Hello everybody, I have always wondered about how far "Marketing" can go? Although the NEWS i want to share is not new, but wanted to know what ppl in this forum think about it. An article by Dianna Dilworth of DmNews.com reported about how marketers are using static/interactive ads in video games for promotional purposes. As a game fan myself, i was wondering if i could really take the bait. IMO, Games like Halo, CS, Gears of War etc are so engrossing that people may be lured to give only partial response. Read the whole article and lets see what the experts of this forum say? Thank you
In GTA3 they had RockStar billboards and signs selling things in the game itself. If those were used as real billboards, then people would see them, and see them over and over again. In another game I played it had a "soda" machine that sold, well, Soda. If Coke gave some cash that "soda machine" could be a "coke machine" If I was a coke fan, I'd certainly get a kick out of that and would add another level of loyalty to the game itself as well as the softdrink. Especially if I could drink the coke (in game). Cars could also be sold in games, as many games have cars. Why use a made up car when you could hop in a ford? Playing these games years ago made me ponder just how long it would take for me to see the main characters wearing Nike, drinking coke, and driving a mustang.... though the game designers MUST be aware that if they sell out too far the gamers will notice and act accordingly. One thing that I would actually find very funny would be to have actual commercials while the game is paused. I would laugh out loud if I saw it... though it would likely quickly annoy me.
It's going to be BIG. In-game ads are coming, especially in the casual games they are REALLY coming. And now companies like EA are stepping in, so it's definitely coming in the hardcore gaming area as well. Check out www.bruceongames.com - he's veteran industry marketer who had some opinion about where the industry is going (like in this post)
In GTA games most of the cars are real cars but they can't legally use the actual names. All the guns are real too but have fake names. What would be great is if they made those hilarious car radio shows in the game into commercials but still made them hilarious.
Yeah, kinda makes them not real, huh? My point was to actually use the real names, not just looks. I can't tell a honda from a toyota unless I can see the logo, so without that, nothing is real. Yes, or even mixed in some real ones.. The random what-nots that people say could by bought as well... Imagine of the of the random people in the street singing "I'd Like to Buy The World a Coke"
I discussed this question in another forum as well. Somebody said it is kind of "....generating positive brand awareness."I think i agree with that. For example, Capcom is the famous company which gave us Street Fighter series. This company has a list of great games to its credit. In some of its games they used to include or i would say MARKET characters from other top selling games. In one instance i saw Chun Li(a female character from street fighter) eating some thing at a sidewalk cafe in another famous game "Final Fight". I remember i was really excited and started telling my friends about it. This tactic may also be used to keep existing or older titles. characters and products ALIVE. But lets say Company A which has aggressive competitors like company B, C and D, all in the field of making Video Game consoles, decides to market its console c1 through a famous video game, already a hit in the market... Dont you think Company A can get enough market exposure this way? They can feature Release date of the new console, even get a few titles to c1 credit and make customers eagerly awaiting for it? What do you think?