Gaming Gets Serious

American Demographics, May 1, 2002 by Hassan Fattah, Pamela Paul

What's more, the effects are measurable in other ways. Companies can track how many times a game is downloaded and played. Virtual Giveaway says the average gamer spends 5 to 7 minutes on an advergame site, approximately 14 times the amount of time spent watching a television commercial. Moreover, during that period, the user is clearly an active receiver of marketing messages, whereas a television viewer may leave the room during a commercial break. Companies can also survey users to determine brand recall and positive brand impressions. In 1999, Toyota launched Tundra Madness, a digital racing game. After attracting 8,000 consumers who spent an average of 28 minutes on the site daily over six months, the company's research showed that the campaign raised brand awareness by 28 percent and intent to purchase by 5 percent. The automaker has since launched additional advergames, for a wide range of targets. Last fall, for its new Matrix model, the company targeted first-time car buyers, with the Matrix Video Mixer game, promoted through sites like RollingStone.com, GetMusic.com and Launch.com. The effort was tied to a Gravity Games sponsorship and an in-theater commercial campaign. About 3 in 10 registered users forwarded videos created through the game to their friends; 65 percent of those e-mails were opened.

Several other success stories speak to advergaming's potential. Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble's 2001 Mission Refresh campaign for Head & Shoulders shampoo, targeted at U.S. Hispanic youth, opened up a whole new market, says Anastasia Kitsul, interactive marketing manager for P&G's multicultural business development group. She says the company chose advergaming for its relevance - Hispanic teens spend a lot of time online, and one of their favorite activities is gaming. To reach this market, P&G positioned the advergame on gaming sites within Hispanic portals, such as Terra.com and YupiMSN.com. More than 4,000 users forwarded the game to friends, and 70 percent of users told P&G they enjoyed the experience. The company considers the results successful enough to plan advergaming campaigns for a number of brands, including CoverGirl cosmetics and other youth-oriented products.

Even moms are considered a viable advergaming target. Purina developed a game in conjunction with Microsoft's Zone.com to reach young mothers. The campaign involved sponsorship of Outsmart, an online game show that matches celebrities with online users in a trivia contest. Purina's pick? Former TV mom Florence Henderson, who competed with gamers to test their knowledge of The Brady Bunch. In the first 10 days, users played the game half a million times.

Automakers Are Game

Of course, some industries lend themselves more readily to advergaming than others. Automotive companies were among the first to take advantage of these games, and remain one of their most significant patrons. In addition to Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda and classified Web site AutoTrader.com have used advergaming as part of their marketing strategies. After Dodge Speedway launched in February 2001, traffic to the Dodge Garage Web site shot up 477 percent, with 284,000 unique visitors playing the game during its first week. In total, more than 1 million unique visitors logged on in its the first year. Pete Hollinshead, CRM Web and direct marketing specialist for Auburn Hills, Mich.-based DaimlerChrysler, says the program has generated leads for local dealers through opt-in information programs. He attributes much of the game's popularity to its placement. "Residing on the MSN Zone gaming site attracted people who might never have come to Dodge," Hollinshead says.