Game-on: LOCK & LOAD, Advertisers!

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …, somewhere around 1969 was the inception of the arcade gaming world. Over the period of years, we have seen tectonic transformation of the gaming industry. What started as an 8-bit arcade game has now reached to 64 bit gaming in Desktop, Console as well Mobile phones.

Globally, mobile gaming is a billion dollar industry and India is no exception in catching up to the rest of the world. The esports in India has surpassed the 250 million mark users and is growing exponentially. Conversely, this is a great opportunity for the brands to connect with their customers as well.

Due to the pandemic, there was a surge in spends and users on the mobile gaming platforms. For a lot of brands spending on the gaming ads churned a profitable business. Furthermore, the myth that the games are only for pre-teens and teenagers is proved to be wrong by the statistics. The target audience spectrum is till the age of 45 years which means that marketers can now target all sort products and services.

The major reason the gaming ads inventory is very efficient is because of its full screen mode for which the video ads can communicate the message in an interesting way. Plus, video ads have the ability to be absorbed better in the minds of consumers. Along with the video ads, the in-game advertising is being tested by many brands. Wherein, the brands are placed in the games in a non-intrusive way but still have an impact on the consumers mind.

As of now, the gaming ads work best for B2C if the goal is brand awareness. Translating this into sales is still skeptical as we will not see any player leave the game for any action point unless and until the gamer is heavily rewarded.