SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Gaming environments provide real-time, in-the-moment opportunities that could represent retail media’s ideal application, enabling brands to connect shopper behavior with gamer mindset during specific game states and moments of need.
“Gaming might be one of the ultimate environments for retail media to pay off on its promise. It’s very much in the moment,” Adam Shlachter, client president at WPP Media, said in an interview at the Beet Retreat San Juan. “The signals that we could uncover understanding those gaming environments to tie them in with shopper behavior and pay off on the mindset of a gamer in a particular moment of need or a particular state of a game can really help us find that right time, right place, right opportunity.”
These moments include game breaks, leveling up, or even watching streams rather than active play.
Brand integration: authentic = essential
Successful gaming advertising requires brands to demonstrate genuine understanding of gamer psychology, behavior, and specific environments rather than treating all gaming contexts identically.
“Brands need to show up authentically in gaming environments because they have to play a role in the moment that they want to be perceived as a true partner to the gamers,” Shlachter said. “You have to understand everything from psyche and behavior of the gamer. Not all gamers are alike.”
Brands must comprehend the specific game environment, platform, and insertion opportunities to maintain authenticity, integrity, and meaningful purpose rather than generic placements.
Retail signals enable precise timing
Connecting gaming environments with retailer first-party data creates unprecedented precision for understanding real-time moments and optimal brand insertion opportunities during live gameplay or viewing.
“The opportunity to more precisely understand what’s happening in a moment and how a brand can insert themselves, I think is no greater than in a game environment, which is very much real time,” Shlachter said.
This timing precision works particularly well for brands driving immediate purchase decisions or building associations with specific audience need states during or around gaming sessions.
Trackable offers prove incrementality
Gaming environments excel at delivering measurably trackable messages through community-specific offers, creator collaborations, redemption codes, and limited-time promotions that connect directly to sales rather than just engagement metrics.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity in the gaming environment to deliver inherently trackable messages, whether it’s through specific distinct offers created specifically for community or creator or a set of players, things that have redemption codes attached to them,” Shlachter said.
These approaches may not seem cutting-edge but provide proven, infinitely trackable results that work effectively within gaming contexts.
Beyond the console
Effective gaming integration requires deep understanding of each platform’s unique characteristics as the industry has evolved beyond static console and PC environments toward dynamic real-time experiences across mobile, cloud, and hybrid platforms.
“We’ve moved well beyond the console and PC only gaming days where everything had to be hard coded and had quite static and very long lead times,” Shlachter said. “We’re living in a very real time dynamic world.”
Success demands comprehension of environmental differences and nuances to create purpose-built messages and creative that resonate authentically with specific gaming communities.
“If you do that well, they’ll reward you,” Shlachter said.
You’re watching “Where Play Meets Purchase: Gaming as the Next Frontier of Retail Media, a Beet.TV Leadership Series at CES 2026, presented by Best Buy Ads” For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
