• by Ross Fadner , May 10, 2004

Marketers keen on reaching 18- to-34-year-old males are increasingly looking to console-based and online video games to reach this elusive demographic. But product placement in video games and so-called advergaming remains in its infancy. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week, new marketing alliances between software publishers and consumer brands are anticipated.

According to Gartner G2, more than 42 percent of U.S. households own a game console, compared to 4 percent in 1997. Marketers eager to try in-game advertising--whether by placing products in video games, incorporate product sponsorships, or even creating customized games based on popular brands--has become a hot issue for marketers who must consider how such moves affect the gaming experience. How far can they go before the experience is degraded and consumers are annoyed?

Advertisers who wish to sidestep the issue and avoid the process of masterminding sponsorships or product plugs within games are turning to the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" model of making their own games based on their brands and products. Such advertisers are increasingly turning to customized advergames, a method that has already driven promising returns for several brand marketers and is poised for growth in 2004, according to industry analysts.

A recent GartnerG2 report suggests that advergames can help increase consumer brand and product awareness, loyalty, and time spent at advertisers' Web sites because through advergames, consumers are actively engaged with brands and products for a significant period of time.

According to Gartner, there are three different types of advergames: custom games, which are conceived by advertisers and outsourced to game developers for development; media-partner sponsorships, in which portals like Yahoo! or Microsoft's MSN create games for their users and sell sponsorships to advertisers; and embedded advertisements--product placements in video games.

By far the most expensive form, customized games are the most attractive for brand marketers because these games are completely accountable, and yield the highest brand interaction time. Prices for such games range between $25,000 and $500,000 depending on the type of game, complexity, and distribution method, according to GartnerG2.

Recent examples of successful custom advergames include DaimlerChrysler's "Get Up and Go" game developed by L.A.-based advergame maker YaYa Media, Nabisco's series of advergames developed by Skyworks for its Candystand and Nabiscoland Web sites, and "MakeMoneyBeHappy," designed for Yahoo! UK Personal Finance by interactive agency Poke. Other examples include vodka brand RedSquare's advergame "Killer Pool" created by PilotInteractive, and "Lap of Honour," another racing advergame developed by Panlogic to promote U.K.-based newspaper Daily Telegraph's coverage of Formula 1 Racing.

Custom advergames are almost always free to visitors. Kraft's Nabiscoworld.com contains advergames for as many as 17 brands, and often, brand images are incorporated into gameplay. Its RitzBits Sumo Wrestling game features chocolate crackers facing off against marshmallows in a fight that ends in a plug for its S'mores brand snack.

Advergames are powerful because they are relatively inexpensive--$2 per thousand impressions. Chrysler's "Get Up and Go" advergame is one of a number of standout initiatives.

Mike Yann, vice president sales, YaYa Media, says that for the Chrysler advergame, the automaker wanted to drive product consideration among adult consumers ages 35-49. The game asked users to take a self-assessment test to evaluate their travel personality, and match it to a Chrysler vehicle. A Wyndham Hotel and Resorts travel sweepstakes was also included in the offering.

According to Yann, the average game play was 7.6 minutes, and 32 percent of players spent between 10 and 20 minutes playing. The viral compounding rate was 22 percent, and viral emails were opened 66 percent of the time. Overall, 15 percent of game players requested more information from Chrysler as a result of playing the game--much higher than the 0.7 percent brochure request rate from the Chrysler Web site.

Gartner G2 Principal Analyst Denise Garcia says that advergaming can be a smart media buy for certain brand marketers, but she notes that different advergame formats and game types are more appropriate, depending on the demographic the advertiser is trying to reach.

Avid console game players--especially 18- to-24-year-olds--are less likely to be interested in custom advergames, she says, because the game play is often too simplistic for them. In this case, embedded advertising in pre-existing games makes more sense, even though the results and impact are harder to track. For campaigns targeting women, she says time-killers like solitaire are appropriate, whereas precision games like golf are more appropriate for men.