Four brands and four different strategies for gaming activations
AdAge recently published a great round up of how four different brands chased audience engagement and brand building through various strategies and platforms across multiple different gaming environments. Target audiences varied widely and often dictated the chosen platform. The piece also highlights the “build new vs. integrate with existing” choice that brands must often make when activating in this space. Four different experiences are highlighted:
TurboTax in Fortnite
Warner Bros. “Wonka” in Words with Friends
NFL on Roblox
H&R Block in Minecraft
Despite video games representing a fraction of advertisers’ total spend, brands are still hot on the space’s potential to drive interactive marketing opportunities. Some 86% of advertisers say that gaming is of growing importance to their companies, and 40% have plans to increase their spend on games advertising in 2024, according to a new study published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Virtual platforms, such as Roblox and Fortnite, continue to wage heavy interest from brands thanks to their younger player bases, as well as opportunities to develop fully branded worlds. And smaller mobile games, such as Words with Friends, offer a chance to reach a whole different set of gamers, particularly those who prefer short gaming moments over longer marathon sessions.
On the heels of the IAB’s annual gaming confab, PlayFronts, which took place in New York earlier this week, here’s a look at four recent brand activations on four different platforms, and how each marketer attempted to leverage the specific advantages posed by each gaming ecosystem.
