What are advergames, also known as 'branded games', who makes them and what are they for? These are just some of the questions that revolve around the topic that is our core business. Let's go into detail and find out what you need to know.
Our portfolio is full of video games with a very specific personality, each of them is a world that immerses the user in afun experience and tells the values and objectives of a brand. We make video games that they have not only a playful purpose, but also a communicative purpose, these video games are called advergames, or more in detail Branded Marketing Games.
What are advergames?
Advergames are video games which have not only recreational but also communication and often also commercial purposes.
It's about a video game that is used as a communication tool within a product or service communication strategy.
An advergame or branded game has very specific characteristics:
- It's a Unique video game with a life cycle that can be established in a strategic phase,
- utilizes recognizable gaming mechanics,
- is designed and developed to be played by a very specific target,
- conveys the values of the brand,
- hath targets clear,
- provides data on the playersYes,
- is measurable.
Even just the list of advergames' characteristics makes us understand the potential of this type of video game. An important aspect to consider when talking about this type of video game is that investing exclusively in the video game may not be the best strategic choice for the company, let's see why.
The advergame as a piece of a puzzle
To understand The value of an advergame It's good to think of it as a piece of a puzzle. To obtain results, a communication campaign must be supported and supported in turn. But what are the results that a company can obtain from an advergame?
- Lead generation,
- increased time spent on the site,
- direct contact with their consumers/users,
- brand awareness,
- user profiling.
Piece of a puzzle, therefore, ideal as part of a larger communication strategy. In fact, An advergame is perfect as a communication tool associated with other activities Like:
- prize contests,
- digital and social strategy,
- influencer strategy,
- events,
- external communication.
Everything is clear in theory, right? To better understand advergames and understand how they work, it's good Consider case studies.
We chose three Examples of advergames very different from each other, to show you how this genre of video games is suitable for different types of targets:
'Fruit Man', when the target is children and mothers
'Fruit Man' is a advergame developed by Dinobros which was part of a product launch strategy: Frullà, fresh fruit juices to consume as snacks, for a healthy and balanced snack.
We have talked in depth about communication strategy linked to “Fruit Man”” in a dedicated article, but here we want to go into practical details by listing The characteristics of this advergame and how it was integrated into the communication campaign.
- Advergame: “Fruit Man”, the product packaging declined in pixel art, becomes the protagonist of a journey through a labyrinth in which he must collect fresh fruit and escape from junk food.
- Target: toddlers, end consumers of the product and parents, those who buy the product. The pixel art layout gives the video game a vintage mood that affects parents and the simple mechanics of the video game conquers the little ones.
- Communication: the video game was associated with a prize competition and was announced throughout the launch period of the new product.
'Eco Games', when the goal is to educate everyone to recycle
The “Eco Games” created for the Hera Group are part of a project in which the advergame is the planet around which the entire communication campaign revolves. This advergame is part of an environmental awareness project that involved several cities, we have talked about it in detail in the sheet dedicated toadvergame “Eco Games”
Advergame: Three mini games in which users play and learn how to do separate waste collection in the correct way.
Target: men and women 18-35 years old. Children learn to differentiate by playing and adults, who are faced every day with the need and duty to do the recycling correctly, discover a fun way to recycle.
Communication: The “Eco Games” were part of a large communication project that saw dynamic advertising, with the personalization of vehicles, Prize competition, events, hardcover and creation of gadgets in line with the graphics of the video game.
“University Escape”, educating young people and adults on financial issues
We therefore saw an advergame linked to a commercial brand used for the launch of the product and associated with a prize competition, then an advergame in which the objective of environmental education is closely related to brand awareness.
Last but not least, The advergame 'University Escape' made for the portal Skuola.net and Unicredit, which we talked about in detail in a dedicated article, designed as part of a financial education project. Let's see in detail.
Advergame: a video game recalls the colors of Unicredit, a Platform game in which the player chooses his character, he must collect coins and answer questions about finance in order to move on to the next levels.
Target: university students as the primary target and all students using the portal Skuola.net as a secondary target.
Communication: The advergame was published directly on the customer portal, created in support of a financial education project. In this case, the coverage for the launch of the video game was purely editorial, in fact it had excellent press coverage during the launch phase.
The three case studies show how Advergames are video games that can be customized according to customer needs and what it wants to communicate to.
Is it clear to you now what we're doing?
If you want to know more, have some curiosities or questions, write to us!
