Gaming and the rise of new revenue streams

The gaming platforms offer a way of accessing customers and at the same time providing brands with a way to create targeted and immersive brand experiences that don’t have the obvious signs of advertising and potentially yield valuable customer data.

Brandometry co-founder and president, Tony Wenzel, positioned the move into gaming as an extension of advertising and sponsorship in film and television. And according to him, involvement in games isn’t new – it goes as far back as social media gaming platforms such as Second Life. “The gaming platforms imply to sign up for online gaming services, giving up precious demographic information, making the trend away from retail game purchases to online distribution which makes gaming environments even more fertile ground for advertisers,” he told CMO. “As graphics tools improved and the cost of hardware fell, video games began to incorporate more life-like scenes, creating a natural environment for brands.” [1]

According to experts, Gamers are committed, consistent, and loyal like Nascar fans (The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR), the largest stock car racing governing body in the world. It’s not uncommon for game players to modify games, which indicates deep affinity, something brands, and advertisers cherish.” [1]

In this new landscape, brands are now looking for opportunities to capitalize on the gaming audience through e-commerce. “In the fashion and luxury space it is more of an advertising move,” Amie Song, senior specialist of APAC (The Asia-Pacific) at Gartner, told Vogue Business. “[But] brands are thinking beyond marketing and social buzz to find ways to actually drive traffic to commerce destinations.” [2]

As proof of the popularity, and opportunity, in the games arena for marketing, Twitch is today the fourth largest source of peak-time Internet traffic in the US, behind Web giants Apple, Google, and Netflix.

Discuss: With your peers, in the comments below, share if you are a gamer and are you annoyed by this commercial opportunity?

References:
1. https://gameon-global.com/blogs/brands-getting-into-gaming/7-luxury-brands-getting-into-gaming
2. https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/fashion-esports-gaming-monetisation