Advergaming is the new buzzword for brand promotion

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After cricket and Bollywood, advertisers seem to have discovered a new avenue for promotion - online games. And branding folks are trying newer ways to discover new seamless brand integration methods with games. Recently, a trend called ‘advergaming’, which primarily meant placement of brands within the games, took the industry by storm. Considering the growing potential, Zapak.com, one of the pioneers in advergaming, is all set to give a facelift to ‘advergaming’- in order to keep the enthusiasm intact, both online and offline. The company has tied up with two brands - Parachute and Maybelline New York and has created two games ‘Parachute 6 sixes Challenge’ and ‘Maybelline Magic Makeover’.

The winners of the former will get to meet Yuvraj and Sreesanth – the two new brand ambassadors of Parachute. The winners of the Maybelline game will get a professional makeover, thus extending the brand integration to on-ground events as well.

The $35 billion global gaming industry is considered to be one of the fastest growing medium in the entertainment businesses. According to PwC, by 2008, the gaming industry would become a $53 billion market, bigger than the Hollywood and music industry. Online gaming is predicted to be $7 billion by the end of 2008 to which the Asia Pacific region is expected to contribute 50% of the revenue. Therefore, as many as 150 brands including Allen Solly, Cadbury, Thums Up, Pond's, John Players, Airtel, P&G, Tata Sky, Parle, Adidas and KLM are riding this wagon to cash on in the opportunity.

Rohit Sharma, COO, Zapak said, “At present, 95% of our revenues are generated through advertisements. We are looking for over 100% year-on-year growth for the next 3 years. Although we cannot disclose the exact financial arrangement with our clients, typically it is a hybrid of cost plus model on the development cost of the game along with sponsorship/promotion of the game on the site.”

He added, “We believe in the next 2-3 years, advergaming will soon account for more than 50% of all gaming revenues.”

Ramesh Bhasker, brand manager, Marico, said, “Gaming is an exciting platform to connect with the youth, which is our target group. A presence in new age mediums like the Internet, mobile etc., lends a lot of youthful imagery to the brand. Also, the interactivity offered by these mediums help the brand to customise its message in a consumer friendly way.”