Two Hot Digital Tactics That Go Great Together!

 Advergames.

 

Like many key marketing tactics of today, advergaming was developed in the 1980’s and was deployed without benefit of the fancy-schmancy name. It wasn’t actually until 2001 that the term “advergaming” was officially coined in Wired Magazine’s Jargon Watch column. Since that time, interest in advergaming has continued to rise because of the overall ability of game mechanics to attract interest, drive engagement and even motivate action.   And motivating action is what it’s all about!   It has been predicted, that advergaming and in-game advertising could very easily become a $1 billion plus industry, and that prediction is coming true right before our eyes in 2015. Some of the earliest examples of the genre included the made-for-console games “7-Up Cool Spot”, “Kool Aid Man” —THE first known advergame — and of course, Domino’s Pizza’s “Avoid the Noid” as seen below. These games were engaging, fun, and kept the brand in front of impressionable little minds for hours at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mobile Marches On.

 Mobile Advertising/Marketing on the other hand, is growing exponentially faster that all other forms of digital marketing combined. In the past, there has been more of a disparity between the significant amount of time people spend on mobile devices, and the less than significant amount spent on mobile advertising, but marketers are beginning to understand that there is an emerging class of “mobile-first” digital consumers, and they want to get in front of those people. It is projected that marketers will allocate roughly $42 billion per year for mobile ads by 2018.

 

PBS Kids Pulled it Off!  

If only there were some way for a brand to combine these two powerful tactics into one super-tactic, they could be at the entrance of the proverbial gold mine. Sometimes top-flight vision like that comes from places we’d least expect. In one such case, the magnificent geniuses at PBS Kids, did exactly that and combined a popular kids game with a mobile advertising campaign to create marketing gold.

PBS embarked on a campaign to celebrate what would have been Dr. Seuss’ 108^th birthday, by integrating a very clever and engaging advergame with a mobile app and mobile advertising designed to encourage website traffic and viewers to tune in to an upcoming TV special. Instead of using traditional media or even static digital ads to showcase the time and date of the special, PBS took a mobile-specific approach by incorporating a simple, target-age specific game that also allowed for a sneak peak of the show and a real-time countdown clock to give the viewer a sense of urgency.

How did they do it?

     PBS Kids targeted moms who would be interested in showing their children the special, and those who may have younger children who typically use their phones and/or tablets to play games. They used very targeted opt-in mobile ads to alert the mothers (parents) to the show and the game and created a sense of urgency via the use of the countdown to airtime clock.   The game was part of a free app mothers could download and featured very simple interface, and short game play with options to play again and to see a preview of the show.

 

The plan was quite clever in its approach that targeted busy mothers with young children, who are prime Dr. Seuss age and quite often in need of something to “occupy” curious little hands. The planning was herculean, but the execution was fairly simple. Through intelligent targeting, interactive advergaming, integration with mobile and a constant sense of urgency, PBS built a campaign that not only increased mobile engagement, but drove web traffic and contributed heavily to tune-ins. Based on the success they had initially, PBS Kids launched a subsequent game called “Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Math” for similar reasons and with similar results.

 

The PBS execution was beautiful in its simplicity. They used mobile advertising to attract busy mothers and then required the download of an application, which in and of itself constitutes opt-in permission. Once the app was downloaded and the parent gave the device to a child for game play, no further permission was required. Smooth and effective.

 

When the dust all settled, it was clear that PBS provided an excellent consumer experience to users in several ways. First, they took their message to the consumer where she lives, thus making it incredibly easy for her to consume the content and make decisions about further interaction. Then they provided a solution for harried parents who are not only looking for quality programming for their children, but meaningful and safe games/pastimes to keep them occupied at certain points of the day. The children enjoyed the game and the preview of the impending show, which helped them forge a new relationship with the works of Dr. Seuss, and in turn, PBS.

 

Takeaways.

In an increasingly digital society, advertising viewers are widely dispersed among a growing number of media. Gone are the days of advertising to 80% of America while they watched Ed Sullivan on Sunday night. As marketers, we have to place our message in front of those with whom it will create the most action, and that means we have to go where they are. Mobile is as close as you can get to the consumer. No other medium is as personal, and no other medium is as pervasive. Once we have their attention, we need to engage them to build brand awareness and advergaming does that in a way few other tactics can. Advergames are less intrusive because they are always opt-in, and often times sought out. Not only that, but they help the user achieve higher levels of brand awareness and recall. When you combine mobile with advergaming, it really is a win/win for everyone!

 

–Steve