The Sponsored Avatar: Examining the Present Reality and Future

Possibilities of Advertising in Digital Games

JASON CHAMBERS
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Advertising
103 Gregory Hall
810 o!th "right
t# Urbana$ I% &1801
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+p,hambe-!i!,#ed!
ASTRA!T
.his paper e/amines the pra,ti,e of advertising 0ithin the spa,e of digital games# Additionally it
anti,ipates the f!t!re development of advertising 0ithin the intera,tive entertainment spa,es# A
f!t!re that holds possibilities as varied as a,t!al game sponsorship$ prod!,t pla,ement and brand
integration 0ithin games$ or ,ross promotional opport!nities bet0een digital games and other
forms of entertainment media# .he a!thor see1s neither to neither b!ry nor praise the pra,ti,e$
b!t to offer a ,aref!l and reasoned e/amination# Given the similarity bet0een videogames and
movies this resear,h synthesis in,orporates analysis of advertising pla,ement 0ithin those genres
0ith limited pro,essing theory to propose a pla,ement model for digital games# .he analysis
in,l!des the perspe,tive of advertisers$ game p!blishers and designers$ and end !ser ,ons!mers#
.his 0or1 finds that ,!rrently there are m!ltiple approa,hes to in-game advertising$ b!t that it is
an a,,epted pra,ti,e by end !ser ,ons!mers# An agenda for f!t!re approa,hes is also offered#
1
"E#$%RDS
advergaming$ advertising$ digital gaming$ gamevertising$ prod!,t pla,ement$ mar1eting$
videogames
1
2y than1s to my resear,h assistants$ 2arisa 3andle and 4ri,a mith$ 0itho!t 0hom this essay ,o!ld not have
been ,ompleted#
Proceedings of DiGRA 2005 Conference: Changing Views Worlds in Play#
5 '00) A!thors 6 Digital Games 3esear,h Asso,iation DiG3A# 7ersonal and ed!,ational ,lassroom !se of this paper is
allo0ed$ ,ommer,ial !se re8!ires spe,ifi, permission from the a!thor#
INTRODUCTION
We are surrounded by products in real life. Art imitates life# 9Advertising 4/e,!tive
.oday Ameri,ans are s!rro!nded by more advertising messages than at any other time in history#
Advertising is feat!red on virt!ally every s!rfa,e possible and it is a ,ommon feat!re in periodi,als$
movies$ television programs$ and on the Internet# A,,ompanying this spread of advertising messages$
ho0ever$ has been an in,rease in the amo!nt of te,hnology to avoid advertisements# :e0 ,omp!ters ship
0ith soft0are to filter o!t advertising invasions into one;s online e/perien,e and digital video re,orders
<D=3> are often in,l!ded in ,able and satellite television bo/es# Cons!mer po0er to avoid advertising is
,learly on the rise# .his development has not gone !nnoti,ed among advertising agen,ies and media
,ompanies# 4/e,!tives are no0 sear,hing for 0ays to prote,t their advertising reven!e and 1eep
advertising messages 0here ,ons!mers ,an not only see them b!t not blatantly avoid them#
Conse8!ently$ one advertising pra,ti,e attra,ting gro0ing interest is advertising and prod!,t pla,ements
in entertainment programming# .he attention is primarily fo,!sed on pla,ements in movies and television
programs# ?!t$ one area that is attra,ting mo!nting noti,e is the area of videogames @8A# Agen,ies and
game p!blishers are see1ing greater opport!nities to in,orporate more advertising messages and prod!,t
pla,ements in digital games#
T&E DE!'()E %F TRAD(T(%)A' *ED(A
.oday it is ,ommon for advertising personnel to des,ribe the 30-se,ond ,ommer,ial as BdeadC
@3&$ p# *A# .he advertising a!dien,e that on,e predi,tably gathered in front of net0or1 television
has be,ome fragmented# D!rther$ some ma+or advertisers have p!bli,ly anno!n,ed a shift a0ay
from spending the largest portion of their advertising b!dgets on television advertising# In '003$
