Video games have become a communication channel with many interesting tools and outcomes for marketers. We outline 6 reasons why.
In recent decades, video games have evolved from simple entertainment to a powerful medium for communication and storytelling as they possess unique qualities that transcend beyond their recreational value.
Gaming offers a dynamic platform that can bring people together like never before in the following ways:
Interactive Storytelling:
Allowing players to become active participants in the narrative and empowering them to shape the story through their decisions and actions. This enhances emotional engagement, making messages conveyed through games resonate more deeply. Contrary to movies or TV, players act and react through a video game and can have an impact on the story, the world they evolve in and share that experience with others.
Collaborative and Social Experiences:
Multiplayer games have created online communities whereby players can connect with individuals from around the world, fostering friendships, teamwork, and shared experiences. An interesting development has seen gaming culture being used as a platform for charitable initiatives and social causes, leveraging their wide reach to drive positive change and raise awareness on critical issues.
Gamification of Education:
Video games have found their way into educational settings, revolutionising the learning experience through gamification. By combining entertainment with education, complex concepts can be transformed into engaging activities whilst enhancing motivation, promoting active learning, and improving knowledge retention. From traditional entertainment type video games to more serious games (a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment) to identify people’s soft skills, gamification is a very powerful tool.
Communication Beyond Language:
Visual storytelling and universal design principles enable individuals from different cultures and backgrounds to connect and communicate. Games can bring a lot of non verbal communication and transmit knowledge, emotions and messages through the design, the gameplay, the story and situations the players will encounter.
An established ecosystem around it:
Gamers spend, on average, two hours per day getting involved with gaming. They only spend 45% of this time actually playing while the other 55% of this time are spent engaging with content: video tutorials, influencer livestreams, let’s play videos, esports tournaments etc. Gaming is not only video games, it incorporates a whole ecosystem outside of just playing the games.
Video games have evolved into a potent medium for communication, revolutionising the way we connect, empathise, and share experiences. As technology advances and game development becomes more sophisticated, we can expect the industry to continue shaping the way we communicate and bridge gaps, promoting understanding and unity in an ever-connected world.
Why should consumer brand marketers integrate gaming into their communication mix?
There are several compelling reasons to integrate gaming into a brand’s communication strategy, which include:
1- Large and Engaged Audience:
Gaming boasts a massive and highly engaged audience. According to recent statistics, there are over 3.2 billion gamers worldwide, and the number continues to grow. Gamers are diverse in terms of age, gender, and geographic location, providing a vast market to tap into. This enables brands to reach and engage with a large and enthusiastic consumer base, especially the hard to reach Gen Z and Millennial audience.
2- Increased Brand Exposure:
Through a mix of in-game advertising, product placements, sponsorships, influencers etc brands can gain prominent visibility through this channel. This exposure can significantly boost brand awareness, reach new demographics, and generate positive associations with the brand among their target audience.
Ultimately brands will reach an audience that are not listening to the radio (they have Spotify and Apple Music), don’t watch TV (due to YouTube, TikTok and Netflix) and don’t read print newspapers (prefer digital and video formats).
3- Enhanced Consumer Interaction and Engagement:
There is a unique opportunity for brands to interact and engage with their target audience in a more immersive and interactive manner by developing branded games or incorporating gamified elements into their marketing campaigns. This heightened engagement can deepen brand loyalty, foster positive brand perceptions, and increase the likelihood of conversions and repeat purchases.
4- Access to Valuable Data Insights:
By leveraging analytics and player behaviour data, marketers can gain insights into consumer preferences, demographics, engagement patterns, and purchasing habits. This data can help refine targeting, personalise marketing messages, and optimise future campaigns for better results.
Communicating through video games and new experiences will allow marketers to become fully phygital, blending digital and physical experiences together.
5- Integration of Influencer Marketing:
Gaming has a robust influencer ecosystem, with popular streamers and content creators who have large followings within the community. Collaborating with gaming influencers can provide brands with a direct avenue to reach their target audience by leveraging the influencers’ credibility and engagement. These partnerships can take the form of sponsored streams, product reviews, or influencer-led campaigns, driving brand awareness and fostering authentic connections with their customers.
Influencers are already converting better than most other media campaigns. Within gaming, the relationship between content creators and their audience is stronger than other influencer categories, mostly due to live streaming of their content which leads to instant engagement.
6- Innovation and Differentiation:
Brands can demonstrate their innovative spirit and differentiate themselves from competitors by being a first mover in the space. By embracing gaming as part of their marketing strategy, they show a willingness to explore new channels and adapt to evolving consumer preferences.
This forward-thinking approach can resonate with gamers, who appreciate brands that understand and cater to their interests. Many channels are overcrowded, not this one, yet.
Ultimately, integrating gaming into the communication mix of consumer brands should be a no-brainer as it provides access to a highly engaged audience that is tough to reach through other channels. It also connects the brand with their audience through their passion point, which generates emotions, and emotions push people into action.
At GosuRabbit, we’ve developed our expertise in activating gaming, esports and new media experiences for multiple years. Allowing us to understand your brand, your products and your marketing challenges to shape the video games environment into successful activations for you.
With our vast experience in the industry, we will also help you avoid the many traps you may encounter on your journey into this space.
Contact us for a free introduction call and see how gaming can become an important part of your consumer communication plan, and how we can help your brand grow.
