Swipe Right on Gamified Advertising — Memorable Ads and Brand Awareness
How playable ads create lasting memories and increase positive brand awareness for advertisers.
The goal of advertising is to introduce a brand and its message to interested users. Making sure users remember the ad and the brand’s message is how advertisers achieve that goal. The logic is simple: The best ad in the world means nothing if no one remembers the brand behind the message.
Measuring this concept of brand awareness is how advertisers effectively use advertising, and the importance of accurate metrics is magnified in the cluttered digital ad space where any given creative will be competing against billions of others.
An ad in the digital ad space has to be able to stay in the minds of users and catch their attention, but standing out is never enough. A highly creative and memorable ad that users cannot identify with a brand has no value.
Advertisers in the digital ad space have the difficult job of not only making sure a creative stands out, but that it creates a solid association with the brand, verifiably increasing brand recall.
Brand Recall and Playable Ads
Creating positive brand associations ensures a lasting impression on users by improving brand recall. The idea is that with a strong positive memory of the creative, users will more easily remember the brand.
One increasingly popular way to engage with users on mobile is through playable ads, or “minigames” featuring recognizable elements of the brand presented in fun, accessible gameplay. The tangible interaction with the brand that is only possible on tactile platforms like mobile has shown to increase unaided brand recall by 28% (The Power of Touch in Media, 2014).
With a gamified format like playable ads, the positive brand association is created at every point of the ad. The format invites users to interact with the brand in a fun and engaging environment. This gamified association then has the ideas of playful fun at its core and is what gives branded minigames such a leg up on the competition.
Not only does the format start off on the right foot by giving users the choice to have fun and interact with brands, the gameplay itself is also a reflection of the brand and its message. There are a lot of steps to ensure a positive lasting impression.
Remember, the goal is always to avoid having a memorable ad that users do not connect with a brand.
In an in-game survey conducted at Gameloft, 66% of respondents agreed that interactive advertising makes them more interested in the advertised product or service. Users who enjoyed playing the branded minigame are then more likely to remember the brand at a future date, because the whole process is opt-in and organic.
The way that a brand’s message stays in the mind of users with a positive memory shows the inherent boost to brand recall that comes with the format. Users want to create these positive associations with brands when the message is gamified.
Provable Brand Lift
At Gameloft Advertising Solutions, the idea of playable ads positively affecting brand recall was put to the test by looking at the overall brand lift of a branded minigame.
For the study, a well-known American candy brand created a large campaign with Gameloft Advertising Solutions with the goals of increasing social engagement, awareness, and growing their contact database.
Gameloft worked with Nielson to conduct a brand lift study by reviewing how both exposed and unexposed users answered the same question about the brand.
The overall lift of the campaign across all creatives was an impressive 44.5%, but most interesting is how the minigame format solidly outperformed all the other creatives, notably doubling the lift of video ads.
Playable ads offer advertisers a way to combine their message with a gamified experience that takes their brand and its message into account during every step of the ad journey. The format offers a way to both stand out and stay in the minds of users by giving users something fun to do in the form of an advertisement.
When done right, gamified advertising allows advertisers to stand out in the digital ad space and ensures a memorable connection to their brand.
Guest post by Casey Campbell, Senior Director of Advertising at Gameloft North America. Originally posted on his LinkedIn.
