Advergaming is the practice of using video games to advertise a product, organization or viewpoint. The term "advergames" was coined in January 2000 by Anthony Giallourakis who purchased the URLs Advergames.com along with Adverplay.com. The term Advergames was later mentioned by Wired's "Jargon Watch" column in 2001, and has been applied to various free online games commissioned by major companies.
Advergaming normally falls into one of three categories:
ATL Advergaming
Examples of ATL advergames include Promotional software.
At first a company provides interactive games on its website in the hope that potential customers will be drawn to the game and spends more time on the website, or simply become more product aware. The games themselves usually feature the company's products prominently. These games are often reworked arcade classics but occasional gems can be found such as the Dyson game, Intel's IT manager Game, a classic from Nurofen or the recent 3D real-time advergame developed for Toyota.
The earliest custom video games featuring integrated brand messages were distributed on Floppy disk in the era before substantial penetration of the World Wide Web. The first floppy disk advergames were developed to serve dual purposes — as promotional incentives that drive response and as media that deliver awareness. American Home Foods Chef Boyardee brand issued the first-ever floppy-disk advergame[citation needed]. Other early brands to use the format were Coca-Cola and Taco Bell, which distributed games as "kids' premiums". The first in-box CD-ROM cereal box advergames were Chex brand's Chex Quest and General Mills' All-Star baseball, the latter starring Trix Rabbit and his friends playing baseball against Major League teams and stars.
With the spread of broadband internet, more in-depth advergaming games have been made possible aside from the simple arcade style flash games and larger games that are confined to being distributed on disc only. Kuma Reality Games is a developer of free advergaming games. One of their games, The DinoHunters is a full first person shooter based on the Source Engine that is released for free due to companies such as Schick sponsoring the releases and having their products featured prominently in game as well. Accompanying machinima episodes have been created alongside to help advertise the products also.
BTL Advergaming
Examples of BTL advergames include Militainment, Recruitment tools, Edutainment, and In-game advertising.
In the second form, games are published in the usual way and cause players to investigate further. The subjects may be commercial, political or educational. Examples of this form of game include recruitment tools like America's Army, intended to boost recruitment for the United States Army, and Special Force, intended to promote Muslim resistance to the state of Israel. Two soft drink mascots have also appeared in their own game. Pepsiman and Cool Spot were title characters in games promoting Pepsi and 7 Up, respectively. The most recent use of this form of advertising was the use of the King mascot from hamburger chain Burger King as the star of three video games titled the King Games series. Games themed for a specific sporting organization such as the NFL or Formula One racing can also fall into this category.
Two examples of educational advergaming, called Edumarket game, are Food Force (made by the United Nations' World Food Program) and Urban Jungle, an educational traffic simulation.
Another BTL advergame technique consists of advertising within a game itself. Since the intent of in-game advertising is commercial rather than political, some consider such advertisements to make up a category of their own. However as with the above mentioned BTL advergame forms, it is the techique by which the propaganda is purveyed rather than the nature of its intended audience which defines in-game advertising as a subset of BTL advergaming and not its own category.
In-game advertising is similar to subtle advertising in films, where the advertising content is within the "world" of the movie. A fictional example is Pepsi banners lining the inside of a virtual Soccer stadium in a video game made by EA Sports. A final (but weak) example is a regular banner ad in a free small-time browser strategy game. This can be a way to combat costs that the game makers encounter and reduce the cost of the game to the consumer (especially games with monthly fees) while providing an outlet to advertise ones product. It also currently helps many people sustain free online games. This method of advertising in offline games is somewhat controversial; however, as players may feel the game makers are being greedy by gaining money from the advertising without offering the game at a reduced price.
TTL (Through the Line) Advergaming
Examples of TTL advergames include link-chases and ARGs.
A rare form of advergaming, TTL advergames involve the use of URL hyperlinks within the game designed to induce the player to visit a webpage which then contains BTL advertisements. The technique used to tempt the player into visiting the intended URL varies from game to game. In games like Pikmin 2 the player is given a cryptic message with an accompanying URL designed to pique the curiosity of the player. In games such as Enter the Matrix,Year Zero, I Love Bees, and Lost Experience, URLs make up a part of the background of the game such that certain plot details can only be learned by following the link given in the game. The knowledge of such plot details are typically not required to complete the game, but make for a fuller story for fans. Websites of this nature often lead players on to other links which again lead to further links, thus earning these games the label "link-chases."
With the growth of the internet, advergames have proliferated, often becoming the most visited aspect of brand websites and becoming an integrated part of brand media planning in an increasingly fractured media environment. LifeSavers started a game site called Candystand that has blossomed to a portal for many different advergames and at its peak was averaging more than 1 million unique visitors a month.