the president of Co,a-Cola$ one of the nation;s largest advertisers$ st!nned the advertising
ind!stry 0hen he said that the nation 0as moving a0ay from television as the an,hor medi!m in
the home# D!rther$ that the ,ompany 0as redistrib!ting its more than E300 million in ann!al
advertising spending a0ay from television ,ommer,ials and to0ards advertising pla,ement in
television sho0s$ movies$ and videogames @1(A#
A,,ompanying the shift a0ay from the ,ommer,ial has been gro0ing ,ons!mer antipathy to0ards
advertising# A re,ent s!rvey by the Fan1elovi,h 7artners resear,h firm revealed that t0o thirds of all
,ons!mers feel as tho!gh they are B,onstantly bombardedC 0ith advertising messages @*3$ p# 1)A#
D!rthermore$ &) per,ent of respondents said there sho!ld be more limits pla,ed on advertising and nearly
(0 per,ent agreed that they 0o!ld li1e to have more me,hanisms to help them blo,1 advertising @3(A#
"hile this ,ons!mer an/iety over the !bi8!ity of advertising messages may have been mirrored in
previo!s de,ades$ today ,ons!mers have the po0er to help them blo,1 or avoid advertising @3GA# .h!s$
+!st as advertising agen,ies are in sear,h of more 0ays to rea,h them$ ,ons!mers are sear,hing for more
0ays not to be fo!nd# Fet the one area 0hi,h resear,h indi,ates ,ons!mers a,,ept$ if not appre,iate
advertising$ is prod!,t pla,ement in entertainment programming @(A#
.his paper e/plores the developing interest on the part of advertising agen,ies and game
p!blishers to in,orporate advertising into digital games$ a pra,ti,e ,ommonly referred to as
'
BadvergamingC @3'A#
'
.his essay is spe,ifi,ally ,on,erned 0ith the pra,ti,e of advergaming
0ithin ,onsole- and ,omp!ter-based games# As a pra,ti,e$ advergaming 0ill ,ontin!e to
in,rease for the foreseeable f!t!re# Advertising agen,ies are fo,!sed !pon the medi!m as an
o!tlet for their ,lient;s messages and game p!blishers and developers vie0 the reven!e as a 0ay
to offset rising development ,osts @''A# Carolyn Deinstein$ an e/e,!tive at game p!blisher
4le,troni, Arts <4A> noted$ B"e;ve beg!n to aggressively b!ild a b!siness model aro!nd o!r
games as an advertising medi!m# 4A is pla,ing a h!ge bet on the fa,t that this is a real b!siness
opport!nityC @**$ p# GA# Fet 0ithin this interest there has been no model or frame0or1 developed
to as,ertain the optim!m approa,h# .h!s the goal of this analysis is to offer a first step to0ards
,reating g!idelines for the f!t!re development in-game advertising# .he present 0or1 arg!es
that if a brand or advertising message is appropriately integrated into a digital game it 0ill
enhan,e the e/perien,e of end !sers and meet the goals of game developers and advertisers#
.his essay is a synthesis of resear,h that brings together the vie0points of the three sides of the
triangleH advertising pra,titioners$ game developers and p!blishers and end-!ser ,ons!mers <i#e#
gamers># In the pro,ess it is hoped that the f!t!re agenda provided 0ill serve to satisfy the goals
of all three gro!ps#
PR%D+!T P'A!E*E)T
*%,(ES A)D TE'E,(S(%)
In analyIing the pra,ti,e of in-game advertising the most appropriate parallel is prod!,t
pla,ement 0ithin movies and television programs# ?oth of these medi!ms allo0 for the
in,orporation of advertising message 0ithin the frame0or1 of the programming# ?e,a!se
videogames mirror the e/perien,e of television and movie vie0ing a dis,!ssion of prod!,t and
message pla,ement 0ithin these medi!ms 0ill inform the analysis of the pra,ti,e 0ithin digital
games# D!rther$ the gro0ing n!mber of movie and television sho0 and videogame tie-ins
in,reases the li1elihood of the e/tension of pla,ement pra,ti,es from these medi!ms to their
a,,ompanying games# Also$ movie st!dio e/e,!tives are in,reasingly loo1ing for strategi,
partnerships 0ith <if not o!tright o0nership of> videogame ,ompanies @18A# Greater involvement
by st!dios 0ill impa,t the manner in 0hi,h games are developed and ho0 the pra,ti,e of in-
game advertising pro,eeds# It is also appropriate be,a!se there has been s!bstantial resear,h on
both the development of meas!rement metri,s and the opinions of the pra,ti,e from ,ons!mers
and pra,titioners#
"hat started as an informal pro,ess of !sing real-0orld prod!,ts in movies has evolved into a pra,ti,e
0ith spending in the billions of dollars# 4stimates of pla,ement spending in '00) on pla,ements sho0
spending in e/,ess of fo!r billion dollars$ a '3 per,ent in,rease over the previo!s year @'8A# Despite the
amo!nt of money spent on pla,ements$ there is ,onsiderable disagreement abo!t both the most
appropriate 0ay to do pla,ements pra,ti,e and the most appropriate standards of impa,t meas!rement
@'*$ *(A# 3esear,h among advertising pra,titioners and a,ademi, resear,hers reveal a ,ontested
battlegro!nd @'3A#
'
Advergaming is ,!rrently the most often !sed term to des,ribe in-game advertising# Ho0ever$ there are gro0ing
arg!ments that there sho!ld be terms developed to des,ribe the pra,ti,e in different forms of media <e#g# online
games vers!s ,onsole-based games>#
3
.here are$ ho0ever$ some !sef!l points of agreement for the present essay# Dirst$ resear,h
indi,ates that the ma+ority of vie0ers ,onsider prod!,t pla,ements to be an a,,eptable pra,ti,e
and an enhan,ement to realism @(A# e,ond$ the length of e/pos!re and level of prominen,e are
re,ogniIed as 1ey fa,tors in effe,tive pla,ements# .hird$ the more modal ,!es a pla,ement has
<vis!al and a!dio> have been sho0 to positively impa,t brand re,all @1GA# Do!rth$ the ,onte/t of
the program and the mood it evo1es has also been sho0n to impa,t the ,ognitive rea,tion to
pla,ement 0ithin programming @13A# .h!s 0ithin the ,onte/t of a digital game !sers 0o!ld be
more li1ely to re,all the brand of ,ar that they had vi,torio!sly driven in a virt!al ra,e than they
0o!ld the billboards that s!rro!nded the tra,1# Difth$ is the vie0ers; affinity for the ,hara,ter or
star !sing the prod!,t# !,h intera,tions impa,t the vie0ers; per,eption of the prod!,t# In their
st!dy of pla,ements in movies s,holars De%orme and 3eid re,o!nted an e/,hange des,ribing a
shift in gin preferen,e after a vie0ing of the movie The African QueenH BHe ,laims it;s the best
ever be,a!se ?ogart 0as his hero and ?ogie dran1 Gordon ginJIt really ,hanged @hisA 0hole
drin1ing habitsC @($ p# 80A# .he !se of the prod!,t by a positively vie0ed fi,tional ,hara,ter
be,ame a personal testimonial for the brand# A similar transferen,e pro,ess may be possible
!sing a videogame ,hara,ter#
A digital game pla-ement frame.or/
Cristel 3!ssell theoriIed a three-level frame0or1 to meas!re prod!,t pla,ementH 1> B,reen
pla,ementC <the brand is visible in the frame$ '> B,ript pla,ementsC <the brand is verbally
mentioned>$ and 3> B7lot pla,ementsC <the brand is in,orporated into the story> @*1A# .he f!rther
a pla,ement pro,eeds thro!gh the levels the higher the degree of ,ons!mer re,all# "ithin digital
games a fo!rth level sho!ld be addedH the degree of !ser intera,tion$ or a,tive ,ontrol$ over the
brand or prod!,t# Unli1e movies$ game playing is an a,tive pro,ess in 0hi,h the brand ,an be
integrated into the storyline 0ith the !ser dire,ting the e/perien,e# .herefore the pleas!rable
benefit of ,ontrolling the a,tion and e/perien,e thro!gh the brand are transferred to the !ser#
"at,hing Kames ?ond barrel do0n the road in a ?2" roadster is one thing# A,t!ally ta1ing
,ontrol of ?ond and ,ontrolling the ,ar in a game li1e Everything or Nothing is something else
