Advergaming
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Advergaming is the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint. The term "advergames" was coined in January 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis who purchased the domain names Advergames.com along with Adverplay.com. The term Advergames was later mentioned by Wired's "Jargon Watch" column in 2001, and has been applied to various free online games commissioned by major companies.
Contents |
[edit] Categories
Advergaming normally falls into one of three categories:
[edit] ATL (Above the Line) Advergaming
Examples of ATL advergames include Promotional software.
At first a company provides interactive games on its website in the hope that potential customers will be drawn to the game and spend more time on the website, or simply become more product aware. The games themselves usually feature the company's products prominently. These games are often reworked arcade classics but occasional gems can be found such as the Dyson game, Intel's IT manager Game, a classic from Nurofen or the recent 3D real-time advergame Auris Ice Experience developed for Toyota France.
The earliest custom video games featuring integrated brand messages were distributed on Floppy disk in the era before substantial penetration of the World Wide Web. The first floppy disk advergames were developed to serve dual purposes — as promotional incentives that drive response and as media that deliver awareness. American Home Foods Chef Boyardee brand issued the first-ever floppy-disk advergame[citation needed]. Other early brands to use the format were Coca-Cola and Taco Bell, which distributed games as "kids' premiums". The first in-box CD-ROM cereal box advergames were Chex brand's Chex Quest and General Mills' All-Star baseball, the latter starring Trix Rabbit and his friends playing baseball against Major League teams and stars.
With the spread of broadband internet, more in-depth advergaming games have been made possible aside from the simple arcade style flash games and larger games that are confined to being distributed on disc only. Kuma Reality Games is a developer of free advergaming games. One of their games, The DinoHunters is a full first person shooter based on the Source Engine that is released for free due to companies such as Schick sponsoring the releases and having their products featured prominently in game as well. Accompanying machinima episodes have been created alongside to help advertise the products also.
[edit] BTL (Below the Line) Advergaming
Examples of BTL advergames include Militainment, Recruitment tools, Edutainment, and In-game advertising.
In the second form, games are published in the usual way and cause players to investigate further. The subjects may be commercial, political or educational. Examples of this form of game include recruitment tools like America's Army, intended to boost recruitment for the United States Army, and Special Force, intended to promote Muslim resistance to the state of Israel. Two soft drink mascots have also appeared in their own game. Pepsiman and Cool Spot were title characters in games promoting Pepsi and 7 Up, respectively. The most recent use of this form of advertising was the use of the King mascot from hamburger chain Burger King as the star of three video games titled the King Games series. Games themed for a specific sporting organization such as the NFL or Formula One racing can also fall into this category.
Two examples of educational advergaming, called Edumarket game, are Food Force (made by the United Nations' World Food Program) and Urban Jungle, an educational traffic simulation.
Another BTL advergame technique consists of advertising within a game itself. Since the intent of in-game advertising is commercial rather than political, some consider such advertisements to make up a category of their own. However as with the above mentioned BTL advergame forms, it is the techique by which the propaganda is purveyed rather than the nature of its intended audience which defines in-game advertising as a subset of BTL advergaming and not its own category.
In-game advertising is similar to subtle advertising in films, where the advertising content is within the "world" of the movie. A fictional example is Pepsi banners lining the inside of a virtual Soccer stadium in a video game made by EA Sports. A final (but weak) example is a regular banner ad in a free small-time browser strategy game. This can be a way to combat costs that the game makers encounter and reduce the cost of the game to the consumer (especially games with monthly fees) while providing an outlet to advertise ones product. It also currently helps many people sustain free online games. This method of advertising in offline games is somewhat controversial, however, as players may feel the game makers are being greedy by gaining money from the advertising without offering the game at a reduced price.
[edit] TTL (Through the Line) Advergaming
Examples of TTL advergames include link-chases and ARGs.
