5 Manieren om advergames in te zetten

Gepubliceerd op woensdag 27 augustus, 2008 | Redactie

Ik kom vaak een aantal leuke internationale artikelen tegen op het internet over advergaming. Zo nu ook dit internationale artikel (in engels) met daarin tips om advergames in te zetten. Het artikel is geschreven door Alex Eperjessy.

1. As a way to give people some casual insight into what is it that your company actually does and how it does it. This is simple - say you’re a delivery company. The game you can comission is one where the player is put in charge of managing a part of the delivery network. Keep it simple and fun but do keep one final goal in mind. Once I’m done playing the game, I need to have learned something about the way you go about your business. Although this is quite intuitive, it’s still surprising to see how many companies release games where you have to get a frog across the street.

2. Advergames as a gateway to discounts. Or what Ian Bogost calls ‘coupongaming’. The one thing to remember is that the game doesn’t have to feel like a chore. And of course, if it’s also educative, all the better.

3. Advergame your way into charity (yes, I’m using advergame as a verb there). See Red vs Blue or FreeRice. So you’ve decided to support a cause. Well why not engage some consumers into it? The best part? You can still jump on this particular wagon without being called a ‘me-too’. Not for long probably so you might want to hurry up.

4. As swag. ‘Hey, thanks for dropping by. Here’s a CD or a login for our website where you can play this new game we have.’ You’ll have to admit, that’s cooler than getting a pen or an USB stick.

5. As a way to let consumers rehaul your other marketing efforts
This takes a bit of extra explaining so here we go. Take for example Volkswagen’s Night Driving. What those guys did is take footage from the TV ad and let people mix it in any fashion they want to. Then they made a contest out of it with a jury and a prize for the most popular clip. Now - you may argue that this isn’t exactly a ‘game’ and in a classic, technical sense, it isn’t. You don’t have a fixed window with a start button, levels and a highscores list. However, what you have here is a ludic, engaging, creative experience that follows a certain rules frame. Doesn’t that sound like a game?

Wat hij hier aan het vertellen is dat je mensen moet laten spelen. Geef ze de kans om te laten zien hoe hun het gedaan zouden hebben. Dat is waardevolle feedback. En vergeet ze niet op het einde om ze ervoor te belonen. Een mooie prijs is onlosmakelijk van een goede advergame.