© A*A*R*O*NThe acquisition of Double-Click in 2006 ruffled a lot of feathers. People were uncertain whether they liked that THE biggest information gathering online agency was now moving into the advertising sector. And boy, you just can’t stunt that kind of progress.
By some strange twist of fate, an overwhelming percentage of my friends work in the gaming industry, as game designers or something or other. It’s not really work in the first place right? You play all day…But Tuesday morning, I came across an article in the Globe and Mail titled “In-game ads come of age” which reported on a new trend on the horizon – live streaming of ads into games as users play. From the insider’s perspective, some games require false advertisements for cityscapes, so why not use real companies, paying top dollar, instead of bogus ones?
Well, Massive Inc., a subsidiary company of Microsoft, is a leading broker in the burgeoning industry of dynamic in-game advertising. And like the rest of online advertising brutes these days, they’re not wasting any time offering their services to potential clients. According to Matt Hartley’s article, Massive brokered a multi-year deal with Electronics Arts Inc., the world's largest video game producer, to sell rotating ad space in EA's online games. The move not only provides Massive's network with long-term stability, but also legitimizes the in-game advertising industry in the eyes of the marketing world. Yay!
In their own words, Massive’s network enables marketers to reach and engage the millions of young adult playing games every day. "Are you trying to connect your brand with this target audience? THEN IT’S TIME TO GET IN THE GAME…"
In the real world, meanwhile, designers have begun pushing free online gaming where a slew of advertisers make up for user capital. It’s a twisted version of the gift economy if you ask me.
Gaming is one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment. By presenting unique marketing opportunities advertisers can pitch their brands to those ‘hard to reach’ consumers – specifically young adult males. Latest developments promise a truly unique, ultra-imersive entertainment experience (in high-definition, too). It just seems insanely intrusive to me.
Massive’s business model reaches across titles, genres and game platforms to connect with gamers wherever they are. Invariably glued to their computers, a pray to campaigns that target specific geographics and timings.
What I found a little off was the list of clients. I mean I get the car companies, the film productions studios… but the Government of Ontario? It's right up there with the US Navy, Armed Forces and the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.
For the time being, ads only span for about 15 seconds. But with technology these days, who knows how soon we’ll have to endure the same bad Hollywood trailer looping in the background. If parents were concerned with the PG13 ratings on bestselling games, trying controlling which company advertises on Tony Hawk’s virtual skate-ramps.
And I'm left with a single question, is there any way to keep corporate giants out of my leisure time?
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