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In a future-focused exploration of the gaming industry, mentions of game IP and fandom stood out at the recent IAB UK Upfronts.
The power of fandom took center stage during Advertising Week NY 2023, as brands, marketers, and gaming industry leaders came together for a compelling session led by Activision Blizzard Media on how to leverage the passion of gaming fans.
Your average video game enthusiast, football viewer, and rock music aficionado have more in common than you might suspect.
To brands, successful in-game mobile advertising campaigns occur when creativity and strategy are in perfect balance, backed by a deep understanding of gaming experience, gamers themselves, and the ad formats they respond to.
A new study we conducted with Alter Agents revealed that partnering with fans' preferred gaming IPs significantly boosts a brand's perceived uniqueness, creativity, and innovativeness.
“Gaming is no longer a test and learn addition at the bottom of the media plan”, declared James Chandler, IAB UK’s CMO, opening our fourth annual Gaming Upfronts.
To give marketers a better idea of the reach and power of in-game ads, Activision Blizzard is beefing up its offerings in the field of attention measurement.
What’s the secret to engaging in-game ad creative?
With over 60% of all UK adults racking up an average of 7hrs and 33 mins of game-time weekly, gaming is undeniably a powerful way for advertisers to reach a highly engaged and diverse audience.
To stand out among mobile gamers, advertising needs to successfully replicate the satisfaction and immersion that players have come to expect from their gaming experiences. In response, advertising strategies have evolved beyond traditional methods, leading to significant opportunities for brands who understand the expectations of mobile gaming audiences.
The success of mobile gaming ad campaigns hinges on partnering with a reputable game studio and meeting players' expectations for premium ad formats. But not all games or studios are created equal. Players consider graphic quality, enjoyment, and challenge when choosing a premium mobile game, with thoughts on the accompanying ads also influencing their choice.
PepsiCo, L’Oréal and others are investing in game worlds in hopes of reaching an audience known for using ad blockers online and eschewing linear TV.
Activision Blizzard Media recently presented our newest research, Premium By Design, to our advertising industry colleagues at Advertising Week Europe and Campaign UK’s Media360 event. There, we took to the stage to further educate advertisers and brands on the power of gaming in reaching engaged audiences.
Players have high standards when it comes to the games they play and the media they consume — and with good reason.
Advertisers should think of gaming as a series of media opportunities, the brand claims.
As a society, we have had a long, strange relationship with video games. At times they are how we learn about new technologies like the computer or television; at others, they’ve been seen as the source of corruption for our youths or an addiction on par with banned substances.
The stunning success of the “Super Mario Bros. Movie” shows that video game intellectual properties are ripe for film and television adaptation. If the last 10 years were the decade of superhero films and comic book adaptations, the next decade might very well become Hollywood’s video game era.
On March 8 and 9, 2023, gaming and advertising leaders convened for the second annual IAB Playfronts – a marketplace dedicated to advertising and partnership opportunities in the gaming industry.
Advertisers are not paying attention to the “demographic disruption” in the gaming industry, an Omnicom leader has claimed, and are failing to reach the growing generation of "older" gamers.
Enthusiasm about video games is surging, but marketing budgets have yet to catch up to the hype.
If there’s an easy entry point for marketers to crack gaming, it’s usually through mobile games.
Yesterday marked the second and last day of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s 2023 PlayFronts conference. The event was full of buzz about the ad opportunities present in video games — but it also showed just how glacial the pace of both technological and cultural advancements can be in the advertising industry, particularly when it comes to gaming.
As marketers wake up to the fact gaming isn’t to be ignored, Jonathan Stringfield outlines how the space will evolve this year and where attention needs to be directed.
Learn about the social impact of gaming, how consumers are oriented around the channel, and the vast opportunity for advertisers to engage.
For over a decade, leading mobile game Candy Crush has threaded the needle between monetization and fun. As the game turns 10, its developers are experimenting with new ways to turn it into potential revenue or advertising inventory — but they have to tread lightly to avoid upsetting this delicate balance.
How entertainment companies are gaming the silver and streaming screens.
For Prada Beauty’s foray into the casual gaming space via a new Candy Crush campaign, the results have been sweet.
At Ad Age Next: CMO, Activision Blizzard Media's VP of global business research and marketing, Jonathan Stringfield, weighed in on the current state of gaming, its inherent social nature and the opportunity for brands to tap into advertising's premier social channel.
