RE: Interview with JD8 Aug 2019 10:35
Why gaming will be advertising's next key channel
By James Draper08 August 2019 08:00am
Gaming has been on the radar of advertisers for some time, but it seems to have become a more intriguing prospect in the collective consciousness of the industry over the past year or so. This may be down to technological advances that enable better quality, immersive advertising in-game or a wider reflection of the gaming market’s size, which is expected to reach more than $152bn this year.
High-profile brand activations within games such as Fortnite, the rise of influencers and increasing celebrity involvement in gaming have all propelled the industry into the limelight, but it has been a part of mainstream culture for years and comfortably outstrips both film and music in terms of revenue.
Recently the proliferation of streaming services such as Twitch and the popularity of video game content on YouTube has grabbed the attention of many advertisers. However, the launch of cloud-gaming platforms such as Google Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud later this year are likely to represent an inflection point where brands start to view gaming as an important marketing channel that will be a part of their plans.
Gaming will future proof the digital ad industry
Digital ad spend hit a staggering £13.4bn in the UK last year against a backdrop of falling audiences in traditional channels such as TV and radio, and a growing appetite for more transparency, tracking and reporting. Evidently the future of advertising lies in the digital world and that is precisely why gaming is such an appealing prospect – 86% of global internet users play games on at least one of their devices, whether that’s a smartphone, PC or console. This figure increases to 92% among 16-24 year olds – a demographic that is notoriously difficult to reach via traditional routes.
Gamers spend, on average, seven hours and seven minutes per week gaming, which represents a valuable window of opportunity for brands to share clear and engaging content with a captive audience. Interacting with gamers when they are fully immersed in play has a number of benefits.
First and foremost the target audience isn’t distracted. They aren’t split screening or scrolling through news feeds at breakneck speeds – they are focused and engaged on the activity at hand. The audience also can’t block ads that are served directly into a video game and brands have greater control over when and where their creatives are served, meaning they appear in a brand safe environment.
Provided ads are placed into natural ad spaces within a game, they offer highly viewable creative that can make an impact without disrupting or intruding on the user’s experience. For some gaming environments such as sports stadiums and racetracks, the native in-game ads actually make the backdrop look more realistic because players expect to see some sort of advertising in the billboard spaces and trackside hoardings, as they would in re
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