Gaming is becoming a significant part of brands' marketing budgets for 2024, focusing on customized brand integrations rather than traditional programmatic formats. As the industry matures, both publishers and marketers aim to create more seamless ways for brands to integrate into in-game experiences.
Promising Signs:
- During COVID-19 lockdowns, gaming's popularity surged, leading to the formation of intrinsic in-game advertising companies between 2020 and 2022. These companies aimed to serve traditional programmatic ad formats within natural in-game locations.
- Activision Blizzard Media's Jonathan Stringfield notes that more brands are investing in gaming, with agencies now having dedicated gaming specialists or teams.
- Despite growth, intrinsic in-game advertising hasn't become a default in many brands' budgets due to a lack of inventory in premium, high-production-value games. Instead, marketers invest in bespoke immersive brand experiences.
Providing Value:
- Authenticity and value are crucial for brands to reach hardcore gamers without alienating them. As free-to-play and live service games grow, gamers understand the value exchange of free content for advertising.
- In premium games, gamers are less willing to accept ads in content they paid for, so marketers aim to make in-game ads feel additive.
- Examples include the Mercedes Benz skin in "Mario Kart 8" and brand integrations in "Fortnite."
UGC Opportunities:
- User-generated content gaming platforms like Fortnite and Roblox offer promising ways for brands to integrate without building from scratch.
- Brands can team up with independent creators to build branded experiences, such as promoting the horror film "Talk to Me" in Fortnite Creative's "Deadpines."
Despite the current focus on bespoke brand integrations, some marketers believe this is a stepping stone towards programmatic advertising, potentially using new formats like programmatically placed 3D objects or avatars. Pete Basgen from Wavemaker U.S. highlights the shift in "EA FC" from hard-coded brand partnerships to programmatically inserted presences, indicating increasing sophistication in these placements.
