The great gaming goldmine: How advertisers can target the gaming community

The gaming industry juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down. Research from the Consumer Technology Association shows that 70% of Americans now play video games and experts have predicted that the industry will be worth a staggering $300 billion by 2025.

Not only is this good news for those in the industry itself, but a great opportunity for advertisers, especially as the gaming sector is no longer dominated by young men. Women now make up almost half of gamers and 44% of over-50s play video games at least once a month, meaning most advertisers are able to target their chosen audience through selective video games. It’s no wonder video games have been described as “next hotspot for advertisers”—it just takes the right know-how.

Gamer sponsorship

In the same way that brands have embraced influencer marketing across a range of sectors, the opportunities for gaming sponsorships have grown in recent years. Thanks to the soaring popularity of eSports (competitive video gaming), many professional gamers have millions of social media followers and streaming subscribers, giving them the same reach as other online celebrities, if not more. As a result, brands can market to massive audiences by teaming up with a leading gamer or eSports team.

Nike took advantage of this gaming influence in early 2020, by signing a lucrative contract with global eSports organization T1 Entertainment and Sports, which stipulated its players wear Nike clothing while competing. Faker, one of the world’s best-known eSports professionals under T1, is a key player in the contract, agreeing to work closely with the brand as part of the deal. He has since starred in partnership videos with Nike, including taking a tour of its headquarters and leading a YouTube yoga session with the company.

For brands that can’t afford to work with such high-profile gamers, there are numerous other individuals and teams with sizeable followings, offering promising sponsorship opportunities. These don’t have to be big marketing campaigns like Nike’s either—just paying to have a single advert included in a gamer’s stream can effectively target the gaming community.

In-game advertising

A more traditional form of video game marketing is in-game advertising (IGA), where advertisers integrate adverts within the games themselves. This technique is commonly deployed during mobile games such as Angry Birds, Candy Crush, or Pokemon Go. Here, brands harness standard mobile advertising methods like pop-ups, display ads, or interactive ads that encourage users to engage with a commercial. In some instances, an interactive advert may even be a game itself. Take Sony’s mobile ad campaign for the 2018 film Peter Rabbit, where users were invited to play a mini Peter Rabbit game after watching the movie’s trailer.

IGA is used in console games too, though more subtly. For instance, in sports games like FIFA and NBA 2K, adverts appear on pitch-side or court-side advertising hoardings, allowing brands to make an impression without interrupting the gameplay. Similarly, in first-person shooter or adventure games, adverts may feature on in-game billboards or TV commercials, while products themselves may be included in the game. For example, cars are featured in video games like Grand Theft Auto and The Last of Us.

Advergames

Advergames are, as the name suggests, a blend of advertising and games, and are standalone products created by brands that gamers can obtain. This form of advertising has been around for some time, with a notable example being the LEGO video game series produced in conjunction with films like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. Numerous brands have gone down the advergame path in recent years, such as Doritos with its VR Battle action game in which players fight monsters with shotguns while jumping over obstacles and collecting Doritos. Meanwhile, in 2019, Burberry launched its B Bounce advergame, where players bounce on clouds to reach the moon, receiving custom GIFs and virtual puffer jackets en route.

Advergaming is a particularly effective way of targeting the gaming community as it appeals to their primary interest in playing video games. The overt placing of a brand in an advergame also means it can effectively promote itself, with the engaging nature of this medium enabling companies to create a strong brand experience for users.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes