Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five - Groucho Marx

In-game advertising has been the cause of much debate in the gaming community. They see advertisers as an evil force invading their personal space. Gamers don’t want to see McDonalds billboards as they unwind and submerge themselves into a fantasy world.

However if content can be incorporated seamlessly into a title so that it becomes part of the game then brands set to benefit by connecting with their target audience. Joseph Jaffe provides the perfect example of a UPS truck being incorporated into EA Nascar 2006. The truck is a hidden object which has to be unlocked by the player. Why would he want to drive a UPS truck instead of a race car? First off, there are hardcore gamers who will spend hours on end unlocking every piece of content. Secondly, everybody likes change especially when you’ve played the game to death already.

Apart from positioning, this also helps to get people talking about your brand in the gaming community. It can thereby lead to your brand being mentioned in publications where it would never normally land. Video game companies have used personalities like Marlon Brando or Snoop Dogg to get their game mentioned outside of games magazines. Now brands can reverse the trend to get mentioned across entertainment publications.

How many times does Grand Theft Auto get mentioned by celebrities in interviews? Wouldn’t you like brand and a popular video game to be mentioned in the same sentence?

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