“Advergaming” using video games to advertise a product, message or viewpoint is now changing the mind-set of consumers and luring in big-money clients who want to go for digital advertising, according to IPVG Corp. CEO Jaime Enrique Y. Gonzalez.

“Lately, we also see a lot of advertising inside movies.”

It’s about time, he argued. “People see 3,000 ads a day on the average but they screen out everything. The traditional advertising market is crowded and expensive. It’s boring too, unlike digital media, which is interactive.” Advergaming is a very powerful tool, generating over $300 million last year, in the US alone.

By combining games and ads, companies can improve branding, boost product awareness and collect detailed data about participants. “Advergames mimic the product proposition online," Gonzalez explained. They respond to the needs of younger, tech-savvy consumers who demand more interactivity and fun when introduced to online advertising campaigns.

In Taiwan, for example, gamers buy drinks online as part of the play. Hence, they recognize the cola brand, which is advertised, and consume it in the non-virtual world.

In today’s increasingly fractured media environment, advergames often become the most visited aspect of brand websites, promoting repeated traffic, reinforcing brands, aiding marketers to collect customer data when users register to be eligible for prizes and driving word of mouth, or “viral marketing,” when users invite their friends to participate.

As long as consumers enjoy the game, they can associate a brand with the fun of gaming and drive brand awareness, message association and purchase intent. After playing, gamers are more prone to remember not just the brand or product itself, but also the specific brand attributes.

However, “We don’t intend to accept political ads because this should be open to all and non-intrusive,” the IPVG CEO added.

“But there’s lots of cool stuff we can do.” The gaming business is phenomenal and games content can drive business around it, the IPVG Corp. CEO went on. “It’s a very high growth business with a large, loyal, youth market. People look at our content for one hour a day, on the average. We can sell virtual of physical products to them and develop new revenue streams.”

Furthermore, the company’s revenue opportunities go beyond item sales. “We have new applications and business models.”

Todate, of the country’s 95 million population, at least 18 million are internet users, he estimated.
IP E-Games, the P2.25 billion subsidiary of IPVG, has over 11 million registered gamers all over the archipelago as of end of 2009, of which 8 million are active gamers and 3.5 million are loyal active users, playing online games two to three times per month.

It is the country’s single largest game publisher with an 80 percent share in the market.

“We are focusing on casual games that last 5-10 minutes,” he revealed.

“These are easy to play games that can win back a lot of registered users who are not active and not hard core. Big advertisers are already coming to us to bring their products and messages inside our online games, where they can have non-intrusive, permission-based marketing.”