Despite the rapid growth of online video consumption, advertiser demand for “premium” video inventory continues to outpace supply. Innovative brands and agencies are looking
for new outlets where they can deploy their video budgets.
To date, “premium” inventory has been defined predominantly as advertising placed before television programs
online. While this surely constitutes a subset of premium inventory, another burgeoning outlet is that of social games, which replicate much of the safe and comfortable environment for
consumers that television does, but can perform better.
According to eMarketer, consumers now spend more time engaged with social games than with any other online activity except social
networking itself. Well over 300 million people worldwide come to Facebook every month to play social games. Those numbers are similar to the scale that television can deliver, and
there are other experiences that make this similar for the consumer:
- The largest social gaming studios rival that of a Hollywood set. It’s like walking into a
new world, half movie set and half board game. These are massive pieces of entertainment programming that are being created for a large and dedicated fan base.
- Like a television
program, 95% of consumers check into their game at least once a week. Over a third play every day.
- As with many television programs, games skew toward a very specific
demographic. A brand looking to target a specific demographic can do so across multiple games.
As brands determine where to place their video dollars, social gaming provides the
comfortable, brand-safe environment and scale that makes television so appealing, but combines that with highly engaged, captive consumers that you can speak with over time as they live in their games
of choice. Increasingly, for media to be effective, it will need to transcend mere exposure and be engaging to consumers, preferably in a way that enhances their online experiences. This is the
new face of “premium” video.