• by Tim Harris , April 30, 2004

Play Time Is Now

By Tim Harris

If I want to play, I can. Anytime, anywhere, anyway.

At home in front of my television, with a connected game console.

With my phone, on the train, taking me to work.

Sitting in the Admiral's Club, taking advantage of its "virtual office space" and my PC.

On any number of websites.

In the movie theater, the mall, the bar, and the restaurant.

If I am 1 out of every 2 Americans, I play interactive games. I have learned that anything I'm interested in has a game about it. Games have scale, intense involvement, rich creative and malleability like no other communications medium. All of the ingredients for a marketing tool have existed for some time within this entertainment vehicle, yet marketers are only just now starting to pay attention. Everyone knows that they need to be involved, but how?

The gaming audience is largely a mainstream group. They are you and me (well, maybe not me, but we'll look at that some other time). Because they've grown up knowing that games offer a measure of escape and also a large measure of control, they will be suspicious and finicky when it comes to intruders. Thus, as marketers, we must be respectful and creative-we must be characters or programmers.

A marketer belongs in a game if it can become a character in the game. If the marketer's product pushes a game forward or belongs in the plot (e.g., a cell phone maker's phones are the means by which a spy character receives his assignments), then the brand becomes a character. Adding stadium signage or broadcast-style overlays on sports games adds a measure of realism to them. The automobile with the very quality and product attributes which allow a player to accomplish his goals, get him to a certain place in the game or carry him safely away from the villainous antagonist is adding value. If your product or service pushes gameplay forward, it belongs and will be treated as a character.

The opportunity to be a character, however, only arises when the marketer and the game fit together in a product-fits-in-environment way. This doesn't allow many marketers to utilize many games-though a game's audience may include a high percentage of a marketer's target-because their product doesn't belong literally IN the game. Here's where marketers become programmers-not in the "writing code" kind of way, but in the "creation of quality programming" kind of way.

We have an enormous opportunity to underwrite, create, sponsor, and facilitate game content and gameplay as we move into the age of everything-connected. As the gaming business model changes from a packaged goods paradigm (where many games are purchased at retail), to a digital distribution paradigm (where most games are downloaded or player-on-demand), so too does the way games are played.

Game developers will release games level-by-level, episode-by-episode, and feature-by-feature. Game players will expect their games to receive constant extensions, additions, and new experiences via their Internet-connected game platforms; they will expect programming. All of a sudden, marketers have a huge playground of messaging opportunities.

Marketers that develop equities with sports properties like the NFL or NBA can offer playable fantasy leagues-large-scale tournaments that coincide with real events (Super Bowl, NBA Finals) and classic match-ups through a game's online service.

In-game music will evolve as marketers sponsor refreshable soundtracks and exclusive music events/promotions. And marketers will begin to underwrite post-launch game content (levels, episodes, objects) to take advantage of a product attribute or messaging that takes place in an advertisement; e.g., a racing game offers a track that directly mirrors the TV ad and requires the use of the specific car model.

These few examples will be executed, refined, and expanded upon ...soon. Already, we're seeing a dramatic marketplace emerge among the many game companies in North America as marketers realize that by their very nature, games will only be able to accommodate a few commercial sponsors. Their entertainment equity is as powerful as movies and as expandable as television, so marketing partnerships with these companies that involve other forms of media will soon be as common as in-game placement. Publishers of games are ramping up their abilities to work with brands, and agencies are developing the expertise to help marketers manifest themselves in a credible way within these environments.

The winners will be those that attack this opportunity with a creative eye toward how games are played. Can your brand offer the audience something new, something authentic, something more? Then welcome to what is arguably the most powerful and engaging communications medium created. If not, you're not thinking hard enough. And you'll lose.

Tim Harris is vice president/director, Play, the gaming division of Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group.