Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

I picked up the latest version of Pro Evolution Soccer this Christmas. It is a high successful soccer franchise in the video game market that has developed a cult following over the years. It’s been a while since I’ve actually played a game in the series, so I was interested to note some of the companies advertising in the game. I think it’s worth highlighting a couple of the companies who decided to advertise in this season’s version of the game - MySpace and Play.com (disclosure - MySpace is an Edelman client in the US.)

If you look at the people who are buying Pro Evo - mostly men aged 16 - 40 who are tech savy (they own a console and are probably connected to the Internet) - it is a no-brainer for the likes of MySpace and Play.com to snap up an opportunity to advertise in the game.

I wrote an article for a video games website over four years ago on video games advertising and much of what I wrote still stands up:

For advertisers, video games offer a new medium to deliver brand messages, but more importantly they can promote products to a receptive audience who are exposed to the advertisement over long periods of time. Ultimately through interaction, the player can come away from the experience with a positive image of the brand on a subliminal level. Increasing product placement in computer games can lead to a more realistic virtual world that gamers can submerge themselves in…It is said that no marketing manager ever lost their job for advertising on television, in the future I’m sure the same will be said about advertising in a video game.

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