entirely# In fa,t$ in the ,ase of a!tomobiles$ eviden,e has been fo!nd demonstrating that intimate
involvement 0ith a prod!,t in a videogame led to spe,ifi, p!r,hasing ,hoi,es in the real 0orld
@')$ 33$ 3*A#
D(G(TA' GA*ES
Lne of the first instan,es of in-game advertising 0as in ega ra,ing games in the early 1G80s
that feat!red 2arlboro billboards# .he pra,ti,e has gro0n$ ho0ever$ to one in 0hi,h the
ma+ority of the best selling games feat!re some type of advertising ,ontent# Altho!gh the
interest in advertising pla,ements in games mirrors that of movies and television$ the reven!e is
,!rrently smaller# Dor e/ample$ in '00* 4A had 0orld0ide sales in e/,ess of E* billion$ of
0hi,h E10 million ,ame from in-game advertising reven!e @*0A# Dor the digital game ind!stry
re,ent pro+e,tions estimate that advertising reven!e from in-game advertising 0ill approa,h E'&0
million by '008 @3&A# ?!t$ similar to the ,ase 0ith movies$ not all pla,ement arrangements are
*
on a for-,ash basis# Dor e/ample$ Street Hoops feat!red billboards for the soft drin1 prite and
the game 0as feat!red on prite ,ans @'&A#
Fet$ despite the ,omparatively lo0 fig!res for prod!,t pla,ements in games$ the reven!e model
is ,learly ,hanging# In the past game developers had to pay ,ompanies to in,l!de their brand
name or logo 0ithin a game# .oday$ tho!gh$ game developers are finding themselves so!ght o!t
by advertising agen,ies to in,orporate advertisements and pla,ements 0ithin their 0or1#
2oreover$ some advertising agen,ies$ li1e Fo!ng 6 3!bi,am and tar,om have developed game
advertising divisions <?o!n,e Intera,tive Gaming and 2G7lay$ respe,tively> to better
,oordinate efforts bet0een the 0orlds of advertising and game development @*)A# Hen,e
altho!gh the development of synergisti, efforts bet0een the t0o ind!stries is developing slo0ly$
it is ,lear that parties on both sides 0ant the effort to s!,,eed# Advertising agen,ies 0el,ome the
opport!nity to develop an additional o!tlet for their 0or1$ and game developers 0el,ome the
additional reven!e to offset development ,osts @10A#
?!t 0hat is the opinion of the end-!ser ,ons!mer$ of the gamerM 3esear,h has demonstrated that
the ma+ority of game players seem to be in favor of greater levels of advertising and brand
pla,ement 0ithin games @3)A# .he most ,ommonly ,ited reason for s!pporting the pra,ti,e is
that it enhan,es the sense of realism @'($ 3*A# .he other t0o most ,ommonly ,ited reasons for
s!pporting in-game advertising 0ere that gamers <mista1enly> felt that it 0o!ld lead to lo0er
game ,osts or 0o!ld help the development of better games# Gamers most oft-,ited ,on,ern 0as
that the advertising or pla,ement 0o!ld be in,ongr!o!s 0ith the setting and detra,t from the
e/perien,e @1$ *&A# Ho0ever$ despite the seeming s!pport of gamers for in-game advertising
e/isting s!rveys have offered little detail# .here is limited indi,ation$ for e/ample$ of e/a,tly
0hat type of advertising game players ,onsider to be Brealisti,C# At present the most realisti,
game setting for prod!,t pla,ements is one 0here the prod!,t is !sed to a,hieve a goal <sports$
ra,ing$ and advent!re games># ?!t$ the ma+ority of games sold are o!tside of these varieties#
ettings li1e s,ien,e fi,tion$ fantasy$ and horror themes ma1e advertising and pla,ements in
these genres diffi,!lt$ if not impossible$ to ma1e realisti,# ome gamers may la!gh at the idea of
Half-ife ! protagonist Gordon Dreeman replenishing his health 0ith a 7epsi$ b!t many more
might re+e,t the brand be,a!se of its irrelevant involvement#
'(*(TED PR%!ESS()G !APA!(T#
Also$ desires for in-game advertising aside$ ho0 effe,tive is the medi!m for ,omm!ni,ation
advertising messagesM "hat impa,t does limited pro,essing ,apa,ity have !pon re,ognition and
