In-game advertising requires reality and relevance

Yet another report is released forecasting a rapid rise in the global in-game advertising industry, and advertisers need to understand how to target gamers without turning them off.

by Helen Leggatt

Not long ago Parks Associates released findings from their "Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home: Game Advertising" report in which they forecast a massive increase in digital game advertising. Their figures concur with a more recent report from the Yankee Group.

yankee%20group%20logo.jpg According to the Yankee Group, in-game advertising will grow 1,150 percent in the next five years, from $77.7 in 2006 to $971.3 million by 2011. Parks Associates had pegged the 2012 spend at $805 million.

“Advertisers are increasingly finding in-game advertising to be a greater investment value because of the variety of opportunities that exist in and around games,” said Michael Goodman, director of digital entertainment in Yankee Group's Consumer Research group.

While relatively common in sports video game genres, such as motor-racing and football, more and more companies are looking to target a wider variety of games. The keys to successful in-game advertising are relevance and reality and billboards at sporting events are commonplace, making online placements appear realistic and relevant. It’s not so straight-forward when it comes to seamlessly integrating ads into medieval worlds, battlefields or space-stations.

“Video games represent an ‘above the line’ opportunity, which means that video games should be used to build brands and not as a call to action that distracts from the game play,” added Goodman.