Mobile Advergaming: "Advertising To Go"
Copyright 2006 Scott Heath
When was the last time you saw somebody who wasn’t carrying
a cell phone? I know there are folks out there who don’t
have one. I just don’t know them. Our seniors carry them
for added safety measures. Moms and dads carry them to stay
in touch with the kids, coordinate errands, and keep up
with office activities. Workaholics carry them to, well,
WORK. And teenagers carry them because their parents
included them in the "family plan", not to mention the
"coolness factor" associated with having one’s own cell
phone.
"Coolness factor" notwithstanding, you can do just about
anything with your cell phone these days. You can check
stocks, look at websites, receive weather forecasts, get
daily jokes or your horoscope sent to you, send instant
text messages to friends and family, and download games to
play at your leisure. All on your cell phone.
Advertisers and marketing experts recognize the unlimited
opportunities presented by the mobile audience. The Mobile
Market Association (MMA) was formed specifically "to
stimulate the growth of mobile marketing and its associated
technology" and includes among its members VISA, CBS, AT&T,
and the Associated Press. The mobile market covers a HUGE
potential customer base--people of all ages, sex, ethnic
and cultural backgrounds, and socio-economic status have
cell phone service. Advergaming, the newest concept in
marketing, allows companies to promote their products and
services in a fun and entertaining way through games
potential customers play online, at home, and now, on their
cell phones--without mobile customers paying for the
receipt of the download.
Advergaming promotes products and services throughout a
game’s progress. Typically, downloading a game to a cell
phone runs $2 to $8. But if a company agrees to pay for
most or all of the game endorsement messages and download
cost, the audience potential for promotion of that
company’s product/service becomes gigantic. That means the
customer base created for those same products or services
can grow exponentially. That’s BIG money for a relatively
small investment. The MMA predicted growth of the mobile
industry to reach $5 BILLION by the end of 2005, with teens
and young adults (a prime target audience for most
companies) making up the majority of that growth. NBC’s
Deal or No Deal allowed watchers up to ten chances to
choose (via a 99-cent text message) a case number for the
chance to win $10,000. I voted every week. Once by cell
phone, and the other nine times over the internet. The
exposure for Deal or No Deal was unbelievable, and garnered
them colossal ratings over the show’s first-season run. No,
I didn’t win the 10K, but you can bet I’ll keep trying. And
that’s EXACTLY what marketers and advertisers want.
About the Author:
www.flashgamemasters.com has a highly experienced
and talented development team. Whose members have assisted
with the creation of some of the top online gaming portal
sites.
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