Dynamic Duo: How gaming has created an enormous market for advertisers
Gaming offers interactive experiences to players that captivate their attention and provide brands with an opportunity to embed their messages impactfully, say experts
As gaming becomes more immersive and market forces continue to be driven by voice, video and vernacular, all of which intersect the medium, advertising has never had a bigger canvas. Gaming and advertising have become inextricably intertwined as technologies continue to advance, in tandem.
There are several reasons behind this, like the massive audience base for gaming. This includes mobile, PC, console in that order, with a wide range of demographics. exchange4media spoke to several leading voices in both industries to see how much in symbiosis the two actually are.
Alin Choubey, Business Head (North), FoxyMoron (Zoo Media), says that gaming has indeed become an attractive medium for the advertising industry to test and implement emerging marketing technologies and tools.
“Games provide a highly engaging and immersive environment for players. And so the opportunities include static and dynamic advertisements within the game environment, product placements, sponsored in-game events, branded virtual items, and more. These opportunities allow brands to integrate their products or messages seamlessly into the gameplay, increasing brand exposure and engagement,” he explains.
As for gaming adoption and advertising spending, the figures can vary based on different sources and regions. However, the gaming industry has experienced significant growth in recent years. According to Newzoo's Global Games Market Report, the gaming market generated approximately $175.8 billion in revenue in 2020. Furthermore, the report estimated that global gaming revenues would reach $217.9 billion by the end of 2023.
In terms of advertising spend, a report by SuperData Research projected that in-game advertising would grow to $4.6 billion in 2022, representing a significant increase from previous years. This growth indicates the rising investment in advertising within the gaming industry.
“Gaming platforms continually evolve, incorporating new technologies and tools. This includes advancements in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and interactive advertising formats. Brands can leverage these technologies to create innovative and interactive campaigns that captivate the gaming audience,” notes Choubey.
Mitesh Kothari, Co-founder and CCO, White Rivers Media, says that with approximately 3 billion+ gamers globally, it presents as an enormous market for advertisers to reach potential consumers effectively. “Gaming offers interactive experiences to players that captivate their attention and provide us with an opportunity to embed brand messages impactfully within the immersive environment. The powerful data and analytics capabilities enable creation of targeted and personalised marketing campaigns based on data-driven strategies.”
Ravi Kiran, Founder of GoLive Games also believes that gamers are the most accommodating users in terms of advertising, especially since gamers are spending more than three hours on average playing games each day. “Thus the over 510 million gamers in India are the new social media. Brands are also benefiting through immersive experiences inside games, thus positioning themselves as the aspiration for gamers. Brands are positioned very well in games and game streams, thus they pay a premium compared to traffic on the web, TV or other comparable platforms.”
Dhruv Shah, VP, Web Strategy and Organic Search, FCB/SIX India, says “Games are a powerful medium for brands to tell their stories and they provide very strong brand recall and emotional connect. With technologies like AR/VR coming into action the overall experience becomes more immersive and engaging. Brands can make their audience discover new offers or products in a game which will help a customer to make informed purchase decisions. Brands also get great customer insights based on the decisions made in the game and this can help brands in their overall marketing strategies.”
According to another report by PwC, the global video game market was worth $159.3 billion in 2020, and it's expected to reach over $200 billion by the end of this year.
It's important to note that specific numbers and figures related to gaming adoption and ad spends can fluctuate over time due to various factors, such as regional variations, market trends, and the introduction of new gaming platforms.
Rohit Agarwal, Founder and Director, Alpha Zegus, points out that the gaming audience is young, dynamic, and very open to new technology adoption. “In fact, they are the early adopters of technology considering that they not only understand the concepts of Web3, VR, Blockchain, AI, etc. but also know how to use and implement them. This definitely makes gaming a very attractive testing ground for advertisers, since the audience is already well-versed with the latest technology.”
Apart from this, gaming allows for interactive advertising and gaming platforms collect a lot of data about their users, such as their preferences, behaviour, and demographics. This gives the advertisers an edge as well and advertising spend in the gaming industry is also on the rise.”