Advergames theoretically promote repeated traffic to websites and reinforce brands. Users choose to register to be eligible for prizes which can help marketers collect customer data. Gamers may also invite their friends to participate, which could assist promotion by word of mouth, or "viral marketing".
Advergaming normally falls into one of three categories:
ATL Advergaming
Examples of ATL advergames include Promotional software.
At first a company provides interactive games on its website in the hope that potential customers will be drawn to the game and spends more time on the website, or simply become more product aware. The games themselves usually feature the company's products prominently. These games are often reworked arcade classics but occasional gems can be found such as the Dyson game, Intel's IT manager Game, a classic from Nurofen or the recent 3D real-time advergame developed for Toyota.
The earliest custom video games featuring integrated brand messages were distributed on Floppy disk in the era before substantial penetration of the World Wide Web. The first floppy disk advergames were developed to serve dual purposes — as promotional incentives that drive response and as media that deliver awareness. American Home Foods Chef Boyardee brand issued the first-ever floppy-disk advergame[citation needed]. Other early brands to use the format were Coca-Cola and Taco Bell, which distributed games as "kids' premiums". The first in-box CD-ROM cereal box advergames were Chex brand's Chex Quest and General Mills' All-Star baseball, the latter starring Trix Rabbit and his friends playing baseball against Major League teams and stars.
With the spread of broadband internet, more in-depth advergaming games have been made possible aside from the simple arcade style flash games and larger games that are confined to being distributed on disc only. Kuma Reality Games is a developer of free advergaming games. One of their games, The DinoHunters is a full first person shooter based on the Source Engine that is released for free due to companies such as Schick sponsoring the releases and having their products featured prominently in game as well. Accompanying machinima episodes have been created alongside to help advertise the products also.
BTL Advergaming
Examples of BTL advergames include Militainment, Recruitment tools, Edutainment, and In-game advertising.
In the second form, games are published in the usual way and cause players to investigate further. The subjects may be commercial, political or educational. Examples of this form of game include recruitment tools like America's Army, intended to boost recruitment for the United States Army, and Special Force, intended to promote Muslim resistance to the state of Israel. Two soft drink mascots have also appeared in their own game. Pepsiman and Cool Spot were title characters in games promoting Pepsi and 7 Up, respectively. The most recent use of this form of advertising was the use of the King mascot from hamburger chain Burger King as the star of three video games titled the King Games series. Games themed for a specific sporting organization such as the NFL or Formula One racing can also fall into this category.
Two examples of educational advergaming, called Edumarket game, are Food Force (made by the United Nations' World Food Program) and Urban Jungle, an educational traffic simulation.
Another BTL advergame technique consists of advertising within a game itself. Since the intent of in-game advertising is commercial rather than political, some consider such advertisements to make up a category of their own. However as with the above mentioned BTL advergame forms, it is the techique by which the propaganda is purveyed rather than the nature of its intended audience which defines in-game advertising as a subset of BTL advergaming and not its own category.
In-game advertising is similar to subtle advertising in films, where the advertising content is within the "world" of the movie. A fictional example is Pepsi banners lining the inside of a virtual Soccer stadium in a video game made by EA Sports. A final (but weak) example is a regular banner ad in a free small-time browser strategy game. This can be a way to combat costs that the game makers encounter and reduce the cost of the game to the consumer (especially games with monthly fees) while providing an outlet to advertise ones product. It also currently helps many people sustain free online games. This method of advertising in offline games is somewhat controversial; however, as players may feel the game makers are being greedy by gaining money from the advertising without offering the game at a reduced price.
TTL (Through the Line) Advergaming
Examples of TTL advergames include link-chases and ARGs.
A rare form of advergaming, TTL advergames involve the use of URL hyperlinks within the game designed to induce the player to visit a webpage which then contains BTL advertisements. The technique used to tempt the player into visiting the intended URL varies from game to game. In games like Pikmin 2 the player is given a cryptic message with an accompanying URL designed to pique the curiosity of the player. In games such as Enter the Matrix,Year Zero, I Love Bees, and Lost Experience, URLs make up a part of the background of the game such that certain plot details can only be learned by following the link given in the game. The knowledge of such plot details are typically not required to complete the game, but make for a fuller story for fans. Websites of this nature often lead players on to other links which again lead to further links, thus earning these games the label "link-chases."
With the growth of the internet, advergames have proliferated, often becoming the most visited aspect of brand websites and becoming an integrated part of brand media planning in an increasingly fractured media environment. LifeSavers started a game site called Candystand that has blossomed to a portal for many different advergames and at its peak was averaging more than 1 million unique visitors a month.
Advergames theoretically promote repeated traffic to websites and reinforce brands. Users choose to register to be eligible for prizes which can help marketers collect customer data. Gamers may also invite their friends to participate, which could assist promotion by word of mouth, or "viral marketing".
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