Let’s say your Pepsi or Coca-Cola, and you have a new product targeting 12-18 year old boys. Now, how do you reach them? You could try television advertising, but they will more than likely record the program with their DVR and flip right past your commercials. You could place an ad in the local newspaper, but they won’t even see it. What about radio? Maybe you could place the ad on the CHR station in your market. Surely they will be tuning in to hear “today’s new music”. I’m afraid not, a friend downloaded that song three months ago, and they have been listening to it ever since. As a matter of fact, their bored with it. You can try social sites, billboards, internet, phone books, and see very poor results. How can you possible reach these kids? All they do is go to school, play sports and most of all, play video games.
Ahh… yes… video games. There is the magic tool companies can use to effectively market the hard to reach male teenage audience. Advergaming has become one of the tools of choice for marketers trying to reach this target segment. Sometimes it’s just a sign or billboard in the game as the player is racing up and down streets trying to get the girl, the car, or another prize. In other cases, the car you are driving is actually the product being advertised. However, the product must relevant to the player for the advertising to be successful. If you are trying to market newest, fastest sports car on the new Tela Tubies video game, you won’t sell anything. Yet if the Mazda’s new car is the “hero” car in the game “Need for Speed”, the car will be noticed by the players.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explores Nissan’s use of only advergaming to introduce the new GT-R sports coupe. To expose the new GT-R to young males, Nissan partnered with both Sony Videogames and Electronics Arts (EA). Nissan worked with both companies to hold off on the unveiling of the actual model b
y covering the game models in black prior to the release. After the unveiling, players could download a game patch to see the actual model. Both companies also allowed users the chance to drive a prototype version of the unit to build up excitement prior to the unveiling. EA even “chose” the GT-R as this year’s hero car for their game “Pro-Streets”. In this game the player continues to advance in levels trying to reach the “Hero Car’.
But does advergaming really work? Do the players actually see those road signs and logos as they scream by during the race? Recent tests discussed in Advertising Age using eye catching technology did confirm that 80% of gamers noticed ads when playing a game. However, size didn’t matter. Rather it was placement that most increased noting scores. Eyes placed at “eye level” right in the action of the game are much more likely to be noticed than ads on the top of the screen above or below the action. But if you really want to promote your brand to this audience, one must take an interactive approach. Anytime the gamer interacts with the brand, they will develop a much better position in the consumer’s mind. Discovery Network pioneered these efforts through sponsorship of “extra Levels” of the XBOX game Gears of War”. Advergaming, while still relatively new is a great marketing communication channel. So, if you need to target teenage boys like my son, you better plan on learning about Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Madden 2008 and others.
Ahh… yes… video games. There is the magic tool companies can use to effectively market the hard to reach male teenage audience. Advergaming has become one of the tools of choice for marketers trying to reach this target segment. Sometimes it’s just a sign or billboard in the game as the player is racing up and down streets trying to get the girl, the car, or another prize. In other cases, the car you are driving is actually the product being advertised. However, the product must relevant to the player for the advertising to be successful. If you are trying to market newest, fastest sports car on the new Tela Tubies video game, you won’t sell anything. Yet if the Mazda’s new car is the “hero” car in the game “Need for Speed”, the car will be noticed by the players.A recent article in the Wall Street Journal explores Nissan’s use of only advergaming to introduce the new GT-R sports coupe. To expose the new GT-R to young males, Nissan partnered with both Sony Videogames and Electronics Arts (EA). Nissan worked with both companies to hold off on the unveiling of the actual model b
y covering the game models in black prior to the release. After the unveiling, players could download a game patch to see the actual model. Both companies also allowed users the chance to drive a prototype version of the unit to build up excitement prior to the unveiling. EA even “chose” the GT-R as this year’s hero car for their game “Pro-Streets”. In this game the player continues to advance in levels trying to reach the “Hero Car’.But does advergaming really work? Do the players actually see those road signs and logos as they scream by during the race? Recent tests discussed in Advertising Age using eye catching technology did confirm that 80% of gamers noticed ads when playing a game. However, size didn’t matter. Rather it was placement that most increased noting scores. Eyes placed at “eye level” right in the action of the game are much more likely to be noticed than ads on the top of the screen above or below the action. But if you really want to promote your brand to this audience, one must take an interactive approach. Anytime the gamer interacts with the brand, they will develop a much better position in the consumer’s mind. Discovery Network pioneered these efforts through sponsorship of “extra Levels” of the XBOX game Gears of War”. Advergaming, while still relatively new is a great marketing communication channel. So, if you need to target teenage boys like my son, you better plan on learning about Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Madden 2008 and others.
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