The effectiveness of product placement in video games
As the word goes, product placement is a form of advertising that includes products or brands in movies and TV shows most of the time. But, what if the product is placed in something that we interact with, perhaps like a video game? Does it become annoying and how effective is it from the side of an advertiser?
The first reports of product placement date back to 1896 when the movies by Louis and Auguste Lumiere featured the Sunlight soap by the Lever Brothers. Fast-forward to the 1980s when the first product placement appeared in video games. However, it wasn’t quite “in” video games, but it is the first time product placement was used in the world of video games. Pinball machines were used as billboards to display TV shows, movies and upcoming concerts. The same pinball machines are being collected today because of their vintage and artistic features, with the most popular ones being, for instance, Star Trek, Metallica, AC/DC, The Addams Family etc.
The first time product placement was used in a video game was in an arcade advergame called Tapper, which was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch and included the official logo of Budweiser. The players would play in the role of a bartender who would refill glasses and throw them to customers. The goal behind the game was to make players thirsty and need a Budweiser beer.
To present to you how effective product placement is in movies and TV shows, we are going to take a look at the biggest product placements deals in the history. First up is BMW which featured their model Z3 in the James Bond movie Golden Eye. They spent 3 million dollars, but made back 240 million dollars after the appearance in the movie. In the James Bond movie named Skyfall, Heineken paid around 45 million euros to replace the protagonist’s usual drink from a vodka martini to a Heineken beer. Some reports say Heineken sales after being featured in the movie rose up to 1.5 million euros. In 2007, Transformers featured a Chevrolet Camaro, a model that didn’t exist and it was only made for the movie production. After the Transformers sequel in 2009, the Chevrolet Camaro was released and by the end of the year, over 60.000 units of the model have been sold.
Product placements in video games can be used in 2 different ways: in an advergame and in-game advertising. Advergame is a video game designed around a specific brand or product for commercial purposes, while in-game advertising is mostly seen as in vending machines, billboards and posters. We are going to take a look at some effective examples of product placements in video games.
#1 Gatorade
Famous sports drinks used to pay to feature in sports games, such as NHL Live 09 and 10, NBA Live 07–09, and NBA Street Homecourt. The product placement was visible through posters, score updates, water bottles, etc. The research company hired to track results was using barcodes and scanning through the U.S. Homescan panel, which enabled them to track the buying behavior of 100.000 households. It turns out that consumers were spending 24% more on Gatorade and the return on investment was 3.11$ per dollar spent.
#2 Obama’s 2008 billboard campaigns
As a way to reach new audiences, Obama’s controversial billboard campaigns appeared in games such as Burnout Paradise and NBA Live 08. Burnout Paradise is a car-racing game, while NBA Live 08 is a basketball game. As we all know, the next year, Barack Obama was elected president. However, the impact of product placement in this scenario is impossible to determine because of obvious reasons, but we can presume the campaigns were successful.
#3 Fortnite
Fortnite is one of the most popular video games of all time. Although it is free-to-play, the developers earn money through in-game purchases and product placement. In February 2019, a musician named Marshmello hosted a virtual concert in the game which had over 11 million attendees and 38 million viewers. After the event, Marshmello’s YouTube channel gained about 700.000 subscribers.
The fast-food chain Wendy’s also joined to collaboration with Fortnite. When the game released the food fight mode, players had to destroy freezers which had the red hair avatar on it (very similar to the Wendy’s logo). The brand streamed the whole day via a newly created Twitch account which gained over 7.000 followers in only 1 day and the event was popular on social media platforms.
Conclusion
Product placement in video games can be a very effective way to advertise if it’s well integrated with the gameplay itself. Also, advergames can be a great tool, but if they are fun to play and not overwhelmed with the obvious brand placement in them. Brands should spend money to discover creative ways of implementing their brand into a game which suits them the best, like the collaboration of a car game named Rocket League and Hot Wheels. Nonetheless, the brands should also consider a way which is going to help them track their results in product placement more straightforwardly.
