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October 29, 2007

IAB Defines Types of Game Advertising
by: Alain Thys

Now marketers have finally caught on to this interactive thing and seem to be ever more shy of places to put their new found digital 2008 budgets, gaming finally seems to be hitting the radar as well.  An excellent time to seize the day, the guys at IAB must have thought as they just released the first of a series of papers to establish some standards in the chaotic world of advergaming (or was it gamevertising?).

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May 12, 2007

When will ARG's hit the brand radars ?

by: Alain Thys

When she was eight, my wife invented a game called "The Yellow Car Conspiracy".  In this game, all the kids who participated, were on watch to spot yellow cars which might drive through their street, stop in front of buildings or engage in other types of suspicious activity.  If all kids worked together - the theory went - they would surely uncover the mystery that lingered about all these yellow cars hovering through town.

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May 7, 2007

Brand Traffic in Second Life

by: Alain Thys

sldwelldata_400_01Not so long ago, Ilya featured an awareness study on brands in Second Life.  But as the last time I checked Second Life was still supposed to be about conversations and communities, the real proof for brands lies in "how long do people actually hang out in your wonderful virtual building". 

 

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April 24, 2007

Contextual Advertising in Second Life
Billboards that listen to the conversations of people in their vicinity and displaying all the ads that fit to show, now in Second Life:

"A ContextAds board listens to the conversations of those avatars around it, displaying advertisements when certain keywords are mentioned. Advertisers can bid on keywords, with their account only being charged when their ads are actually shown. Avatars can click on advertisements of interest to them, and can be offered a website, or a teleport to an in-world location."

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March 29, 2007

Google Files Patent for Targeting In-Game Ads

US Patent Application 20070072676: "Information about a person's interests and gaming behavior may be determined by monitoring their online gaming activities (and perhaps making inferences from such activities). Such information may be used to improve ad targeting. For example, such information may used to target ads to be rendered in a video game being played by the person."
-- via WebProNews

Original post: http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2007/03/google-files-patent-for-targeting-in.html 

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List of Brands in Second Life
nspired by KZero's map of brand presence in Second Life, I thought about compiling a more usable list with SL URLs and everything, but then I found a fairly complete one over at SL Business Communicators wiki. Instead, I flew around the world and took a few snapshots of islands I hadn't seen before.

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March 26, 2007

9dragons, Part I: 5wastedhours
Some time ago, this blog (among many others), announced Acclaim's intentions of producing MMOs that'll be free of charge and supported by ads. While my heart didn't exactly start racing and I Wasn'  imagining myself a future of nectar and ambrosia, where one can find a host of great MMOs to get addicted to for free, just at the cost of having to see an ad or two, I did make some notes about it.

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March 25, 2007

Study: Second Lifers Unhappy with Brands
Press release: "In a survey of 200 participants conducted by the agency Komjuniti, Second Life users (“avatars”) were questioned about their perceptions, their satisfaction with the products on offer and the brand content in the online community.

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February 17, 2007

Indian Advergaming

Found this article that breaks away from the US/EU zone and gives some info on the advent of advergaming into the Indian gaming market. 

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January 29, 2007

Second Life Shorts, Set 2

image: moomoney via Giff Constable

A number of interesting Second Life developments happening all at once:

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Reverse Product Placement in Games
BrandWeek has a follow-up on David Edery's HRB piece on reverse product placement in games (see David's earlier post on the topic, my old post on the fictional brand Sprunk in Grand Theft Auto, and a summary of the HBR article in Gamasutra). What's reverse product placement (I call it "proxy branding") ? BrandWeek writes: "While traditional product placement refers to integrating a real brand into a fictional environment, an idea that's gaining traction is to create a fictional brand in a fictional environment and then release it into the real world."

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January 22, 2007

Study: Brands in Virtual Laguna Beach
"MTV's 4-month-old virtual world has been testing advertiser integrations with Cingular, Pepsi and Procter & Gamble's Secret. So far, according to MTV, 350,000 registered users are spending an average of 36 minutes on each visit."

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January 15, 2007

SL Screens: Sears, Circuit City


As announced earlier, Sears got itself some Second Life presence on IBM's island. Right next to it is a Circuit City building (press release). Unlike many other corporate builds, these ones offer a degree of interactivity. Both solicit visitor feedback that can by simply typed into the chat line. Like Dell, Sears allows to place orders for certain items through its website, which opens in a separate browser window.