PODCAST: One of the biggest blind spots in the entire marketing universe is the opportunity presented by gaming, which, in 2021, was a $180 billion industry. Why are marketers so sheepish to enter the gaming space?
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Candy Crush, the world’s most popular mobile game.
Industry leaders convened at the annual IAB UK Gaming Upfronts to discuss the state of gaming and how advertisers can continue to engage this growing channel.
Unlike a traditional static or interactive video ad type, Playables allow users to interact with the brand directly in a fun and immersive way that helps drive awareness and brand recall.
As brands look to understand how to best reach and engage with gamers, they need to start by understanding the different types of gamers that exist and what motivates them.
While awareness of the diversity of gamers is increasing, there remains an opportunity to understand better the full depth of female gamers, including their behaviors, motivations, and habits.
Unlike traditional advertising, in-game advertising allows marketers to reach their audiences where they are most engaged and active, making it a more dynamic and flexible form of marketing.
How gamers treat the games they love is how they often treat their real lives — with a level of dedication, passion, and a sense of community.
How important a factor is ‘measurement’ in attracting more marketing revenues into the gaming space? Will the loss of third-party cookies and personal IDs impact gaming ad revenues as much as other media channels?
With the original generation of console gamers now in their 50s, does the marketing industry’s conception of what a gaming audience looks like need to evolve?
Today’s audiences are consuming content, especially gaming, throughout the day across multiple devices at a time, with the second screen increasingly acting as a focal point for attention.
The short version, the more media buyers learn about the gaming audience and their entertainment consumption habits, the more essential gamers become to media spending ROI. The long version, it’s complicated.
Investors are funneling money into companies looking to turn videogames into a marketing platform that can compete with television commercials and online ads.
The gaming industry celebrated an incredible milestone when the IAB PlayFronts, an annual marketplace dedicated to advertising and partnership opportunities, kicked off its inaugural in-game advertising event on April 5, 2022.
Turns out, gamers aren’t just dudes in their parents’ basement. While crass—and frankly just as insulting in 2022 as it would have been 2012—it’s a myth the gaming industry tried to dispel in a formal pitch to advertisers this week.
As the iconic mobile game turns ten and launches a nifty new Sonic the Hedgehog tie-in, Jennifer Sharp, vice president of mobile partnerships, Activision Blizzard King, tells Laura Swinton what Candy Crush can teach us about impactful gaming partnerships.
Gaming has arrived as both a pillar of popular culture and source of advertising inventory, but some brands and agencies still struggle to grasp the value of this new medium.
With the imminent release of the sequel to surprise hit movie Sonic the Hedgehog, Activision Blizzard’s mobile gaming division King has teamed with the makers of the film to deliver an in-game event through Candy Crush Saga.
The evolution of the web is of great importance to the advertising industry. The dawn of its latest iteration, known as “web3.0,” via related components such as the “metaverse,” have become a heated discussion in the marketing community.
Industry experts give their thoughts on what next year looks like for Mobile and In-Game.
LGBTQIA Gamers Challenge the Idea of a ‘Typical’ Gamer
Activision Blizzard Knows The Video Game Industry Hasn't Done Enough To Cater To Big Brands, But Is Working To Change That
The Rise Of Gaming As A Major New Media Channel
The Gaming Audience Is A Lot More Diverse And Desirable Than You Think
New Survey Reveals Majority Of Mums Play Video Games
Engagement with games is up during the pandemic, but it’s not only because people are looking for a way to kill time.
Activision Blizzard Media Treats Ad Agencies To A Virtual Esports Tournament
Advertising Is Coming To Video Games, And The Shift Could Happen Sooner Than Marketers Think
It’s Context, Not Length, That Determines The Success Of Mobile Video
Activision Blizzard And Google Enter Into Multi-Year Strategic Relationship To Power New Player Experiences
Activision Blizzard Media Launches Player Panel To Test Mobile Ads
Why Shorter Isn’t Necessarily Better With Mobile Video
Activision Puts In-Game Ads On ‘Easy Mode,’ Stringfield Says
Highly Social, Gender Diverse And Age Agnostic: Why Brands Must Change Their View Of Gamers
Activision Blizzard’s Esports Marketing Chief: We Want Brands to Help us Build Overwatch League
More Than 2.4 Billion People Will Play Mobile Games This Year, According To Analyst
Betting on Billions: Unlocking the Power of Mobile Gamers
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