Advergames

What’s Advergames? It’s advertising combined with video games. Instead of advertising companies have started to created games on their website to increase consumers traffic on the companies website. Since most people don’t watch commercials because TiVo allows us to skip them, companies need to get their name out, but how? This is why Advergames have become so popular. This isn’t a new concept, in fact, Advergames have been around since the early 1980s but the name was not coined until 2001. This form of advertising helps brands drive home their name to their audience. When people play an Advergame, the company gets their name out there because the player constantly stares at their name. I remember playing theses Advergames on the Disney channel site when I was younger, little did I know that I would be learning about it later.

I remember that I would constantly go on the Disney channel website and play “Sandwich Stackers”, from Lilo and Stitch along with “Eddies Shot Clock Showdown”, from That’s so Raven. I would spend HOURS on the computer trying to reach the highest level. Of course when you go to the Disney website, you first have to go to their home page. That’s where they give you the lowdown of what’s happening on the Disney channel. After that you can go play your games. So I’d say that Advergames works because it gets you looking at their product not just the game. I know that I would easily get sidetracked and look around on the website, totally forgetting that I went there to play “Sandwich Stackers” or “Eddies Shot Clock Showdown”.  Along with that it would reinforces me to want to watch the Disney channel.

 That’s only one type of Advergaming; did you know there are three types of it? Howstuffworks.com went into detail about the different types. First one is like how I would go to the Disney website, it would make me want to watch their shows more since they’re advertising their brand while I was playing their games. The second one is a video game developed for a primary purpose. The example they used was a game called “America’s Army” that the United States Army sponsored to increase recruitment. Finally, the third one, and the one you are probably most familiar with is called product placement; subtly placing products in the audiences view. An example of product placement in Advergaming is if you “see a Ford Mustang cruising the game’s virtual streets.” As you can see Advergaming is not just for children on the Disney channel or adults easily persuaded into joining the army, it can be used to influence all age groups.

I think a lot of companies can and will use Advergames; an already huge company like Chipotle has their own Advergame. People want to be entertained so this is the best way to advertise while entertaining. Advergames will continue to exist and grow even larger than they are now. I believe soon every company will make an Advergame. This is the next logical step in marketing due to the decline of consumers watching commercials. The advertising industry must start changing in order to get their message across, and this was a big step towards getting the brand out there.