In-Game Marketing Overview
All people that played video games in the past few years understand that they are highly immersive. We are faced with such a huge detail and a universe that is immersive. Video games quality evolved to the point in which in-game marketing became really strong.
Many think that those that play video games are young, male and nerdy. This is definitely not the case anymore. It was clearly highlighted by different students that around 65%of homes in USA feature people that do play games at least one time per year. Most of the gamer population is male but the percentage is actually 60%.
In-Game Marketing
This type of marketing allows an advertiser to have brands or products featured in video games. For instance, you can have a huge billboard in a virtual city or the hero may drink a glass of a specific drink. In a racing game you can easily have a car that is made by Mercedes or Porsche. An advertiser has numerous different aggressive and creative ways in which ads can organically be integrated in video games.
In-Game Marketing Advantages
So many advantages appear, especially when looking at regular advertising options like radio, TV or print. Video games are really immersive so the ad will have a complete effect, registering in a way that is not possible with most other marketing channels.
Video games are creative. This allows subtle and clever advertising forms. Instead of adding slogans and logos, a marketer can work messages right into gameplay so that it becomes a part of the entire experience. Ads thus turn into a game feature and they do not distract.
Customizability is also a huge advantage that needs to be taken into account. Most of the consoles are nowadays connected to the World Wide Web. Because of this it is easy to change and even segment advertising whenever the marketer wants to. An example of this took place in the year 2008. The Presidential campaign of Barack Obama ran some ads in sports games that were really popular. What was special is that the ads only appeared for the gamers that were living in states that were swing states.
If the budget is available, advertisers can even create their very own games, all with a marketing purpose. So many movies take advantage of this, creating games based on some of the movie’s scenes. Something like this can be highly effective in both promoting the movie and in increasing profits.