everyone has needs, EVEN in a virtual surrounding.

In-game advertising

In a previous post I’ve talked a bit about Second Life, a game that takes place in a virtual world. Comparable to The Sims. These days more and more games and brands are joining hands to advertise in game. And I’m not only talking about online games, even the traditional board game Monopoly have released a special “Here and Now” edition of the board game which has elements of the real world implemented. They’ve started using branded tokens in the boardgame. For example they have implemented a pawn in the shape of a McDonalds french fries bag or a Starbucks cup and even a laptop! (via Marketing Facts). This is another great example of branded entertainment that more and more brands are getting into these days.

According to this post on games.blogo.nl, is in-game advertising becoming a hype. Not many people have discovered yet what the possibilities are. The post is about the use of dynamic advertising instead of using static advertisements in-game. The actual use of dynamic advertisements are still prohibited for legal and privacy reasons, the possibilities are enormous (via Marketing Facts). If I combine this idea with the use of smart advertisement in outdoor advertisement, that i mentioned in a previous post, then I think we can actually provide personal and relevant information to the users. The problem in the “real” world was to find a way to identify specific interests of the people in order to show them relevant advertisements. But in the game you have the possibilities to get this information from the profile they have filled in before. It’s also easier to profile the users according to their actions in-game.

In this article (via games.blogo.nl), they mentioned that Nielsen Media forecasts that ad spending on brand placement in games will explode from $75 million last year to as much as $1 billion by 2010.

So perhaps I have finally found a subject worth researching about? What’d you think?

Edit: for english version of articles, just copy paste url/text in Babelfish. I apologize for the inconvenience.