There are many current forms today of advertising with the use of games from Adgames to games advertising other games in the game. Each has its own use and way of getting people to buy products but how is this effect us as players and companies e.g Does it work?
In Game Advertising:
Today games can advertise if they wish anything the there games because in a game anything is possible. Most may have seen the in game advertisement like in racing games with billboards of sign posts with logos, brands and company names smeared across them. For those who haven't:
It isn't just racing games doing this but all games when they can or if they want to. Sports games again have a high reputation on in game advertising because sports use a lot of big named products and if people are gonna play with there digital products then why don't you advertise them to the players. Its worrying because in a way we are getting used to the idea of games having some sort of promotion advertising in the games and we expect them to be in the scenery.
in 2009 its reported on in games advertisements revenues were at 699 million american dollars, even might rise to 1 billion by 2014. this is a crazy about of money being spend on in game advertising for us to just notice a couple of advertisements here and there so why are they doing it. Its simple. It works. We play games over and over again with adverstments sinking into our brain and to use they become the scenery but as we less notice it the more they are becoming subliminal messages.
One of my favourite in game advertisements was the small Energiser banded batteries in Alan Wake. The batteries were a viral tool in the game and with the use of advertising ever time a player found the batteries then they would be instantly reminded of the brand. There was even a achievement called energiser which players had to collect the all the batteries to get. This means that even if the player didn't notice the advertising the achievement would connect the batteries to the brand. It was simple advertising but i thought effective. In game advertising is able to use all 3 different methods of advertising. These are: demonstrative, associative and illustrative advertising. "emotionally reinforce the brand image" through the "content of the game"
Advergames
In its simplest terms advergames are games built just to intent to advertise and persuades players into buying the item its trying to promote. These games typically today are more focused on internet as its medium. These games use simple gameplay to get a player to see what is being advertised. Typically internet based Adgames usually link to a website in which the product is available. Other Adgames are more to persuading the product.
Popular companies like Lynx, Dr Pepper and Cadburys regularly used Advergames to help promote there products. Currently Cadbury's are running a Spots vs Stripes campaign with many different games available on there website (Above the Line Advergaming). This means that people are currently going on there site were there name is very were to play free games, in return there product will always be on there mind and if they tell there friends more will go onto the site hopefully selling more. Whats good about this is that its also combining TV advertising and competition to help promote itself.
Advergames as i mention earlier have the ability to use the mediums as much as they can because thought the internet they can target any group of people they can. Thus they can build and promote a game around that audience as well. Unlike most Advergames we see in the web spamming websites that we click 5 times to win a ipod some games are build around the product to create a subliminal tie between the product. Mcdonals created a game called 'Shark Bait' This game was to help promote the filet o fish sandwich. But what the game did was use that burger as a tool to play with. When playing the game the player must keep the sandwich away from the sharks. Now while playing you may forget your a sandwich but next time you think of sharks or someone mentions the game you will instantly remember the sandwich, maybe even crave one.
I have mention before in other blogs about the use of Alteritive reality games for advertising. They are a much more complex version of a Advergame as at some point they will advertise a product but most of the time you are playing. And in a way they can also combine other areas of advertising. How are these games persuasive? well its combining entertainment with a product. Everyone likes to be entertained, if we enjoy something then more likely that they may play again and with every time a brand or a product is getting more people seeing it daily. Its almost subliminal messaging as they will remember it when it comes to things that link to the game or the product. It also means that they will link that product to entertainment. It breaks away from TV ads that are in your face and pushing products on you. Today even TV adverts are getting less in your face and more interactive and sutial and its those entertaining TV ads that do the best.
http://www.cadbury.co.uk/home/Pages/home.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advergaming
http://money.howstuffworks.com/advergaming.htm
Ian Bogost, 2007, Persausive games, The Expressive power of Video Games. The MIT Press,
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