AOL Revamps GameDaily for Users, Advertisers
- by Tameka Kee , August 15, 2007
Blockbuster, Doritos and Electronic Arts have already signed on as brand sponsors, with campaigns from additional marketers set to roll out as the site moves out of beta phase.
Geared toward the gaming community as a whole--from "hard-core" PC gamers to mainstream console users, and even fringe video game players--the site features content like cheat codes, developer interviews and screenshot galleries. Users can also "snag," share and embed videos via a GameDaily widget.
The site reportedly had more than 2 million unique visitors in July. According to Ralph Rivera, AOL Games vice president and general manager, the audience skews slightly male and young--60% male ages 18-24--but the wealth of content draws in a "balanced set of demographics" for advertisers.
The new ad opportunities include rich media buys like skins and corner peels, a "download of the day," direct sponsorship of site sections by game title or category, as well as integrated campaigns across GameDaily's network of blogs like Joystiq and Engadget.
Recently, GameDaily partnered with Wal-mart and Time Inc.'s "All You" magazine for an initiative aimed at recruiting "gaming moms." AOL Games hosted a two-hour boot camp-style event in New York called the "AOL Games ALL You, Video Gamer Boot Camp for Moms," where GameDaily Managing Editor Libe Goad taught more than 15 moms about different gaming consoles and top games.
Video from the event will be posted to the GameDaily site concurrent with an article in the September issue of All You, which is distributed in Wal-mart stores. "It was about bringing moms and kids together, and we received a tremendous response," said Kurt Patat, senior communications manager, AOL. "It was something organic, to test the waters and develop a new experience for users, that delivered a targeted ad opportunity at the same time."