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January 11, 2007

Sears Carries Cheap Fabricator, Enters Second Life
Two seemingly unrelated pieces of news that showed up next to each other on my clogged RSS reader and made me jump:

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January 8, 2007

IGA Worldwide To Serve Ads To Acclaim Games
As you know, Acclaim's keeping busy with ad-supported MMOs. I tried BOTS myself but couldn't get the blasted thing to run (kept crashing at the patch menu) and then completely forgot about it. Woe is me. At any rate, someone was needed to handle these ads and if it isn't Double Fusion then chances are it might be IGA, no? But of course. The deal is for 6 MMOs apparently, namely BOTS!!, 9dragons, 2moons (who's making these titles up?), DANCE! and another two, hitherto unrevealed. Stay tuned. I'll go see if I still have that BOTS!! kit. (And I just wonder...will the future bring titles such as MECHS!!1!!..?).

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December 28, 2006

Burger King on the Xbox



A few months ago, Burger King was considering doing some Xbox games and eventually confirmed the decision. November saw the launch of three titles, titles which apparently only sold until the 24th of December.

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December 21, 2006

Snippet: Office Supply Store Campaign
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a piece of hardware was working, not even a mouse!

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Snippet: Lexus in Atari
This might be old news for some of you but Lexus has signed a deal with Atari inc. to have Lexus models included in the Xbox 360 title "Test Drive Unlimited". Hurray?

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New Ad Network for Online Games
Mochi Media announces the creation of MochiAds, a network serving dynamic ads to casual online games.
In their own words:

MochiAds is the world's first advertising network for casual games. Comprised of two facets, MochiAds enables advertisers to reach a highly sought-after demographic through engaging, virally distributed Flash games and simultaneously provides game publishers an effective, non-obtrusive revenue channel to support their creative talents. Together, MochiAds offers a powerful and deep-reaching platform to deliver a memorable brand message.
http://mochimedia.com/

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December 19, 2006

Snapshot Experiment: Where Would You Place Ads?
For today, I bring you a small play experiment. A short block of questions have been handed out to five people as an imagination exercise. That is to say, the results have only minimal statistical relevance. It's just a glimpse on where various gamers would place ads and crafting conclusions such as "40% of the interviewees have said that [..]" would be rather silly. Also, serious answers where not a demand. Short of  combinations of four-letter words and terms such as advertising, they could and did answer any way they wanted to.

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December 18, 2006

Counter-Strike, Now With Ads


While going through my extended reading list, I (completely accidentally, I admit) ran into an interview with Valve's Doug Lombardi, on a big CS site, called..well..CS-Nation. Apparently, Valve and IGA Worldwide have started working together in order to bring ads to Counter-Strike. The ads will not be optional and they'll be tested in CS 1.6 only at first.

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December 5, 2006

Press Release: Take-Two signs with Double Fusion
Take-Two Interactive Software has announced signing an agreement with Double Fusion, concerning the sale of in-game advertising oportunities in titles from Take-Two labels 2k and 2k sports.

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December 1, 2006

WSJ Online: EA expects holiday boost from in-game ads
Wall Street Journal, November 30

Quotes:

  • Jeff Brown, an EA spokesman, said the Redwood City, Calif., company, the world's largest games publisher by sales, estimates it will bring in between $4 million and $5 million in advertising revenue during the holiday quarter from Need for Speed: Carbon, a version of the game that EA began selling earlier this month.
  • Just under half of Need for Speed: Carbon's advertising revenue will come from "dynamic" advertisements, which are regularly transmitted over the Internet and inserted into the action of the game, a source of revenue that hasn't existed in previous EA games.

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November 27, 2006

In The News: Measuring in-game ads efficiency
One of the articles that made headlines last week all over the profile websites was  In game ad testing, by Alison Walton. Walton is a consultant over at Bunnyfoot.

The premise: Bunnyfoot, an UK-based consultancy developed a hot measuring model for in-game advertising impact. Furthermore, this emotive engagement model, as they call  it, can also "quantify and predict consumer response to advertising in games".

