Anime News

Advertising In Video Games: Fastest Growing Segment
Date: 10/9/2005
Double Fusion, a leading provider of in-game advertising services, has released findings of a Nielsen Interactive Entertainment study indicating that advertising in video games has a significant influence on purchase decisions and brand recall. The study showed that the in-game campaign resulted in a 60 percent increase in awareness for a new product, and also showed that, while all ad formats had significant impact, animated 3-D advertising insertions achieved twice the recall of static billboards. Additionally positive perceptions of brand attributes for the product such as being "easy to use" and "time saving" all showed consistent increases.
The study looked at a variety of advertising insertions within the downloadable version of London Taxi, a PC game published by Metro3D. The objective of the study was to assess the brand impact of advertising within the recently released game environment, and to compare the efficacy of the different types of advertising formats supported by Double Fusion's in-game ad serving technology. Together, Double Fusion and Nielsen Interactive Entertainment conducted a pre- and post-exposure study exploring changes in ad awareness, recall and purchase intent for a Procter & Gamble product called Flash Car Wash, a new cleaning product distributed in the United Kingdom. As part of the study, Nielsen also looked at user attitudes towards the presence of real advertising within the game.

"The study provides continued evidence that in-game advertising is a medium which brand managers across categories should be exploring, particularly if they want to reach the highly valuable 18-34 year old male audience," said Henry Piney, managing director Europe, Nielsen Interactive Entertainment. "What we learned is that even for new brands, the impact that in-game advertising can have is significant. The study also shows that, by using video games' unique attributes and offering insertions through which players can interact with brands, the advertiser can gain even greater value."

"Video games are the fastest growing consumable entertainment medium on the market," said Guy Bendov, co-founder and executive vice president for business development, Double Fusion. "More and more 18-34 year olds are spending both time and money on gaming, and reaching this highly desirable audience is of the utmost importance for advertisers and marketers. Double Fusion is the only company in the market that offers the 3-D insertion capability so it is very encouraging to find that this tool resonates with consumers."

Other key findings include:
- Brand Perceptions - Positive perceptions of brand attributes for the product such as being "easy to use," "time saving," "convenient" and "more effective than traditional methods" all showed small but consistent increases.
- General Perception of In-Game Advertising - General perceptions of in-game advertising are relatively positive: in the pre-survey (among 900 respondents) 50 percent of respondents agreed that in-game advertising makes a game more realistic while only 21 percent disagree. Likewise 54 percent agreed the in-game advertising 'catches your attention,' while only 17 percent disagreed.
Source: Anime News Service