'In-game advertising' cheaper and effective
More and more corporates are moving towards advertising their products through popular video games as 'in-game advertising' catches up as a newer and cheaper but effective medium to reach out to the target audiences.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: More and more corporates are moving towards advertising their products through popular video games as 'in-game advertising' catches up as a newer and cheaper but effective medium to reach out to the target audiences.
The worldwide in-game advertising market is estimated to hit $2 billion mark by 2010. Though in-game advertising is in a nascent stage here, Indian game developers, besides catering to domestic companies are readying to bite into the big global pie.
Companies prefer in-game advertising as opposed to 'advergaming' featuring companies' products as this is more subtle.
"Companies are now realizing the value that in-game advertising is bringing. It is slowly but surely becoming an alternate form of advertising" says Salil Bhargava of Paradox, a gaming company.
"A lot of brands have been showing interest in in-game advertising as it offers a targeted opportunity in terms of reaching out to a particular kind of target audience i.e. young, upwardly mobile, tech savvy, independent and with a relatively high consumption ability," says Suhail Baghdadi of IndiaGames, a leading gaming content provider.
NASSCOM estimates the market for gaming development in India to reach $300 million by 2009 from the current $80 mn.
"Recently we had a prominent oil company approach us to be present in a car racing game we were creating for the Formulae 1/ Grand Prix" says Rajiv Hiranandani of mobile2win, a mobile content provider.
Interest for branding in games like cricket, football or racing has been the highest according to Baghdadi.
Multiple in-game advertising is also an option depending on the games. "If it's a location based game, we can have as many ads of companies based in a certain location. It would really depend on the concept and if the advertisers are keen on the same," says Bhargava.
Companies cite many advantages of in-game advertising including an ever growing youth segment that is playing games on both computers and mobile phones.
And it is not just the sport-based games that have potential. Sony recently used in-game adverts in its online game based on the movie Matrix.
Another major advantage that companies cannot ignore as the mobile-gaming market grows is that, it will be relatively much easier to track down statistics on users and usership data.
"The levels of piracy are also relatively lower as compared to other gaming modes as the cost of ownership of mobile is relatively lower and hence the chances of better presence on this format" says Bhagdadi.
In-game advertising is the reason why many free game producers are surviving online. It is also likely that with the increase in this form of advertising the cost of the games would also come down.
Next time you are playing a video game based on cricket and hit a four, if the ball hits a boundary board with a soft drink on it, you will know that advertisers are trying to grab your attention.
The worldwide in-game advertising market is estimated to hit $2 billion mark by 2010. Though in-game advertising is in a nascent stage here, Indian game developers, besides catering to domestic companies are readying to bite into the big global pie.
Companies prefer in-game advertising as opposed to 'advergaming' featuring companies' products as this is more subtle.
"Companies are now realizing the value that in-game advertising is bringing. It is slowly but surely becoming an alternate form of advertising" says Salil Bhargava of Paradox, a gaming company.
"A lot of brands have been showing interest in in-game advertising as it offers a targeted opportunity in terms of reaching out to a particular kind of target audience i.e. young, upwardly mobile, tech savvy, independent and with a relatively high consumption ability," says Suhail Baghdadi of IndiaGames, a leading gaming content provider.
NASSCOM estimates the market for gaming development in India to reach $300 million by 2009 from the current $80 mn.
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"Recently we had a prominent oil company approach us to be present in a car racing game we were creating for the Formulae 1/ Grand Prix" says Rajiv Hiranandani of mobile2win, a mobile content provider.
Interest for branding in games like cricket, football or racing has been the highest according to Baghdadi.
Multiple in-game advertising is also an option depending on the games. "If it's a location based game, we can have as many ads of companies based in a certain location. It would really depend on the concept and if the advertisers are keen on the same," says Bhargava.
Companies cite many advantages of in-game advertising including an ever growing youth segment that is playing games on both computers and mobile phones.
ADVERTISEMENT
And it is not just the sport-based games that have potential. Sony recently used in-game adverts in its online game based on the movie Matrix.
Another major advantage that companies cannot ignore as the mobile-gaming market grows is that, it will be relatively much easier to track down statistics on users and usership data.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The levels of piracy are also relatively lower as compared to other gaming modes as the cost of ownership of mobile is relatively lower and hence the chances of better presence on this format" says Bhagdadi.
In-game advertising is the reason why many free game producers are surviving online. It is also likely that with the increase in this form of advertising the cost of the games would also come down.
Next time you are playing a video game based on cricket and hit a four, if the ball hits a boundary board with a soft drink on it, you will know that advertisers are trying to grab your attention.
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