What is it?

 

Whilst many may have heard of the term gamification, which refers to combining traditional marketing strategies with basic gaming techniques to increase brand engagement, ‘advergaming’ refers to creating a real and complete game for marketing purposes (Blog.printsome.com, 2017). In today’s digital world consisting of our extensive use of mobile devices, advergaming is becoming an increasingly popular form of marketing products and brands. There are different forms of advertising in games and below are the three main types:

 

 

1. Branded mini-games on the web

The first way of advertising in games is sometimes called ‘above the line’ advergaming  (Mahajan, 2015) and usually includes interactive games that can be played on websites such as Primary Games, Flashgames247 or on the company’s own website. This is an effective way of trying to promote a brand in the background, whilst increasing customer engagement, brand awareness and attempting to increase the time they spend on the website. Examples of some popular branded mini-games on the web include Taco Bell’s ‘Taco Fu’ or KFC’s ‘Hot Bucket Challenge’.

 

                                                                     ‘Taco Fu’                                                   ‘Hot Bucket Challenge’

 

 

2. Full Games for mobile devices, consoles or computers

The second form of advergaming is the creation of a full game, which deeply integrates the brand and game development is completely financed by the firm (Yilmaz, 2017). It focuses on enhancing brand awareness, whilst also building relationships with customers and is a fairly friendly way of advertising, as its primary focus is not on generating revenue.

Chipotle famously created the mobile game Scarecrow in 2013, which was meant to engage customers in the story of the sourcing of the firm’s food and was part of its ‘Food with Integrity’ campaign. It was a huge success and within the first five days, it was downloaded around 300,000 times (Rietveld, 2015).

 

                                                                         ‘Scarecrow’

 

Other firms have also made use of creating advergames but for consoles such as PlayStation, Wii, Xbox or computers, which include Burger King with their game ‘Sneak King’, Chex and their game ‘Chex Quest’ or M&Ms with their six different games (Rietveld, 2015).

 

 

3. Placement of advertising into already existing games

This is the third and last main way of advertising in games and might be called ‘below-the-line’ advergaming (Mahajan, 2015), where firms use already existing games in which they place their adverts in the background. It is simply product placement but instead of the way we are used to it from films or TV shows, it happens within video games.

A famous example includes the video game ‘Zool’ from the 90s, which was sponsored by Chupa Chups. A more recent example includes ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’, in which players can also drive Mercedes cars. This way of advertising allows increasing brand and product awareness of customers by continuously placing products or brand logos within a game.

 

                                                         ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’                                    ‘Zool’

 

How may it benefit your firm?

 

Advergaming can have many different benefits for your firm but in order to make use of this increasingly popular marketing tool,  a common fear is the requirement of large financial resources. However, smaller firms also have the possibility to create advergames by using Html5 and platforms such as Gamewheel, which do not require extensive amounts of money. If you want to find out more about advantages of using Html5, have a look here.

Here are a few benefits of creating a game to advertise your brand:

 

1.  A positive and friendly way of advertising: Users have the choice to download and play the game and thus view it as a positive exposure to a brand or product.
2. Unique brand experience: The game is developed around your firm’s brand and this is deeply integrated within it, which allows providing the customer with a more intense and special experience of the brand.
3. Enhances brand awareness: Players of video or mobile games are much more focused and concentrated and thus by subtly placing your brand and products within the game, you are able to increase this awareness. Also, you are able to tell a story about your brand or a new product or strategy you want to promote.
4. Increasing your customer base: Whilst the game will attract existing customers and build better relationships with those, it can also attract new customers who might enjoy the game to such an extent that they will turn into a loyal customer.
5. The collection of user data and research: Games usually require the player to register to login and this can provide your firm with email addresses and other data of customers. Also, you are able to test new things within the game such as polls and see whether it might be valuable.
6. Potential of Virality: Through providing customers with the possibility to share the game online and using online scoreboards on social media, advergames may go viral. This is simple and cheap e-WOM (word of mouth) for your brand!
7. Lead Generation: Through advergames, you can also increase your leads, as customers are attracted to your website and this will also help to increase your website traffic.

 

How do you get it right?

 

Since we now know a bit about what advergaming means and how it may benefit your firm, we should look at how you can get it right in order for it to turn into a successful element of your marketing campaign. Here are a few tips on how to create a successful advergame:

 

1. Create an attractive gameplay: You should ensure that your game is fun and engaging enough, with a good gameplay and storyline, which encourages the player to continue playing it till the end. This will increase customer engagement and enhance brand awareness.
2. Provide some rewards: Whilst online scoreboards and natural competition amongst players will keep them playing the game, it is useful to also provide some rewards, maybe in form of small discounts or coupons. This can create brand loyalty.
3. Promote your advergame: Whilst it is necessary to create a website which will link to your mobile game and ways to download it, you will need to ensure it is promoted correctly. Share it on your social media platforms and if possible, maybe also make use of other forms that will compliment the promotion of it such as youtube videos or using social influencers. This will create buzz for the game and help increase downloads.
4. Ensure deep integration of your brand and products: Whilst your game might be fun and engaging, you need to ensure that it actually integrates your brand and products properly. Try to tell a story through the game but make use of your products and elements of your brand.

 

Find out more about the power of advergaming here.

 

 

Overall, advergaming is a valuable and useful tool in marketing nowadays and can benefit your firm whether big or small. Exploiting customers’ extensive use of mobile devices and providing them with a fun game, which subtly promotes your products and brand by telling a story, should be an option you may want to consider! 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Blog.printsome.com. (2017). Advergaming-What it is and how small companies can use it. [online] Available at: https://blog.printsome.com/advergaming-what-it-is-and-how-small-companies-can-use-it/ [Accessed 3 Apr. 2017].

Mahajan, R. (2015). Advergaming. [online] slideshare.net. Available at: https://de.slideshare.net/raghavmahajan906/advergaming-46735454 [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Rietveld, J. (2015). Successfully using games as a marketing tool. [online] LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/successfully-using-games-marketing-tool-joost-rietveld [Accessed 5 Apr. 2017].

Yılmaz, R. (2017). Narrative advertising models and conceptualization in the digital age. 1st ed. IGI Global, p.65.