Behind the Buzz - digital and interactive advertising and marketing

Advertising in Video Games

by Rachel on October 2nd, 2007

This was my final session of AdWeek, looking at advertising in and around games.  Presentations from Activision, Nielson and Massive (Microsoft) all basically saying the same thing - advertising in games is good.  They would have been better doing a little more co-ordination of the presentations though as information was repeated and at times contradicted.   I took notes through throughout and have pulled together the highlights, with commentary if required.

Get into the game: why video games are the advertising worlds new medium of choice for 18-34 year old males.

Presented by Activision.
Keynote: Robin Kaminsky, Executive Vice President, Activision
Featuring speakers from Nielsen Entertainment, Massive and more.

 The promise of the day is to tell us all how advertising in video games is the future for reaching 18-34 year old males. My initial reaction is that they are selling the demographics short, as users of video games are far larger than that ‘classic’ age group that gets bandied around. This is however sponsored by Activision, which, according to the demo reel currently playing, does seem to focus on that age group.  It’s also not a new idea, but the online capabilities of many games have made it a lot easier than ever before.  The betting in our little group as there will be 2 key takeaways - you can advertise in games and a net connection allows you to swap them in and out.  Throw in a few casestudies and metrics and that will be it.  Nothing new for anyone with a passing knowledge of the game space, but this is Ad Week and many here have little knowledge.

First up was Robin Kaminsky, Activision, who read a very prepared script about the future of advertising in games. 

• pushing the 13-34 male target…games being one of the few channels that can reach this elusive audience
• demo..gets messaging all the time…all fighting for time and attention..tune out is what happens.  not devoted to one form of media….multitasking…
• we advertise our own games on our own games…engage with influencers to WOM..gave early assets and VIP access….create buzz for the new games.  Call of Duty 4 trailer has 10 mill downloads…does not ship for another month. 
• leverage CPM with a broad reach..but does not help you connect…need great message and great creative…gives you awareness but is not relevant to engage….traditional approach does not create relevance.  Games are relevant to their lives and advertising here does lead to engagement
• Engagement..try talking to the guy when he is playing the game…really get focused on the game…
• Core users 18h/wk playing video games…they are not multitasking, they are focusing on one channel
• brand can become a core element…in an area where focus is required….
• research - ads are expected when authentic to the situation…bring added realism in the right environment…especially if the products that are being advertised can be used in world
• games can scale…sales continue to grow..double digit annual growth ..expected to surpass music sales by end of year
• We can get you in..we restrict numbers per game…we look for partners early in process..to get the brand in the game…interacting…you can advertise or you can actually get the brand into the game. 
• we can get you into the game…we can offer exclusive content for your consumers….600k song packs have been sold for GuitarHero…can you bring your customers at the start etc etc
• budget challenges….it is an interactive way…money well spent.  Is traditional media easier?  Yes, it’s easier to convince people to spend on it, it’s known and comfortable…but it may be time to think differently.

Next was Jeff Herrmann  (Nielson) focusing a lot on the numbers

• 26.5m 18-49 men play games
• web is 3.2% of ad spend. 
• We have 30k P2+ users across the US.  sits in the same box as the TV meter.   Our Panel tracks 1mill PC users in the US. It racks all gaming on the device
• 53% of consumers in the US have access to a console
• 80% of teenagers own at least 1 console
• 23.7% are women
• age is wide….27% is 25-54  18-24 19.3%
• 75% of usage by top 20% of users
•  heaviest…10hrs/week  (RC: previous speaker said 18hrs/week)
• 360 owners 171 minutes a week - 360 leads the % use time across all consoles
• They have great figures of usage across the day by demo, showing peak times.  This allows you to day-part the dynamic ads in the system.
• Gamers spend less time with TV than the total pool  but still significant…27hrs/week for the heaviest users.   But they timeshift 10 hrs of this

Now we have Ian Ali, Regional  Sales Manager for Massive

• MSFT bought massive about 1 yr ago
• Look at Hardware penetration, game lifestyle, game software and the LIVE services - growing connected community
• we think that 1 engaged viewer = 8 regular viewers.  consumer engagement with the ads had an 8 times larger impacts on the sales than gross rating points
• you need content and an engaged audience, then measurement and flexibility leads to marketing opportunity
• Messages across multiple touchpoints - gamer focused websites - media campaign, paid ads; sponsored events or content; dynamic in-game advertising, hard coded product integration in games; advergames
• 3 main parts - advertiser, gamer and the publishers/developer.  has to serve the gamer first, has to add to the experience.
• when we look at game, we sit with the developers….do tests..make recommendations about where ads should be in the game.  we add the massive software to the billboards/placements in games…it pulls down the content as required.     We can run campaign across the network
• can change creative, can deliver by geotargeting and by time/date
• an impression needs to be big enough to read and at the right angle..then we count 10 secs and that is an impression (RC: they’ve put some thought into this.   An impression is only counted when the player has been in clear site of the ad for 10 seconds.  As you move around the game and change angles, the clock stops and starts on that time until the impression is counted)
• key metrics….41%+ in purchase consideration, brand familiarity 64%+, brand rating 37%+, ad recall 41%+
• positive brand attributes increased

Finally we have Jeff from Activision

• 148.4million have access to at least 1 console in the home
• heavy 5.45 hrs/day, in any minute 1.6 mill plying.
• the reach of a game is often greater than sales, as game are shared, played together, swapped around.
• We have sold 40 million units of Tony Hawke sold, - 20% of male audience have bought one
• Guitar hero has sold 6 million in 22 months
• Awareness - brand message, impression, ‘advertising’/  increases recall, enhanced awareness’
• Interaction - we add 3d products in the game - eg a red bull fridge, or a restaurant.  increases affinity and awareness
• Immersion-player has to interact with product.brand…cars, phones, guitar, pcs….increases trial, improves attributes impression, drives purchase intent
• Case study - Butterfinger and MTX Motortracks.  added the brand into different levels…added butterfinger hoops to jump the bike through.  drove awareness and recall

And that was that for the prepared presentations.  Pretty much as I expected - advertising in games is good, you get an engaged audience and the research is coming back that seems to show the ads work in the games, even more so when you have great product placement that is relevant to the audience and the game.   But this means you have to plan early to get into the cycle, to get hard coded into the gameplay.  The dynamic ads are an alternative, to allow you to test if you do not want to commit fully and there are some  good ways of doing this, for example, the film 300 used full ‘billboards’ in game with trailers and other video content

Some Audience Q&A

Q: For the dynamic ads you keep them current.  What happens when there is no web connection?   A: When you do not have the connection there are defaults textures that will ship with the game.  The majority of gamers are connected.  60% connected on Xbox, PC around 90%

Q: With the in-game ads, are you creating units that allow registrations etc….register for other things..can you take data back from the game?  A: everything is possible..but how do you not interrupt gameplay.   We’ve talked to some in the past, but not quite how you have described.  There are many things we are trying and we’re looking for ways to do it well.

Q: How can you do great creative - not just ‘advertising’.  Do you have examples?  A: it depends what you describe as advertising.  In Tony Hawke a whole level was in a Jeep factory and you had to interact with it.   Immersive gameplay is a great way.  At Massive,  we are doing a lot of research.   For product placement, every opportunity id unique.   Sitting down early and creating it together results in the best work.

Tags: gaming, Massive, Activision, Nielson

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