AdverGaming

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Advergaming, a portmanteau of advertising and gaming which describes the intersection of the two fields, is the practice of using advertising with or in video games. With video gaming becoming more popular and present in everyday lives, the use of advergaming has greatly increased, as companies want to get people to buy their products. The purpose of advergaming is to reinforce certain brands and encourage users to but their products and/or play their games. Advergaming is also used by marketers to help collect data.

An example of advergaming from Dr. Pepper.

Games for advertising are sometimes looked at as a type of serious game because these types of games have a strong influence either educationally or training purposes other than solely entertainment.

Background

15% of time in males age 18 to 34 lives is spent playing video games, and so games are targets for advertising opportunities. Additionally, recent polls show that 36% of game players have acted on an advertisement they saw while playing a video game. Of game players surveyed, "11 percent of gamers said they purchased a brand advertised in a game; 19 percent said they talked about a product after seeing it in an in-game ad; 10 percent said they recommended the product to friends; and 11 percent said they looked up more information on the brand seen." Experts estimate that, by 2011, global spending for advertising space in video games will reach one billion dollars . Advertisers have recognized that many people are playing games and by advertising in games they are likely to get more people to buy their products.

Types of Advergaming

The Honey Cheerios Website is an example of ATL Advergaming as the have games to play on their website.

Above The Line (ATL) Advergaming

Above the line advergaming includes promotional software in hope that potential customers will be attracted by the game and spent more time playing the game which could be on the company’s website or hope that the customer becomes more product aware.

These games themselves often all about featuring the company’s product and are sometimes redrafted arcade classics or may be originally programmed for the company.

Examples of ATL Advergaming include product websites that include games on them.

A Doom game that features advertisements from CocaCola and McDonald's within the game, is an example of BTL Advergaming.

Below The Line (BTL) Advergaming

Below the line advergaming includes traditional in-game advertising and recruitment tools. The subjects that are advertised for this type of advergaming may be for commercial, political, or educational purposes. For this technique of advertising within the game, advertisements like billboards or fliers and especially product placement are used with the interplay between the player. These elements permit for a great degree of virtual advertisement.

In game below the line advergaming can potentially lower costs that the makers of the game experience, which can therefore reduce the cost of the game for the customers. The challenge here is to find the perfect balance for the amount of advertising so that the gamers do not gain a sense of irritation from the advertising.

TTL Advergaming: I Love Bees makes use of "link-chasing" and is designed to promote viral marketing.

Through The Line (TTL) Advergaming

Through The Line Advergaming is the least common method of advergaming. Examples of TTL advergaming include “link-chases” and viral marketing. Through the line advergaming tries to provoke the player to visit websites that typically contain below the line advergaming with the use of URL hyperlinks which are with in the game itself. The strategy to get the player to visit these URL’s differ form game to game. Websites that use TTL advergaming often lead players on to other links which lead to more links and so on and thus warranting the name "link-chases." In games such as Enter the Matrix, I Love Bees and Lost Experience, they have URLs make up a part of the backgrounds of the games such that certain plot details can only be learned by following the link that is provided in the game. The knowledge of such plot details are normally not required to complete the game, but adds to the experience of the game with a fuller story for fans.

Advergaming Businesses

"Gamewok is an online advergaming platform available to brand owners, interactive marketing specialists, media planners and digital agencies. GameWok.com offers easy-to-use solutions for all advergaming needs, while maintaining entertainment value and timely delivery for brand launches and campaigns." Not only has a market of advertising in gaming environments, but also a market for advergaming itself. Gamewok is advertised as a user friendly 4 step process and clients have access to experienced game developers, programmers, and customer service.

Creating Successful Advergaming

Developing advergames that really work is hard to do. There games have to balance between being really fun and having effect advertising in them. For example if the game is too fun and the players do not notice any of the advertising then the advertising company has wasted their time, but if all the players notice is advertising then they will fell put off by the game .

Uses of Advergaming

This hockey video game is advertising Obama as a presidential candidate.

Advergaming can include the following:

• Food Brands
• Toys
• Companies
• Clothing Lines
• Stores
• Politics/Campaigning
• Restaurants

Ethics of Advergaming

Ads vs. Content

A big ethical issue that comes with the practice of advertising is the differentiation between content and advertising. As more and more advergaming is taking place it is becoming harder to distinguish between video game content and advertising. On the television distinguishing between programs and commercials is fairly easy but as advertising can be so integrated into game play this is not always the case when it comes to advergaming.

Role in Childhood Obesity

Many of the main advertisers that utilize the practice of advergaming do so in order to target the younger generation. Among these advertisers are major food brands such as Kraft and McDonalds that use advergaming in the form of food-themed games to draw kids to their site, and keep them coming back . Though advergaming cannot be blamed for the childhood obesity epidemic America has seen recently, it does play a role. According to a poll of 3,000 children conducted by Intuitive Media, 43% of the respondents answered that they were more likely to eat a food or snack if they saw it online or in a game. Furthermore, 61% answered that they visit food websites . Advergaming's influence on children has facilitated the rise in childhood obesity and is a practice that should be regulated carefully.

Presentation of Image

Much of advergaming works like normal advertising does because they are presenting an image to the players. For example, some products may be advertised in games such as Call of Duty or [[Warcraft III| Warcraft] in order to say that people who are tough use this products. Other games may advertising products by subliminally applying the labels of cool or popular to people in the game, therefore saying if the player wants to be cool or popular they should buy this product.

See Also

• Targeted Advertising (Online)

External Links

• Advergaming
• In-game Advertising
• The Secrets of Advergaming

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