Gaming continues to be underrepresented in media investment despite offering measurable engagement opportunities and value exchange capabilities that other channels cannot match, largely due to marketer unfamiliarity with the environment.
“I think gaming could be classified as a sleeper channel or a channel that’s underrepresented in terms of where media investment goes, I think largely because of the fear of the unknown,” Alex Stone, SVP, Managing Director, Enterprise Partnerships at Horizon Media, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan. “There are a lot of marketers — and maybe agencies — that don’t fully understand that things are measurable in the gaming environment.”
This knowledge gap prevents advertisers from capitalizing on gaming’s unique ability to capture focused attention through value-driven advertising integrations that enhance rather than interrupt the user experience.
Attention quality equals gaming value
Gaming environments demand focused attention in ways that traditional media channels cannot replicate, creating opportunities for advertisers to engage users during peak attention moments. Mobile gaming particularly benefits from this dynamic due to device proximity and user engagement requirements.
“Within gaming, you kind of have to pay attention. So if you are playing on your hand, on your cell phone and it’s right in front of your face, you are engaged, you’re leaned in, you are basically trying to advance, you’ve got challenges ahead of you,” Stone said.
Successful gaming advertising leverages this attention through value exchange mechanisms like extra lives, gameplay tips, or advancement opportunities that earn brand credit with users rather than creating interruption-based negative associations.
Console integrations
Console gaming offers particularly compelling integration opportunities where brands can embed authentically within gameplay experiences. These integrations create stronger brand associations than traditional advertising placements by connecting brands with positive gaming experiences.
“You have advertisers that are entering the arena in games by having integrations, whether it’s sneaker integrations or sports drink integrations and that kind of thing,” Stone said. “Those people that are playing and engaging are recognizing that and are associating those brands with whatever the newest live sporting game is.”
The most powerful examples involve direct purchase opportunities, such as selecting specific sneaker brands for basketball players and enabling immediate attribution through purchase tracking.
Cross-screen synergies
The dual-screen viewing behavior combining CTV and mobile gaming creates opportunities for cross-referenced advertising that makes in-game ads more contextually relevant to concurrent viewing content.
This convergence represents untapped potential for coordinated campaign strategies, Stone said, noting the value of automatic content recognition (ACR) data, which is gathered passively when a user (or game player) is watching a video through a set-top box or gaming console.
“There are probably some ACR capabilities there that will make those in-game ads even more relevant to those that might have a program that they’re watching on the large screen while playing something on their cell phone,” Stone said.
Stone emphasizes that mobile gaming time represents personal engagement even during multi-screen scenarios, making it valuable for advertisers seeking to reach users during dedicated attention moments.
Reversing gaming’s underrepresentation
While gaming demonstrates clear attention and brand lift capabilities, the industry requires more robust measurement linking attention metrics to conversion outcomes. This measurement gap contributes to gaming’s underrepresentation in media plans despite its engagement advantages.
“The attention correlation to conversion is important for us and something that we want to see more of,” Stone said. “We want to see more case studies (and) white papers that show how gaming can do this.”
Mid-funnel impact manifests through attention metrics and brand preference improvements, particularly when advertisers provide genuine value through their gaming presence rather than relying on interruption-based approaches.
Retargeting capabilities expand reach
Gaming environments generate behavioral data that enables retargeting opportunities across other channels, extending the value of gaming investments beyond direct gaming exposure. This capability allows marketers to identify users with specific gaming behaviors and characteristics for broader campaign targeting.
“Being able to reengage with somebody that is playing a particular game and has particular behaviors or characteristics about them that you could find elsewhere, again, that retargeting is valuable to us,” Stone said.
What’s needed: more education
Gaming fits across upper, middle, and lower funnel objectives within media planning frameworks, but requires more education about measurement capabilities and comparative performance metrics like CPMs to achieve broader adoption.
“Measurement has been something that we need to strive for and do more to ensure this attention metric really corresponds nicely to this conversion or return on ad spend,” Stone said. “Some of that really needs to come through a little bit more amongst those selling gaming. Ultimately, it is a part of the overall mix and something that we do think about.”
You’re watching “Get in the Game: Why Interactive Entertainment Is the Next Big Play for Performance and Engagement”, a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by Zynga Ads. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
