Guest Article:Why advertisers should enter mobile gaming - Florent Vallauri

When it comes to mobile in-app advertising in South East Asia Pacific, we are at an interesting point in time. Mobile usage across the region continues to grow at a rapid rate and shows no sign of slowing down. India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have some of the world’s highest levels of mobile penetration according to the eMarketer report, with penetration expected to grow above 75 per cent by 2019.

Albeit, mobile advertising is not a new concept, but is becoming more central to all marketing strategies than before. Marketers have been targeting audiences on mobile phones for almost a decade in India. But what is changing significantly is the way they are doing it.

Consumers these days are getting ahead of the industry in their technology use. Therefore, brands need to be more creative and relevant to reach, connect and engage with consumers in a way that they will value. Riding this bandwagon is the in-game advertising solution that presents a great opportunity for brands in this respect.

Innovative ways to reach audience via Mobile Game Advertising

Gone are the days when, mobile advertising was only associated with ‘banner ads’. With mobile game advertising, there are wide assortments of mobile ad formats to pick and choose from.

• ‘Mini Game’: An exclusive ad format that offers total immersion. It is a playable ad which is customized for brands that maximizes the time and quality of exposure a brand gets. In game rewards can also be offered to encourage participation.

For instance: We made an exclusive mini game for KFC, wherein players had to tap on their mobile screens to catch as many breakfast items as they can in 40 seconds. After completing the game, players were rewarded with game points for higher engagement.

• Interactive Video with QTEs: A fun and interactive ad format that gamifies the video with custom Quick Time Events (QTEs), applied at selected moments, captivating the users’ attention and engagement throughout. Through QTEs, users can interact with a brand by just shaking their phones or tapping on their mobile screens, enabling higher engagement.

For instance, We collaborated with Unilever for their Paddle Pop ice creams and integrated it with Max Dash game in an interactive video with QTEs. Users could tap their screens and shake their mobile phones to complete the actions to participate in the game, which received a higher brand engagement rate.

• Expandable Video Interstitial: A subtle way to deliver a brand’s story and invite deeper engagement. This ad format is utilises video directly in the banner to spark audience curiosity. User initiates the video to expand it in full screen which maximises user engagement with the brand.

For instance: We developed a solution for the promotion for Disney’s ‘Moana’. Users could expand the banner and watch the movie trailer within the same screen, without hampering their gaming experience and hence increased the brand engagement.

Florent Vallauri is Managing Director - Sales & Marketing, South East Asia Pacific & Indian continent at Gameloft, a leading digital and social game publisher headquartered in France. He is also part of the esteemed jury for the MOBEXX Awards 2017.