What is advergaming? And what does the future hold for this type of advertising? The answers to these questions and more on advergaming and the future of advergaming are right here in this article for you to peruse, learn, and take advantage of. Enjoy.
What is Advergaming?
Advergaming is a downloadable or web based computer game that will actually incorporate advertising for different products and services. The term was first used in January 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis. Basically it is a blending of gaming and advertising of certain brands, companies, and or products; much like product placement is a blending of movies and advertising of brands, companies and products. There are some of these advergames that are created for the sole purpose of advertising for a certain company or one of its products. Or there may be advertisements in a popular game that has been sponsored by a company and the advertisements within the game then in turn sponsor that company. Advergames have become much more popular as more games have been created and with the rise of the internet.
How Does Advergaming Work?
In theory, advergames promote repeated traffic to websites and reinforce brands. The players of these games may also further promote the company/products/brands by word of mouth. Advergaming has actually been around for quite a while, since the early 1980’s in fact! When certain companies like Kool-Aid and Pizza Hut developed games specifically to feature their products.
The three groups of advergames include:
- Games placed on a company website in order to attract web visitors and to stay on the website.
- A commercial video game that has been developed and sold to be played on computers or game consoles with a specific goal or purpose in mind.
- The third group is when the product placement or in-game advertising happens inside, as a part of the game.
Why is Advergaming Successful?
Advergaming is becoming more and more popular and more and more successful because it has much more of a widespread/immersing effect than having a TV ad or radio ad that interrupts whatever it is you are watching or listening to. Advergaming is successful because your attention is captured for a significant amount of time in a much more significant way, you could be interacting with the brand or products; you could be seeing the ads during your virtual journey, or simply see the ads in passing while on your virtual journey.
The significant interaction makes for better brand awareness and retention which is why advergaming has become so successful.
What Does the Future Look Like for Advergaming?
Well so far advergaming, since its inception, has only grown in popularity and it does not seem to show any signs of slowing down. More and more companies are discovering the positive effects advergaming can have on a brand/company/product which means more of them will be turning to the art of advergaming for advertisement. As far as most people can tell, the future of advergaming looks bright and vibrant.
Graphic Design
Graphic design is actually a huge part of the advergaming process, you want your graphics to look decent during the games so that people will be and stay interested in playing. Graphic Design in El Paso is a great place to get started.
