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Advertisers Are Getting Into the Game
In the game Burnout Revenge 360, players will be able to crash into truck for the Carl's Jr. burger chain.
(Electronic Arts Inc.)
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Nielsen studies have shown that gamers tend to remember products that they see prominently placed in games, but the in-game advertising business has been set back by the lack of a standardized way to measure the impressions that are made by an ad in one of their products.
"The media-planning environment can't operate without a standard metric," said Michael Dowling, general manager of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment. "That's what we're trying to produce."
Game industry execs argue that there are more variables to take into account in this area than in a 30-second television ad. In a brainy game that requires players to move slowly and study the in-game environment, ads might make more of an impression than ones in a faster paced "run-and-gun" shooter, said Monika Madrid, director of strategic sales and partnerships at game publisher Ubisoft.
As an increasing number of PC games and consoles are plugging into the Web for online matches, companies such as the New York-based Massive Inc. are springing up to launch ad campaigns that are updated whenever a player logs on.
One month, Massive will broadcast an ad in a virtual subway station to promote the sci-fi flick "Aeon Flux"; the next month, the same space might flog another movie, "V for Vendetta."
Massive can broadcast ads based on where players are located, as well. If a movie is opening in New York and Los Angeles, for example, Massive can put ads for the movie on the computer screens of players in those cities. Players in different countries might see the same marketing, but in a different language.
Massive chief executive Mitch Davis said he got the idea for the company while playing a Grand Theft Auto title years ago. He saw a store that was a parody of the Gap and he thought it would be cooler if the game's Vice City had real companies lining the streets instead of the game's satiric, Mad Magazine alternatives.
"I though as a gamer it would make a lot more sense for that ad to be real," he said. "That's something as gamers we're always looking for."