A rare form of advergaming, TTL advergames involve the use of URL hyperlinks within the game designed to induce the player to visit a webpage which then contains BTL advertisements. The technique used to tempt the player into visiting the intended URL varies from game to game. In games like Pikmin 2 the player is given a cryptic message with an accompanying URL designed to pique the curiosity of the player. In games such as Enter the Matrix,Year Zero, I Love Bees, and Lost Experience, URLs make up a part of the background of the game such that certain plot details can only be learned by following the link given in the game. The knowledge of such plot details are typically not required to complete the game, but make for a fuller story for fans. Websites of this nature often lead players on to other links which again lead to further links, thus earning these games the label "link-chases." There is a tradeoff here: use of the internet to find out extra things about a game might be enjoyable, however gamers will not enjoy being given too much of a run-around with too obtrusive advertising to obtain important details about the game.
With the growth of the internet, advergames have proliferated, often becoming the most visited aspect of brand websites and becoming an integrated part of brand media planning in an increasingly fractured media environment. LifeSavers started a game site called Candystand that has blossomed to a portal for many different advergames and at its peak was averaging more than 1 million unique visitors a month.[citations needed]
Another example would be the in-game radio advertisement in GTAIII for "sleepofflard.com," a redirect to the Rockstar website.
Advergames theoretically promote repeated traffic to websites and reinforce brands. Users choose to register to be eligible for prizes which can help marketers collect customer data. Gamers may also invite their friends to participate, which could assist promotion by word of mouth, or "viral marketing".
[edit] Examples
- 3D Advergaming online real time whith ACTIPLAY [1]
- A good example of a game that includes both ATL and BTL is the BMW M3 Challenge. BMW worked with 10tacle to repurpose the GT Legends game, a race simulation game, to showcase the 2008 M3 BMW. JOGO Media, an in-game ad agency, was hired to sell in-game advertising that included Intel, Castro and other brands.
- One of the most successful online advergaming portal has been Wrigley's Candystand.com. Launched by the LifeSavers Company in March 1997, Candystand.com reaches over 5M unique users each month. The site features over 65 flash and shockwave games.
- In November 2006, Burger King began selling three advergaming Xbox and Xbox 360 titles (Known as the King Games series and entitled Sneak King, Pocketbike Racer and Big Bumpin') for an additional $3.99 ($4.99 in Canada) each with any value meal. The games were developed by Blitz Games' Blitz Arcade Division and were the best selling games of the 2006 holiday season [2]. More than 3.2 million copies are believed to have been sold in the US and Canada alone.
- Another good example of an advergame is Millsberry.com. It is a popular website targeting Middle School and Elementary School kids, but it can be played by anyone. It is endorsing General Mills cereal by featuring their products in the website (Cereal by General Mills players can buy, clothing to buy, etc...).
- Since 2002 Inventoractive Corp has been developing Promotional Video Games in the Pharmaceutical Industry for such companies as Bayer HealthCare, Baxter Medical, Tibotec Therapeutics and Ortho Biotech. Video games are used at Trade Shows to effectively convey new product release information to potential customers, and used for hand out media.
- Advergaming also occurs in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 where one may see billboards of films such as The Bourne Ultimatum.
- Cheetos snacks had two advergames starring Chester Cheetah. One for SNES, another for Sega Genesis.
- The Domino's Pizza chain shipped a game called Yo! Noid for NES.
- The McDonalds characters (Ronald, Grimace, etc.) starred in M.C. Kids for the NES, programmed by Virgin Games.
[edit] Future of advergaming
As long as the game delivers a fun pay off, consumers consider it a relevant and valid cultural experience. In recent brand-impact studies, associating a brand with the fun of gaming is known to lift brand metrics such as brand awareness, message association and purchase intent. After playing a game, consumers are more likely to remember not just the brand or product itself, but to associate specific brand attributes with it.
The advergame industry is expected to generate $312.2 million by 2009, up from $83.6 million in 2004, according to Boston research firm Yankee Group.
[edit] Advergame industry statistics
- 50% of recipients play the advergame, for an average of 25 minutes.[citation needed]
- 90% of players who receive a challenge from a friend play the game and respond back with their score or statistics.[citation needed]
- According to the Entertainment Software Assn., 42% of gamers say they play online games one or more hours per week.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Analysing Advergames: Active Diversions or Actually Deception — a study reviewing advergames
- 3D games online real time — ACTIPLAY Promotional Video Game
- Promotional Video Game Developers — Inventoractive Corp (IAC) Developers of Celerity Game Engine and originators of Promotional Video Games in the Pharmaceutical Industry
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