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Gamasutra on Pepsi getting into Guild Wars
In the latest installment of Gamasutra's The China Angle column, author Shang Koo discusses soft drink companies partnering with asian online game operator The9.

The article

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DoubleFusion's CEO on Behavioral Targetting
Behavioral Insider does an interview with Jon Epstein on behavioral targetting in the context of gaming environments. Epstein is the CEO over at DoubleFusion, an "independent provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions", in their own words.

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October 17, 2006

Nivea Gets Products Into Splinter Cell: Double Agent

“Nivea Does Video Game Tie-In with ‘Splinter Cell’” October 16, Enid Burns, ClickZ. The game is brand new, so no good screenshots yet. Quotes from the article:

“Nivea’s first foray into in-game product placement injects its products into the covert world of Sam Fisher, the spy in UbiSoft’s “Splinter Cell: Double Agent.” The media buy includes product integration, static and dynamic placements, plus out-of-game ads. The marketing program features products from both Nivea and its partner in shaving, Philips Norelco, in a game space hotel bathroom. Beiersdorf agency RDA International conceived the creative to integrate with the game’s themes.

The in-game media buy […] extends across online and offline channels. Nivea created a microsite, thegoodside.com to which all ads in the game and the Internet link. It offers information on Nivea products; Philips Norelco products using Nivea creams[.]

Offline tie-ins include inserts in each retail box of the game which hypes the sweepstakes. The company also bought a print ad in the game’s strategy guide published by Prima. The creative features a bottle of after shave made to look like a hand grenade with the message ‘Balms away.’”

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October 10, 2006

Sun, Aloft, BBH Offices in Second Life

I had problems with posting pictures on this blog over the weekend, so I had to move my write-ups on SL’s new branded spaces over to AdLab. Here’s what you missed:

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Industry Press Warms Up to In-Game Ads

Judging by the growing number of media clippings on the subject, I’m afraid in-game ads are turning into the next shiny thing.

“Agency Avatars,” AdWeek, October 9, 2006, Eleftheria Parpis. Quote from Leo’s chief creator Mark Tutssel: “This is right on the edge of a new space.”

“Virtual Worlds: The Next Realm in Advertising?” Brand Channel, Bill Nissim, undated (Sept 2006?)

“Video Games Now a Social Experience,” Ad Age, Gavin O’Malley, October 5, 2006

“Leo Burnett Buys Space in Virtual World,” Ad Age, Jeremy Mullman, September 28, 2006

“Advergaming: You Got It,” Business Week, David Radd, October 10, 2006

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Hijacking Brand Space

The title here is a bit too dramatic, but it does illustrate a potentially much larger problem than the glitch at the Sun’s new pavilion (it opened today in SL with a press conference; Millions of Us has more details and pics). After everybody had left, someone dropped a couple of betting balls on the premises, apparently counting on the post-event traffic. Earlier, Second Life Liberation Army picketed the American Apparel store to attract attention to its cause.

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October 5, 2006

Wired on Adidas’s Partnership with EA in NBA Live 07

“In-Game Ads Burrow Deeper,” John Gaudiosi, Wired News, October 5, 2006

“Anyone who buys Electronic Arts’ NBA Live 07 game on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (when that console is released in November) will be able to unlock a host of new items and features in the game from Adidas Basketball.

“In addition to the over 100 Adidas-specific elements hidden in the next-generation game, to be unlocked over time through simple codes distributed through retail, online and real-world NBA events like the All-Star Weekend and NBA Finals, Adidas will provide single-use unique codes that message its new marketing slogan, “It Takes 5IVE.”

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October 3, 2006

Second Life: Functional Corona Vending Machine for Sale

Love this ad on SL Exchange:

“This Corona Vending machine will quickly pay for itself even in low traffic areas. It is the perfect visual addition to your club, casino, restaurant or even home! It is a fun vendor with a fun product. Easily earn $5L unlimited times over selling the copyable Corona drink inside the machine.

A great investment oportunity to make some good money with minimal investment!”

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October 2, 2006

Burger King Games for Xbox Confirmed


image credits: Kotaku

Kotaku says the long-rumored Burger King games for Xbox will “sell $4 with the purchase of a value meal and will be on sale from Nov. 19 through Dec. 24.” The titles are Pocketbike Racer, Big Bumpin, and Sneak King. Some screenshots here.

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