re,all of an advertising messageM t!dies s!ggest that the higher the level of e/,itement
generated d!ring the vie0ing pro,ess$ the lo0er the level of ,ognitive reso!r,es to pro,ess
advertising messages @'$ '0$ '1$ 38A# Hen,e the type of advertising and pla,ement in,l!ded
0ithin the frame0or1 of the game ,learly matters as 0ell as the type of game it is pla,ed 0ithin#
"hen players are ,ompleting a pass$ shooting at another player$ or rappelling do0n a b!ilding$ it
is li1ely that stati, advertising messages 0ill be overloo1ed#
)
.here have been pre,io!s fe0 st!dies addressing these 8!estions# till$ the res!lts are promising#
3esear,h has sho0n that immediately after playing a game !sers ,o!ld re,all 30 per,ent of the
brands in,l!ded and nearly 1) per,ent over five months$ staggeringly high n!mbers 0hen
,ompared to re,all of 30-se,ond television spots# Ho0ever$ these res!lts 0ere obtained !sing a
small sample <nN3&> and they res!lted from the integration of brands into the frame0or1 of the
game @3*A# t!dies that have !sed 0hat amo!nts to billboards in a gaming environment have
fo!nd slightly lo0er levels of re,all @&A# .herefore$ the pla,ements most 0ell-re,eived by
,ons!mers and most effe,tively re,alled have been ones 0ith a high degree of !ser ,ontrol and
intera,tion$ s!,h as am Disher !sing a ony 4ri,,son 7G00 phone in Splinter "ell# $andora
Tomorro%#
RE!%**E)DAT(%)S F%R T&E F+T+RE
Game developers and publishers
Oeep the integrity of the gaming e/perien,e foremost#
Consider pla,ements and brand integrations at the initial stages of game development#
2a1e the pra,ti,e part of the b!siness model#
A,,ept advertisements and pla,ements only 0hen they enhan,e ,ontent rather than +!st
reven!e#
Individ!al game ,ompanies sho!ld ,onsider establishing a position responsible for
finding advertising relationships#
Understand the manner in 0hi,h gamers a,t!ally play the game @30A# Dor e/ample$ 0hat
path0ays a !ser might ta1e thro!gh a parti,!lar level and ho0 that ,an be leveraged in
terms of advertising or brand ,ontent#
Abandon the gamers are gee1s and gee1s only persona# .he videogame player of today
represents a broad variety of demographi, gro!ps beyond that of 1)-') year old males
@1*$ 1)$ 1&$ *GA# As one developer aptly noted$ BCompanies need to stop representing
videogames as s!itable only for prep!bes,ent boys# It;s time 0e sent a message o!t
a,ross the board$ letting people 1no0 the pastime isn;t +!st for 1idsC @*'$ p# )8A#
AD,ERT(SERS A)D AD,ERT(S()G AGE)!(ES
Do not approa,h in-game advertising as tho!gh it is a ,omplete repla,ement for the 30-
se,ond ,ommer,ial# Instead vie0 it as an e/tension of the brand message that ,o!ld be
in,orporated into other advertising messages# Consider$ for e/ample$ a ,ommer,ial for
the ony 4ri,,son 7G00 that !ses themes or settings similar to those in Splinter "ell
allo0ing the !ser to get a !nified message# %in1ing the brand pla,ement to other
&
advertising or promotional efforts is one of the most effe,tive 0ays to enhan,e the
pla,ement#
Understand ho0 gamers vie0 advertising as part of the game e/perien,e a,ross its
variety of forms in,l!dingH advergaming$ online gaming$ ,omp!ter gaming <0here !sers
may develop the ability to Bha,1C the advertisement> and ,onsole gaming# "hile there
have been some st!dies of gamer attit!des to0ards advertising they m!st be ,onstantly
!pdated#
Develop a set of standardiIed meas!rement metri,s @'G$ *8A# Here the re,ommendations
offered by De%orme and 3eid to pra,titioners interested in prod!,t pla,ements in movies
are appropriateH 7ra,titionersJ0o!ld be 0ise to ,ommit 8!i,1ly to resear,h programs
designed to e/plore$ des,ribe$ and e/plain the relationships among brand prop e/pos!re$
