The term ‘advergames’ comes from a merging of the terms ‘advertisement’ and ‘games’. This type of strategy promotes brand awareness and improves engagement.
It provides a platform for a very subtle type of advertisement as brands are integrated with the entertainment content.
Quite a few brands have enjoyed considerable success in attracting consumers to their games, particularly those that can be played online, on corporate websites, or sites operated by game producing agencies.
When the audience does not respond to traditional types of advertising, it may be time to consider something new like advergaming.
Games are made for different platforms, such as the internet, mobile phones, and consoles. Marketers ensure that advergames can be played over a range of platforms. During lockdowns, time spent in playing games surged by 62%, according to some estimates.
The habit is here to stay. The games developed as part of an advergaming strategy are usually free.
Advergames can be themed around a product, or can be something more subtle. Advergames help users to enter into a brand’s dynamics through games without being aggressive.
Some advantages of using advergames as a marketing strategy have been enumerated below.
Not Invasive
Through advergames, a brand generates continuous and effective exposure that is neither aggressive nor invasive. They do not disrupt the user experience.
Generate Engagement
Advergames engage customers. Using games as a marketing strategy allows companies to associate themselves with something fun and stress-relieving. This leads to a positive interaction with brands. Integration between a brand and an advergame is critical to the impact of a brand.
Interactive
When users interact with advergames, they interact with the associated brand. If the entertainment content of an advergame resonates meaningfully with a brand, congruence between brand and game content can render the brand more memorable. Some examples of successful advergaming campaigns have been given below.
Doritos VR battle – Although this fully-immersive VR experience requires users to purchase the game and a VR headset, it ensures that the users are invested. Players battle their way through a geometrical universe, battling monsters to collect as many Doritos as possible along the way.
Chipotle Scarecrow – This game was such a success that its success was written about in countless publications. This arcade-style adventure mobile game was designed to promote the ‘Food with Integrity campaign’. The intention was to raise awareness about processed food. The scarecrow’s journey aimed at bringing wholesome food back to the people. It got 6.5 million views on YouTube in less than two weeks. It sparked the interest of 250,000 users within four days of its release.
Kellog’s Olympics – For this advergame, kids aged between 6 and 14 are invited to control on-screen characters to play a series of games inspired by Olympics events. Kids are invited to play games like ‘Triple Jump’ online against their friends.
