Article version 2 by Kimberly V.
Second version of In-game advertising by Kimberly V. from CV203C2
Date: 14-10-2007
In-game advertising is getting more popular
In-game advertising
Advertising isn’t limited to billboards or posters. Your advertising can be integrated into a game, to interact with your customers. There are three kinds of in-game advertising. I will explain all of them.
As an object in the game
That means that your product is being used in the game. For example, if O’Neill wants to do in-game advertising as object in a game they can advertise in a surf- or snowboarding game. Products from the O’Neill collection will be used. Like in a surf game they can use the new summer collection to dress the players.
Like in the real world
Another kind of in-game advertising is advertising in a game like you do in the real world. That means that the brand O’Neill is written on a surfboard, on a billboard, sponsoring events.For example this kind of in-game advertising is being used in the program ‘Second Life’. Second Life is a game where every brand or company can advertise. You can wear clothes from O’Neill and you can work at a bank or café. So Second Life is a 3d virtual world and created by online players. Since the game is open for players and advertisers it’s grown explosively and today played by millions of players from around the globe. (second life, 2007)
Fun game
The third kind of in-game advertising is having a game on your companies website. It’s just a game for fun. The game isn’t made for your own company, but is made to promote your website and to let visitors remember your website. A great example is the campaign from Achmea. It wasn’t really a game but a video you could sent to everyone to make them feel better! You can let the character in the video call your friends by name and tell them a personal message.
Companies
There are a few companies who are working with in-game advertising. IGA Worldgroup and AdsNGames are the biggest right now and they are expanding quickly. IGA is specialized in the first kind of in-game advertising, in a game. Their first campaign was in the game Counter Strike and it immediately got popular. AdsNGames is specialized in the third kind of in-game advertising, a fun game. It boost your sites appeal with casual games. (Hotfrog, 2007)
Future
In-game advertising is getting more and more popular but it is still a very new field for all participants. It requires a lot of research but eventually it will pay off. Many gamers already recognize that it’s getting popular, because game developers are spending more money to bringt in-game advertising to a higher level.
Source:Second Life. (2007). What is second life?
Viewed on: 13-10-2007, from: http://secondlife.com/whatis/