a!dien,e rea,tions and interpretations$ ,onte/ts$ and brand pla,ement pra,ti,esC @($ p#
8(A# Advertising pra,titioners$ game p!blishers and developers$ and a,ademi,s sho!ld
0or1 in ,on,ert to develop these metri,s#
Avoid the passive logo or billboard approa,h# Gaming is an intera,tive e/perien,e$ in
0hi,h the !ser e/pe,ts greater$ not lesser$ levels of involvement and ,ontrol# %et gamers
intera,t 0ith the brand or advertisement in the manner that they deem most fit# "or1
0ith game developers to develop ,reative brand intera,tions that may be o!tside of
traditional approa,hes# 4ffe,tive advertising and pla,ements in videogames 0ill demand
a 0holly different type of ,reativity and involvement not !nli1e that e/perien,ed in the
transition from radio to television#
3e,ogniIe that in-game prod!,t pla,ement is an evolving proposition# .he ,!rrent
novelty of in-game advertising and pla,ements may be limiting ,!rrent rea,tions against
the pra,ti,e# Ho0ever$ the impending gro0th of branding and advertising in,l!sions in
games may in,rease ,ons!mer resistan,e @)A#
"el,ome the opport!nity for ,hange# Instead of ,ontin!ed hand 0ringing abo!t vie0er
erosion and the death of the 30-se,ond ,ommer,ial get more ,reative# .he history of the
advertising ind!stry ,learly sho0s the ability to adapt to ,hanges in te,hnology and
media habits# Use that legendary ,reativity to rea,h them in the ne0 pla,es and spa,es
they inhabit in 0ays that they 0ill respe,t and appre,iate#
!%)!'+S(%)
.he ne/t generation of videogame ,onsoles is set to la!n,h 0ithin the ne/t 1'-1& months#
Co!pled 0ith re,ent developments in handheld gaming li1e the :intendo D and ony 77$
game developers have the opport!nity to prod!,e more realisti, games than ever before#
.e,hnologi,al advan,ements in graphi,s and artifi,ial intelligen,e 0ill lead to games that are
even ,loser in image and ,ontent to movies# 2oreover$ b!ilt in internet a,,ess in ne/t generation
ma,hines opens a 0ealth of possibilities from do0nloadable games and streaming advertising to
tra,1ing options that provide information abo!t e/a,tly ho0 gamers intera,ted 0ith brands @*A#
D!rther$ the gro0th of online gaming presents both developers and advertisers 0ith opport!nities
(
and ,hoi,es <and potential reg!latory h!rdles> that are as yet !n,lear @3$ 1'A# As one observer
enth!sed$ B"hen this thing @in-game advertisingA mat!res$ there 0ill be the opport!nity to
la!n,h prod!,ts in videogames# I don;t 1no0 if it;ll be songs or m!si, videos or ,lothing lines$
b!t it 0ill happenC @*$ p# (A#
At present$ ho0ever$ the three points of the triangle seem to be in harmony# Gamers have not yet
revolted en masse against in-game advertising$ b!t instead largely 0el,ome it as an enhan,ement
to their e/perien,e# Game developers and p!blishers are 0or1ing 0ith advertising agen,ies to
develop appropriate advertising and branding synergies @G$ 10$ 11A# till$ ,a!tion m!st be
e/er,ised# De0 gamers li1ely 0ant$ or 0ill a,,ept$ sponsored avatars# Instead$ most 0o!ld
li1ely agree 0ith the sentiments of one game ind!stry +o!rnalist 0ho derided$ BIf %in1 @the hero
of the egend of &elda seriesA sho0s !p 0earing 3eebo1s$ I thin1 I;ll p!1eC @31$ p# 1*A# He
negle,ted to add that his rev!lsion 0o!ld probably also in,l!de 0al1ing a0ay from both the
brand and the game# And he 0o!ld li1ely not be alone in doing so# ?!t$ if agen,ies and
developers develop a synergy that does not leave o!t the desires of end !sers$ 0e 0ill see ,lever
and ,reative 0ays to meet the goals of all parties ,on,erned#
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April 1'$ '00)#
10# Dadner$ 3# B2adison Aven!eH =ideo Games :ot Fet Advertiser-Driendly$C PhttpHQQ000#mediapost#,omR
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