Yesterday, Activision and research company Nielson Entertainment announced some findings from their recent joint report into the murky world of in-game advertising. This 'pioneering' study - the fourth part in a series to gauge the, 'effectiveness of in-game advertising that incorporates different levels of product integration' - purports to have discovered that gamers actually enjoy in-game advertising:
"Contrary to the assumption that highly pervasive ads would detract from the game play and frustrate gamers, a majority of study participants said that when the product is relevant to the game, advertising enhances the experience. Underscoring relevance, the study revealed that the vast majority of gamers who recalled a product in a game felt it fit the game they were playing. Moreover, a much higher percentage of gamers changed their opinion of the product positively versus negatively after having played the game."
So, for any company looking to target the hugely profitable, and usually difficult to impress, young male demographic, the message is, "Kerr-ching".
Actually, I like the way Andy Wing, President and CEO Nielsen Entertainment, explains the effect: "(advertisers)... have finally found a pipeline into the 18-34 male sweet spot." I'll leave you to draw your own mental images...
Right, moving swiftly on, the report later highlights another interesting factor in videogame advertising...
As Michael Dowling, General Manager of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment, explains in the press release:
"Video games can provide actionable feedback to advertisers. Gamers like to customize their game play experience based on their personal preferences - so, the color of the Jeep a gamer chooses says a lot about how they might act in the real world. This is invaluable information for advertisers."
Is this true, do you think? I'm not sure that any company should pay too much heed to the choices I make in videogames. Games are about fantasy, after all, and most of the time, there is a sizeable gap between what we fantasise about and what we actually want in real-life - just ask any magazine sex therapist. I may pimp up a bright pink Subaru with a spoiler the size of a kitchen table in the latest Need For Speed, but that doesn't mean I actually want to drive one out on the streets.
Finally, the report differentiates between two very different forms of in-game advertising: the obvious placement of ads within the environment and a more pervasive, integral form of advertising, "Unique brand integration that incorporates in-game interstitials, video footage, audio cues and branded storyline elements that serve as goals of the game."
In other words, the ad can become the game - in a similar way that highly monetised 'bling culture' has defined much of mainstream hip-hop's output over the last ten years.
What a strange world we live in where we accept and even desire marketing messages as an intrinsic part of our entertainment. How telling that brand authenticity has become as much a signifier of in-game realism as complex physics and real-time shadows. I'm as guilty as anyone. I'd rather drive a Nissan Skyline GT-R in a racing title than a made up sports car. I feel the twang of cosy familiarity when I see an extreme sports character wearing labels I recognise from the high street.
'Pigs, we get what pigs deserve,' Nine Inch Nails once sang. And here we are snuffling at the trough, squealing for brands - now even our virtual lives belong to the ad men and their fattening feed.
