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marketing
Friday, March 04, 2011 9:47 AM
RockYou talks about bringing gifting to gaming as an ad solution
Source: Brand-e.biz, February 24 2011
By Simon Fuller. When it comes to engaging consumers through its ad solutions, games maker RockYou has borrowed a trick or two from Native Americans in the shape of a concept called Potlatch, a form of gift ceremony. RockYou has shifted it onto social networks, and users are offered a chance to get free credit in their favourite games via a button. Clicking this button plays a branded video, and after consumers have watched a while, they’re rewarded.
“[These] gift economies died out in the face of more complex economies, but social networks allow reconnection,” said Gilles Storme, RockYou’s head of advertising, at brand-e’s recent The Games Brands Play event in London. “When people play games, they can improve their experience by buying credits [virtual currency]. But only 2% to 5% of people are ready to buy credit. Brands have an opportunity to [engage] the 95% who don’t want to pay.
“This is replicated across many games,” added Storme. “Brand engagement works because it uses game mechanics – the software works with the game experience, therefore it’s relevant for users.”
RockYou claims that with the brand incorporated into the game, its ad solutions are some three or four times more effective than traditional advertising. And as well as pop-up videos, users can also be directed towards branded mircosites, or the brand’s Facebook page.
Another solution sees branded goods being placed inside a game, and players can select them from a pop-up. This leads them to a brand’s banner ad, before the player accesses the branded item which can be used as part of the game.
“These are no-risk solutions,” said Storme. “[They’re] measurable, have a significant reach across a number of games and [offer] precise targeting. The solutions come in standardised formats [and] there’s no user-generated content. We create a mechanic in-game to interact with the brand.”