On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend the IAB’s Digital Media Case Study Road Show and watch fellow marketers, including several of our clients, present their recent successful marketing campaigns within the gaming space.
The strength of the road show was due in part to the variety of campaigns presented. The IAB mentioned that they had more than 100 submissions for only 5 slots. Those they picked – Electronic Arts, Microsoft Advertising, Mindshare and WildTangent, Appssavvy, and CaféMom – demonstrated how ads placed on interactive platforms, including in-game, social networking sites, and portals such as Xbox LIVE, were successful at raising key brand metrics significantly.
Not only did the studies presented represent many channels, but they also showcased the increasing variety of integration types available to marketers: downloadable content, ‘advergames,’ brand-subsidized access to games, dynamic product placement, and micro-sites such as Xbox LIVE’s Branded Destination Experiences (BDEs).
A Few Key Highlights Were:
- “Marketing must fit” was the underlying message from all case studies. The in-game implementations must feel authentic to gamers, and the mantra of the day was “Integrate, don’t intrude.”
- In the case of Electronic Arts’ successful Toyota Prius campaign within The Sims 3, the downloadable content provided both concrete (reduced energy bills) and abstract (improved moods) benefits within the game.
- The complexity of each channel allows for different types of ads, suitable for targeting based on different advertising goals.
- Pillsbury and CaféMom leveraged Latte Land’s complexity to add value to consumers in different ways. When clicked, banner ads gave consumers $1 off coupons to print. Consumers were able to increase their points and complete challenges within the game by buying the Pillsbury recipe with their java bucks, a currency within the game.
- Continued interaction with the brand outside of the game was encouraged, closing the gap between a consumer’s virtual and physical worlds.
- Toyota and Electronic Arts encouraged out-of-game brand involvement by holding a video contest entitled “How the Toyota Prius Changed my Sims’ Life” where the winners’ videos will be shown on the website.
- In addition, as Toyota updated its physical product by launching the third-generation Prius, it also updated its virtual offering.
It was exciting hearing these marketers stress that creating ads especially for the digital platform is key. As researchers, we’ve long held the belief that simply adapting or repurposing traditional campaigns for the digital space is less than ideal, so seeing case studies tout the strong performance of native digital assets was a highlight.
Similarly, perhaps the aspect I enjoyed most was witnessing how our clients have effectively used our research to inform their larger strategies – at this particular roadshow, my team at Interpret completed the research presented in three of the five case studies. Congratulations to all of our clients on their success!
If you would like to read the abstracts from this roadshow, please visit the IAB website.
