Gamers are typically categorized as either “mobile players” or “console players.” But that no longer reflects reality, said Claire Nance, Head of Gaming Business Success Strategy at Activision Blizzard Media.
Nance wants brands to be aware that bifurcating players in opposing buckets has significant implications for how they should approach the gaming audience.
“Today’s gaming audiences are actually playing across multiple gaming platforms,” Nance said in an interview with Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein. “There is this idea that if you’re a mobile player, you are only playing across mobile. If you’re a console player, you’re only playing across consoles. But we’re actually seeing this real shift when it comes to how gaming audiences interact with platforms.”
Cross-platform behavior demands holistic strategies
This evolution in gaming behavior requires a fundamental change in how brands view gaming as a marketing channel. Rather than focusing on isolated platform strategies, Nance advises a more comprehensive approach.
“[Brands] need to be looking at gaming much more holistically and not thinking just in terms of platform, but thinking much more carefully about who is the audience that they’re trying to reach, where is that audience interacting,” Nance said. “And then which of these platforms is going to make sense for the audience they’re trying to reach, the campaign objectives that they have, and take a more holistic approach to this cross-platform strategy.”
This shift challenges brands to move beyond viewing gaming as a siloed channel or merely a part of an experimental tech play.
“Often, gaming can be thought of in terms of this silo, something that just kind of happens on the side, something that is maybe ticking that innovation box,” she noted. “But where we see gaming actually being much more successful is when you think about it as part of the broader media mix.”
Gaming’s entertainment value
Understanding gaming’s relationship with other entertainment channels is crucial for effective integration into media strategies. Nance highlights how second-screening behavior has evolved beyond the traditional TV-and-social-media pairing.
“How we thought of second screening previously was very much: linear TV on the big screen, social media on the phone,” she said. “Now we’re seeing a shift where it’s actually CTV on the big screen and it’s gaming on the smaller screen, whether that’s a handheld device or a mobile device.”
This evolution means brands need to consider gaming alongside connected TV and other entertainment forms when developing comprehensive media strategies.
“Understanding as well how gaming fits in alongside something like CTV and other forms of entertainment, so that when brands are doing a media strategy and a marketing strategy, they’re incorporating gaming holistically, not just something on the side,” Nance said.
Three approaches to gaming activation
For brands navigating the complex gaming landscape, Nance offers a framework categorizing gaming activations into three distinct approaches:
“The first one is experiences that are actually in the gameplay itself,” she said. “A really classic example of that is if you’re playing a car racing game and you see a billboard with the advertisement on the side of the road, that’s what we call an in-the-game experience.”
The second category includes brand experiences that occur between gameplay moments. “It might be between a level, it might be as something is loading,” Nance added. “A really good example of this is with mobile gaming and a game like Candy Crush: you play a game, finish a level, you watch a video, you get a reward, which would be the Color Bomb, and then you continue to play.”
The third approach focuses on activations outside the game entirely.
“These are things like influencers, streaming, esports, gaming content that isn’t actually within the gameplay experience,” she noted. “These are ways to activate outside of the game itself that can really extend the life of a campaign.”
Brands should consider which approaches best align with their target audience and campaign objectives, potentially employing complementary strategies across these categories.
Meeting gamers where they are
Looking ahead, the Activision Blizzard Media executive is most excited about the industry’s growing recognition of evolving gaming behaviors and how brands are adapting to these changes.
“What I’m most excited about is we’re starting to see a shift in terms of the audience behavior. And then I think brands are starting to really understand that shift,” Nance said. “What I mean by that is gamers are playing everywhere. They’re playing across multiple different platforms, different devices, and we’re starting to meet gaming audiences where they are.”
This liberation from device-specific or time-constrained gaming creates new opportunities for brand engagement. As gaming becomes increasingly accessible, the landscape for brand experiences continues to expand.
“They’re no longer tethered to a specific type of device or time of day,” the Activision Blizzard Media leader said. “As we’re seeing this evolution, this greater accessibility, I think that’s really going to open up the landscape for brands and the types of experiences they can have.”
You’re watching “Game Changers: The New Age of Gaming,” a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by Microsoft Advertising. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
