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: FMCG, consumer durables, education, youth lifestyle products, automobiles and technology companies are the ones that use this medium the most.

Cost wise, the spend for a brand can be anything between Rs 15 lakh and 1 crore, with 30% going into distribution and updation. The distribution cost goes to the network operator that hosts the game.

“Cost of in-game placement could be anything between Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh compared to Rs 7 to Rs 10 lakh for an advergame (where the ad is more intricately woven into the script), while a high level of detailing can even cost as much as Rs 20 lakh,” reveals Alvares.

“The cost in India is often discounted to create a differentiated product from a import product,” explains Alvares, adding, “We believe micro-payments is the place to be for gaming in India. As of now, we have games priced from Rs 99 to Rs 249.

Take for instance, the Thumbs Up Everest Challenge: Hai Dum, a mobile game developed by Jump Games that featured a mountain climber negotiating a difficult terrain. It showed him dodging boulders, icy patches; and defending himself against ferocious bird attacks. The company claimed it was downloaded 3,50,000 times and went on to win the best integrated marketing campaign award for 2005!

Other examples are of a game released during FIFA 2006 Football World Cup, called Coke Super Footer and Coca-Cola’s summer campaign Sabka Thanda Ek, that also generated considerable buzz in the youth market.

When Marico’s Parachute Advanced coconut hair oil had to be launched, the company came out with a Gorgeous Hamesha campaign that used Reliance Mobile World’s voice application to give subscribers an opportunity to dedicate a song to their partners. Interestingly, in all these cases, the game was not just a medium for lead generation but it also became a tool for brand-branding.

For this, “we would have to counter lack of awareness about the mobile media and take general perception away from bulk messaging,” says Manoj Dawane, CEO, People Infocom (Mauj Mobile) a company that has developed mobile gaming content for a host of brands in the apparel, auto, FMCG and services sectors.

“Advergames work best as end-to-end solutions,” says Bhargava. “TV ads and PR tools can also be used to prod customers to download advergame via a short code. Sometimes, brands themselves decide to promote their game via popular media.”