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IAB Form New Games Advertising Council
The trade body of the UK Digital Marketing industry, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced its intention to create a council of industry experts to focus on games advertising in the video games arena.
Such a council already exists in the States, and following from the successful lead of the IAB US last year, the UK has decided to follow suit and create its on Games Advertising Council.
Although the video games industry is booming, few advertisers are intimately familiar with the industry, and one of the purposes of the appointed council will be to educate advertisers in various aspects of gaming.
The IAB’s new coordinator for the Game Advertising Council, Jack Wallington said: “Gaming is one of the largest, most immersive and engaging entertainment platforms in the world, yet remains totally misunderstood by a large part of the market.”
In-game advertising has been around in one form or another for decades, with one of the best known examples being the FIFA International Soccer series. Adidas made the most of the game with canny Brand Positioning of virtual billboards surrounding the pitch which gamers would view as they played the game.
As games have got more advanced and have increasingly shifted to online content, the avenue for dynamic in-game Online Advertising has become hot property in the advertising arena.
US President Barack Obama used in-game advertising space to promote his electoral campaign in Burnout Paradise, and the continually evolving worlds of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) such as Second Life have been used to promote brands such as Sony, Toyota and Lego.
Games represent fertile ground and a New Media for advertisers to explore which has not been properly exploited yet. In 2008, the advertising budget from US companies for dynamic in-game advertising totalled $55 million dollars, though Advertising Agency Massive Inc. expects in-game advertising to hit $1.8 billion by 2010.
Online Advertising news posted by Albert Reeves on 26 June 2009
