Advergames.

The gaming market has evolved tremendously over the past few years. Games started 50 years ago, but the arcade games or the first consoles that were used back then seem to be a thing of the past. Recent technological advances have allowed games to place players in immersive and influential gaming environments.

The gaming devices themselves have been transformed – we can now play video games on a smart phone, as well as on a high-tech console or through VR headsets. The trend in the gaming market is so strong that it has a huge impact on consumers. Just look at how consumers reacted to the launch of the PS5 console in 2020 and how much excitement it generated.
At the same time, this trend has been reinforced by the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic. People around the world have been confined to their homes, where they necessarily had to find an interesting activity that would allow them to break away from the hardships of everyday life. According to a study, 40% of young people have increased the time they use mobile games.

In fact, video games have become a way to connect with friends, but also a great opportunity for brands to increase their reach in unconventional ways with digital ads placed in video games.

First, this advertising technique can make your brand stand out more on advertising channels where there is not much competition yet.

Second, by choosing the right ad and its format, you can reach a specific target audience of your choice.

Third, in-game ads can be optimized in real time, adjusting the available options to suit your needs. A customized advertising message gives brands tremendous opportunities.

Fourth, in-game ad placement is a very good way to know your customers and their preferences, allowing you to perfectly tailor your ads in real time.

There are already about 3 billion video gamers in the world. This is a huge potential for brands as long as they properly identify their target audience.

The current gamer is far from the usual stereotype of a teenager locked in his room. The average gamer today is a parent in his or her 30s, with a lot of purchasing power, who meets other users in video games, where they share the experience together. 33% of the gamers are women. Also, gaming devices are used interchangeably. Sometimes it is a smart phone, sometimes a Nintendo console, and sometimes a laptop. Everything depends on the current willingness and possibilities.

Gaming consoles such as Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo are huge opportunities as their players account for about 30% of the gaming market share.
On the other hand, mobile games are becoming increasingly attractive to brands. You can implement your ads through games in your app – the ads are directly integrated into the mobile gaming app. This is a huge and growing potential as it is estimated that around 25-30% of mobile gamers spend up to 10 hours a week playing games. These people are both young and old so the target group here is very diverse.

Again, the popularity of browser games in HTML5 technology is growing very fast. Between 1995 and 2010, games using Adobe Flash technology were extremely popular. This technology was ideal for creating games that could be run in the browser of the computer, among other things. Flash technology, had one drawback. It was not supported by mobile browsers. Very dynamic development of the mobile platform in the last 10 years , as well as a number of other problems with which the technology struggled caused the technology to „come to life” in 2020. Hundreds of websites providing Flash games, ceased to exist. Flash games were quickly replaced by games created in HTML5. Thanks to this technology, browser-based games have once again returned in popularity. But this time they are games that can be run not only in a computer browser, but now also, in a browser on a phone or tablet. Facebook and other services provide developers with special tools to integrate their games with these platforms.

The popularity of simple games running in the browser will be of old growing. One of the main reasons is the fact that, unlike mobile games, you don’t have to install them. All you need is a regular browser, whether on a computer or a smartphone, and you can play.

Another form of effective advertising using video games is the use of streaming platforms, such as Facebook Gaming or YouTube Gaming, where video games are crucial.

Since in-game ads offer quite a few possible formats, it’s important to consider what will work best for your brand and generate the most interest among your audience.

In-game video advertising.
There are many options for using in-game video advertising. Some of the most popular include:
Videos that appear a few seconds before the game starts,
Videos with benefits for the player (rewarded videos) – the player receives a reward for watching the video.

Native in-game advertising.
In-game advertising is directly integrated into the game, which means it is not perceived negatively by the player. As an example, a banner ad is placed in the stadium of the field where the game is played.

Audio advertisement.
A very large group of gamers like to listen to music while playing video games. On the music application of consoles such as Playstation and Xbox, you can place advertisements of your brand obtaining a non-invasive format that does not adversely affect the gaming experience.

Banners ads.
In-game banner ads generate a 3% click-through rate which is 30 times higher than traditional display banners (0.10%), Facebook ads (0.07%) or media banners (0.14%).
There are 2 types of in-game banner ads to choose from:
Mobile full-screen banners where the advertising material is displayed at a key moment in the game;
So-called Block banners, which do not stop gameplay because they are integrated into the mobile/computer game.

KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL IN-GAME ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

Achieving the desired marketing objectives requires using the right techniques, namely:
1. choosing the right platform for your brand, consistent with your target audience and matching your brand image. An engaging ad must blend in and match the gameplay perfectly.
Choose the right audience, taking into account the different profiles of players depending on the platforms on which the ad is to be implemented.
3. choice of ad format – the best formats will be engaging, natural-looking in a given game. The ad should appear when the player is under the influence of strong emotions (threatened or delighted). Consider the fact that the player spends a lot of time looking for a way out of a full-screen ad so your ad can’t lack that something that won’t irritate your audience.
4. the right advertising messages to hit the core, a strong message that reaches players and is positively perceived by them is extremely important. On the one hand, traditional advertising messages do not work in the gaming environment, and on the other hand, a lot of information is transmitted in the gaming community. Therefore, it is important to get the right messages that will benefit the brand.

Another form of effective advertising using video games is the use of streaming platforms, such as Facebook Gaming or YouTube Gaming, where video games are crucial.

Marketing games – advergames – are created for brands and then placed on
Internet, from where they are downloaded by recipients. Thanks to this, the brand’s advertisement reaches mass
The brand advertising reaches mass audiences providing them with good fun and the brand with promotion. Marketing games can take
very different forms – tactical games, adventure or shooters. They can be produced for
platforms such as smartphones, consoles and computers.
The effectiveness of marketing games is noticed by brands which treat games as a modern
marketing tool. Faced with the new reality that a very large part of the population
playing games, more or less regularly, this way of reaching with advertisement seems to be very
attractive. Especially that advertising in games does not seem to be a persistent, unwanted message
This is because they reach for the game of their own free will, tempted by the vision of pleasant entertainment. When
the user gets involved in the game, he is able to forgive the advertisement showing from time to time,
treating it as a kind of cost of playing the game. The more involved the player is in the game, the
less annoyed they are by advertising.

Additionally, a large number of young people, already raised on games, enter the market as
As a result, the group of recipients of marketing games is growing every year.
growing every year.

What types of advertisements can be placed in marketing games?

Advergaming allows you to implement a marketing game on any platform. The following tools are
most frequently used in order to use games for marketing purposes:

Static ads – Product placement (product placement);
Dynamic advertising – In game advertising
Activities in gaming communities – mainly organizing contests or shows, also with the
the use of Facebook