Wow Factor About To Spike For Ads In Online Games

The upcoming "live" model for ads in online videogames is expected to accelerate a market that is already moving briskly. And agencies are looking to capitalize: WPP Group's Young & Rubicam launched a gaming unit this month, and others plan to follow suit, sources said. "The sky's the limit," said Nicholas Longano, president of L.A. movie-trailer boutique Mojo's new interactive-media division. "We're soon going to see 5-, 10- and 15-second ad campaigns placed in games seamlessly."At this month's E3 show in New York, in-game ad specialist Massive Incorporated said that by this fall it will be delivering live ads to online gamers [Adweek Online, May 13] and, equally important, impressions data to media agencies. "Some games have done a good job of getting the sponsorships they want," said Richard Skeen, vp of ad sales at Massive. "We can do something different: aggregate the gamer and provide accountable dynamic delivery." Massive says it can change ads so quickly that they can take the form of coupons redeemable that day only.Jay Cohen, vp of publishing at Ubisoft in San Francisco, predicted an "enormous shift" in revenue for gaming companies. "We're going from static product placement that has to be done 12-18 months in advance to ads that can even be delivered post-launch," he said. Longano said gaming companies have recently reaped $1 million in ad revenue for a title that costs $20 million to develop, but that percentage will rise as advertisers seek exclusivity, get more data and are able to climb aboard a game after its release. Scott Singer, managing director of Deloitte Research, projected that ad support for advergaming and online gaming will rise from $77 million in 2002 to $230 million in 2007. "The next stage will be highly personalized ads, such as what we're seeing on cell phones," said Paul Lee, author of a Deloitte report on gaming, due this month. "This will provide precise geographic information on game use." "Time-based campaigns will allow for unique retail alliances that may only take two solid weeks to activate," said Chad Stoller, director of communications solutions at Arnell Group in New York, which oversees creation of games on the Yahoo! Games site for DaimlerChrysler. "But the key is still getting involved early and owning the public relations ramp-up." Ubisoft will debut the technology in Splinter Cell III or Ghost Recon 2, both due out in late 2004. At least at first, product integration—such as Sony Ericsson's P900 phone placed in Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow—will co-exist with live ads, Cohen said. "As this 'virtual out-of-home' becomes more photorealistic, the gamer will become much more engaged," said Tim Harris, partner at Play, the 1-year-old gaming division of Publicis Groupe's Starcom Mediavest Group in Chicago.Stoller expects more sophisticated integration—beyond, for example, associating Jeep with a "hip, younger brand" like Quicksilver in Tony Hawk Underground. "What if a skateboarder has to do a trick off the Jeep Liberty to accomplish a goal?" he said. "That's a lot cooler than a sign."P.J. MacGregor, partner at Play, which lost McDonald's in-game duties because of a client conflict, said SMG's clients seem excited. "We have not gone into a meeting where they weren't nodding heads," he said.

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Wow Factor About To Spike For Ads In Online Games

Gregory Solman

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Gregory Solman