In-Game Ads to Hit $1B in Five Years: Forecast

Posted on by Chief Marketer Staff

Media analyst firm Screen Digest predicts that the increasing audience and reach of video games will fuel brand interest in integrating with electronic play over the next five years, leading to a projected $1B spent worldwide on in-game advertising by 2014.

In a report issued Tuesday, the U.K. based company found that while ad spending both in the gaming industry and overall is currently “soft,” the scalability, accountability and high audience engagement that come with putting marketing messages into computer, console and handheld games will lead advertisers to increase their spending in that channel.

Even if Screen Digest’s forecast is borne out, $1B spent on in-game ads in 2014 would still comprise only 1.5% of the global ad budget that year.

Nevertheless, advertising within games holds appeal, says the report, which surveyed digital planners from the GroupM network division of ad conglomerate WPP. Apart from the ads’ measurability, there’s the ability to reach elusive young adult demographics and the opportunity to build strong brand associations.

“Dynamic in-game advertising offers brands the same accountability as other digital platforms, but in a more controlled environment than social display media and through a more standardized value chain than mobile advertising,” Screen Digest senior advertising analysts Vincent Letang said in a release. “Like online video pre-rolls, in-game advertising fills a gap in online branding, bringing familiar formats such as virtual billboards and TV ads into the gaming experience.”

Advertisers such as eBay Motors, Subway, Red Bull, Diesel and Doritos have all recently integrated their products and messages into computer or video console games, primarily to reach the teen and young-adult male demographic that gets its entertainment from computers as much as from TV.

The next big in-game opportunity may come on June 11 with the arrival of the latest incarnation of the world’s most popular computer game, “The Sims 3.” The new version of the virtual-reality game will reportedly include billboards and theater marquees that will offer in-game ad space to brands, although it’s not confirmed that these will be present in the game when it drops.

The last edition, “The Sims 2,” reached sales of 16.5 million and included real-world inventory from IKEA and apparel retailer H&M.

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