Games and Advertising: The Advertising Perspective |
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What do you think of in-game advertising? We've gotten used to it on the basketball courts and baseball fields of the real world, but somehow, we just aren't all that happy with the idea of ads getting into our video games. They destroy the game's immersiveness and detract from our pleasure in playing, we might think. It cheapens the game enough that we might call it a sell-out, some of us might even dare to shout.Have you ever looked at it from the other side though?
Over at Victor Rottenstein's blog, he mentions something that would make perfect sense to anyone who's ever thought of the bottomline:
It has changed the marketing strategy itself, not only because the “advergame” benefits, but because this e-marketing enhanced model let (sic) you know what your clients are doing at real time, and yes, it works for you as a marketer, because it will show you a real time world of metrics that you have never seen before with your expensive offline marketing actions.
It makes sense. Because we're playing games, marketers already know what we're doing. The more popular the game, the greater the chance that they could find some way to plug themselves in it for less than the price of a real-world ad campaign. While a real world ad campaign increases buyer intention by 2%, game ads hit for around 15%, which is definitely a big difference for advertisers.
Of course, they have to be very careful about what games to plug ads for. We could expect something of the sort in sports games like Madden 07, but wouldn't you be pissed with a shiny ad for a soft drink in the dark, disturbing town of Silent Hill?
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Comments [refresh]
When advertisements become common place in games I'll either quit playing them or stick to playing the ones I create.
depends if it is going to ruin the moment of the game, but if its in like WoW or sumthing and theres just like a sign or sumthing and advertsing lowers the the price i have ot pay each month, then id be happy
I think it's a good thing. If and only if they use it wisely.
Like the car model in gta or the publicity in the radio station.
But if they use it everywhere i think we will lose lots of creativity.
I hate xbox360 ( ...sorry i can't resist. )
Thing is, it costs a whole lot of money to make a videogame - didn't used to be so bad, but now we're talking hundreds of animators and coders to make a console game. Companies take a HUGE risk when they release a new title - advertising is another stream of revenue for them that allows them to take chances on bigger titles.
The key for advertisers is going to be placing ads that are relevant to the player, and that don't interfere with the narrative of the game, but rather improve it (like the radio stations in GTA). Either way, it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
They use it appropriately. Ex: Maybe in a NASCAR racing game, have a Mountain Dew car; in GTA grab a burger at McD's, or in Spiderman have him swing by a Coke sign.
Basically, do it ONLY to add realism. NEVER anywhere else. I don't want Sonic in Nikes, I don't want Kirby eating Cheez-Its, ... Samus CAN wear Victoria's Secret, Master Chief can NOT drive a Toyota Tundra, and if they do ANYTHING to Silent Hill, I WILL go on a rampage in industrial farm equipment!
There's so much advertising everywhere at least they can keep it out of games. The first time I saw advertising in a game was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 for NES with Pizza Hut signs everywhere. I thoght it was stupid back then, and it's bound to get more rediculous. If I pay $60 for a game, they should make enough money off that so as not to cheapen the whole game by putting crappy ads in it.
I really don't see how in-game ads, done right, would "destroy the game's immersiveness." Wouldn't it ramp the immersiveness up? If you start blurring the lines between reality and games, isn't it more likely that we'd believe the atmosphere created by a game? Now I'm not saying to put up a sign in Oblivion that says "Ye Olde Coke," or anything. But if you take modern-day or future settings and work the ads into the game smoothly, not only will the game get the funding from the advertised product, but the world won't look nearly as out of place. When we see Kinko's and Starbucks on every street corner in America and can't find a single one in any free-roaming video game, it stops feeling quite so real, ya know? ;)
ha ha! ha! look at that subway sandwich as a gun is there cheatcode for that
maybe in a sprts game, I mean, in the real life it's covered in ads, so without it's just not the same. But like victor b. said, NOT in an horror game or any other one.
ps: in FFVII: you are in the end of the game just before sephiroth, you start the battle with jenova and OH MY GOD, jenova is now named Jehovah(ad about the religion) and she(it?) is eating a big mac with a coke and after she/it drink it she/it's all happy and say: "it's sooo good mac donald" then you battle her... humm what a moment of exitation... lol, or cloud, after he finished sephiroth and the game is finished, you have a video bonus where he drink a beer and say: " molson lite is the perfect beer for an active person like me, WOW I'm so refreshed!" lol NO ADS IN GAMES!!
senjutsu, they're not talking about "product placement." They are talking about ads. I can ASSURE you that in-game ads would be done in appropriate fashion. No game designer in his right mind would put a McDonald's sign in the background of a boss fight on Final Fantasy.
We're talking Sports Games, FPS, RTS, Racing games, maybe some futuristic games of all types, particularly those post-apocalyptic ones. This could be as simple as a pepsi can on a desk, branded electronics (like the Samsung devices used in Perfect Dark Zero), or a real life fast food joint in the next GTA.
In-game advertising would have to fit the game, or it's not going to work. At that point it's an eye-sore and would encourage people to NOT buy the product. However, if they worked it into the game so that it actually fit, then it would get people to think about the brand and want it without blatantly forcing it on them.