Private: Intelligence

On Saturday morning I had a very interesting discussion regarding the future of gaming and it got me to thinking about where that business is headed and how marketers will be able to “play” (in a manner of speaking).

The POV I was presented was there would be no more consoles developed by Sony, Xbox or Nintendo and that everything is going to be focused on the cloud and/or integrated into other devices moving forward.  Vizio recently announced a partnership with OnLive to integrate cloud-based gaming systems into their TV’s and Blu-Ray players in much the same way we see Pandora and NetFlix integrated already.  They’re also integrating into mobile handsets over the next couple of years, driven most recently by competitors like the Playstation phone (called Xperia).  As this strategy becomes more and more commonplace, it also opens up opportunities for marketers to get into the world of gaming quicker and easier than they have in the past.

One of the biggest obstacles for getting brands into gaming was lead-time, because many brands actually wanted to be integrated into the game play and not just a display ad rotated through.  This lead-time was required because the titles were built, pressed and shipped for use on consoles far in advance of any potential campaign flight, and they were permanent placements with high price tags.  The last 10 years have seen substantial innovation in that area as each of the console manufacturers have developed and broadened the reach of their online extensions and integrations for the games.   In that same time we’ve witnessed the advent of gaming networks and new ways for marketers to integrate into a title in an existing ad unit that may appear a little more intrusive, but are effective nonetheless.  As these systems shift more towards a cloud-based serving model, there opens up amazing opportunities for marketers to integrate more fully.  Marketers can begin offering expansion packs, additional levels and un-lockable areas of existing games even after they’re already in the marketplace.

This would seem to suggest that the area of gaming is ripe for new opportunities in the field of marketing, and as the gaming audience itself has expanded to the mainstream, I feel a strong one-two punch!  For proof of concept, just look at what brands are doing on social gaming as a toe-in-the-water test of things to come!

But will this innovation and simplification translate to increased attention by marketers?  Gaming is still a sensitive word in the eyes of many marketers.  The old school marketers hear “gaming” and there’s a lot of baggage that comes along with it.  The newer school marketers have less baggage, but there’s still a couple “carry-on’s” to worry about.  Gaming needs to have some proponents in the Fortune 500 brand marketplace who are willing to talk about their efforts and their successes in order to overcome that stigma.  I know gaming can be effective, having used it in the past, but I don’t talk about it very much (except for this article) because the clients aren’t into it.  As a person who has spent 17 years in the agency world, I can tell you that far too many agency people won’t bring up gaming because it’s too sisyphysian sell through.   Agency people are stretched pretty thin, and some ideas, like gaming, take too much of their infrequently available time to get approved!

So even though the marketplace and the technology appear ready, there are still a couple of challenges facing the integration of gaming as a marketing vehicle with reach and consistency.  In my eyes, the key players in that space need to combine forces and start investing in research to prove the efficacy of the platforms and take this information public.  Consider it an XMOS Study for gaming.  If that happens, then I see nowhere to go but up for in-game marketing!

Do you agree?  Let me know on the Spin Board!