Flame Ads & Precision broaden their horizons with an innovative programmatic format
In 2019, we started offering Playable Ads in this format. Before that, these were only commercialized via direct sales.
Programmatic buying, which currently makes up for 65% of the world’s advertising investment, was originally used mainly for display formats, but in time, the traffic of other more complex formats was automatized.
“At Flame Ads, we accompanied this evolution of the market by progressively broadening our offered services ‒says Federico Torregiani, Programmatic Sales Director‒. Thus, last year, at the request of our clients, we started offering Playable Ads in this format”.
As the name implies, Playable Ads are mini-games that substitute video ads and invite users to interact. As they are immersive and non-intrusive ‒and by being so, we know that users of mobile games enjoy this type of content‒, they show high rates of interaction and a higher attention time when compared to other formats.
As this is one of our most popular advertising products, we decided to respond to that demand by adding the option to acquire them programmatically. For that, the Flame Ads team is in charge of the creative part, the design and the development of the pieces. We design a specific game for each case based on the campaign and the target audience. Once that content is done, the client completes the purchase through a PMP.
Throughout 2019, we worked this way with Precision and APEX, our regional partners, in several campaigns. Charlie Álvarez, Digital Lead PMX LATAM, explains why these types of ads are an added value for the programmatic ecosystem: “Playable Ads allow advertisers to become part of the game without interrupting it. The business outcomes are always superior when we prioritize and understand the way in which users interact with digital platforms”.
With the help of Publicis Media, two of the world’s largest advertisers, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, decided to give this innovative experience a try.
A soft-drink giant refreshes its in-game advertising strategy
Fanta has already turned to in-game advertising several times in the past in order to reach their target audience: teenagers. Last year, the brand also made use of Playable Ads in two different markets.
For the Chilean market, we designed a Match-3 the brand’s features, which had an average playing time of 32 seconds.
In Argentina, as part of the Find your own flavor campaign, we created a Memory Match that also featured Fanta’s colors and images.
Also in Argentina, we amplified the launching of a new product that is part of the Coca Cola family: “& Nada”, in both Orange and Lemon flavor.
Jonatan Tellez, Head of Precision Argentina,
explains that the pieces summarized the key elements of the campaign: humor, fruits as main protagonists, and bottles, which had to be featured in close-up.
Regarding the gameplay, we chose a classic arcade game. “Considering the target audience were Young Adults (19–24 years old), we created a Bubble Shooter to appeal to their nostalgia”, he explains.
Regarding the purchase mode, Tellez added: “Running ads using programmatic buying allows us to control the segmentations and optimize as we develop the campaign”.
Fast food wins the time of the users
The most famous food chain in the world worked with us to implement Playable Ads in three different markets: Panama, Mexico and Colombia.
In Panama, McDonald’s needed to create brand awareness for a new concept: “McNuggeting”, or eating McNuggets with their new dips. Hernán Martínez, Lead Precision Panama, y Robert Spratt, Digital Brand Leader, said: “We focused on Millennials by appealing to their ability to make things viral as we included the in the conversation for the campaign. We used innovative and interactive formats in order for the product to gain interest and generate both conversation and purchases”.
For that, we designed two types of games: a Catch & Collect and a Vertical Shooter. Both highlighted the action of McNuggeting in a fun way. “That helped us create an innovative and groundbreaking campaign, which allowed us to stand out from the rest of the ads to which our target audience was exposed”, added Martínez.
In Mexico, on the other hand, we decided to use a game as a tool to grant our users with a reward, which is another way to use Playable Ads.
By completing a puzzle, users could access a discount coupon.
Lastly, in Colombia, we used another Catch & Collect to promote the children’s menu as well as to reinforce the idea of a balanced diet.
The format is aligned with the message, which combines entertainment with education on healthy nutrition, and has a positive influence on brand recall.
This ad achieved an engagement rate of 14%, and an average interaction time of 18 seconds.
These pieces are just a small sample of how in-game advertising is becoming a fundamental channel for the brands, as it allows them to create rich and attractive experiences for their users that go beyond the traditional formats, regardless of the purchase mode.
Em Flame Ads criamos experiências de publicidade em jogos móveis que quebram esquemas e divertem o público. Se quiser levar sua marca para novos horizontes, escreva para info@flameads.co ou inscreva-se no nosso newsletter para receber as últimas novidades.
