Advertisers Must Stop Treating Gaming Like a Teenage Boy’s Basement: IAB’s Michael Arzt
Gaming has become a sprawling entertainment universe with millions of U.S. players. Yet some advertisers still approach it like a mysterious arcade cabinet that might eat their quarters.
Michael Arzt, director of the Experience Center at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, wants marketers to stop staring nervously at the controls and start playing.
In an interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan, Arzt said IAB PlayFronts on Sept. 17 will give brands a chance to experience gaming platforms, publishers and creators in person. They can also meet the people who turn marketing ambitions into actual campaigns.
Grandma may be gaming while you read this
The first misconception advertisers need to abandon is that gamers belong to one narrow demographic.
“Gaming is not one particular audience,” Arzt said. “It’s not necessarily who you think it is. Gaming is everyone.”
More than 212 million Americans play games, according to Arzt. About 80% of people age 45 or younger identify as gamers. That makes gaming rather difficult to dismiss as a hobby for adolescent boys surviving on energy drinks and the occasional cheese puff.
“The audience is there and it’s there at scale,” Arzt said.
Its reach is comparable to connected television, he added, but advertising investment has not kept pace. Some marketers remain uncertain about measurement and others simply do not understand how to enter gaming without stomping through the scenery like an intoxicated ogre.
Do not barge in waving a banner ad
Gamers are receptive to advertising when brands contribute something worthwhile, Arzt said. Rewards, benefits and other enhancements can strengthen the experience. Interruptions that arrive with all the subtlety of a leaf blower during a wedding ceremony are less welcome.
“It has to be something that adds value to the experience, but also is not interruptive,” Arzt said. “It’s got to be something that is authentic to the experience.”
That requires marketers to understand what players are doing and why. Gaming includes consoles, PCs, mobile devices, esports, conventions and collectibles. Players also create content, communicate with friends and gather around shared passions.
“Gaming is not just one thing,” Arzt said. “Gaming is an ecosystem.”
Successful brands begin by identifying the audience, studying its behavior and determining how they can improve the experience. Only then should they ask where to place the ad. In other words, perhaps do not arrive in the enchanted kingdom and immediately erect a billboard for laxatives.
AI can handle the bolts but not the feelings
Artificial intelligence is helping advertisers evaluate opportunities, develop plans and select placements more quickly. It can perform many of the nuts-and-bolts tasks that once consumed human time and possibly several pots of coffee.
Still, Arzt warned against asking AI to understand the passions of gaming fans all by itself.
“What it can’t do is replicate sort of that human experience,” he said.
Gaming communities are shaped by emotion and fandom. Marketers therefore still need people who understand why players care deeply about a character, competition or virtual object that may look to outsiders like a purple hat with lightning bolts.
“You have to keep that human element in the mix,” Arzt said.
IAB takes a sledgehammer to the silos
This year, IAB is placing Creator Fronts, Podcast Upfront and PlayFronts into one consolidated series from Sept. 15 through Sept. 17.
The schedule reflects how consumers actually behave. A person might watch a stream, chat with friends on Discord, play a game and then watch videos about playing the game. Somewhere in there, the person may even eat lunch.
The three events will help marketers understand how creators, podcasts and gaming intersect rather than treating them as separate territories guarded by rival media barons.
“I hate that word silo because you don’t wanna operate in silos,” Arzt said. “You wanna operate the way people operate.”
By presenting the events sequentially, IAB aims to give brands and agencies something a report or webinar cannot: a living view of the people, platforms and creative communities connecting these channels.
It also gives marketers the opportunity to network face to face, which remains one human experience AI has not yet replaced. At least not until the chatbot learns to wear a conference badge, hover near the shrimp platter and promise to follow up next week.
Gaming has become a sprawling entertainment universe with millions of U.S. players. Yet some advertisers still approach it like a mysterious arcade cabinet that might eat their quarters.
Michael Arzt, director of the Experience Center at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, wants marketers to stop staring nervously at the controls and start playing.
In an interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan, Arzt said IAB PlayFronts on Sept. 17 will give brands a chance to experience gaming platforms, publishers and creators in person. They can also meet the people who turn marketing ambitions into actual campaigns.
Grandma may be gaming while you read this
The first misconception advertisers need to abandon is that gamers belong to one narrow demographic.
“Gaming is not one particular audience,” Arzt said. “It’s not necessarily who you think it is. Gaming is everyone.”
More than 212 million Americans play games, according to Arzt. About 80% of people age 45 or younger identify as gamers. That makes gaming rather difficult to dismiss as a hobby for adolescent boys surviving on energy drinks and the occasional cheese puff.
“The audience is there and it’s there at scale,” Arzt said.
Its reach is comparable to connected television, he added, but advertising investment has not kept pace. Some marketers remain uncertain about measurement and others simply do not understand how to enter gaming without stomping through the scenery like an intoxicated ogre.
Do not barge in waving a banner ad
Gamers are receptive to advertising when brands contribute something worthwhile, Arzt said. Rewards, benefits and other enhancements can strengthen the experience. Interruptions that arrive with all the subtlety of a leaf blower during a wedding ceremony are less welcome.
“It has to be something that adds value to the experience, but also is not interruptive,” Arzt said. “It’s got to be something that is authentic to the experience.”
That requires marketers to understand what players are doing and why. Gaming includes consoles, PCs, mobile devices, esports, conventions and collectibles. Players also create content, communicate with friends and gather around shared passions.
“Gaming is not just one thing,” Arzt said. “Gaming is an ecosystem.”
Successful brands begin by identifying the audience, studying its behavior and determining how they can improve the experience. Only then should they ask where to place the ad. In other words, perhaps do not arrive in the enchanted kingdom and immediately erect a billboard for laxatives.
AI can handle the bolts but not the feelings
Artificial intelligence is helping advertisers evaluate opportunities, develop plans and select placements more quickly. It can perform many of the nuts-and-bolts tasks that once consumed human time and possibly several pots of coffee.
Still, Arzt warned against asking AI to understand the passions of gaming fans all by itself.
“What it can’t do is replicate sort of that human experience,” he said.
Gaming communities are shaped by emotion and fandom. Marketers therefore still need people who understand why players care deeply about a character, competition or virtual object that may look to outsiders like a purple hat with lightning bolts.
“You have to keep that human element in the mix,” Arzt said.
IAB takes a sledgehammer to the silos
This year, IAB is placing Creator Fronts, Podcast Upfront and PlayFronts into one consolidated series from Sept. 15 through Sept. 17.
The schedule reflects how consumers actually behave. A person might watch a stream, chat with friends on Discord, play a game and then watch videos about playing the game. Somewhere in there, the person may even eat lunch.
The three events will help marketers understand how creators, podcasts and gaming intersect rather than treating them as separate territories guarded by rival media barons.
“I hate that word silo because you don’t wanna operate in silos,” Arzt said. “You wanna operate the way people operate.”
By presenting the events sequentially, IAB aims to give brands and agencies something a report or webinar cannot: a living view of the people, platforms and creative communities connecting these channels.
It also gives marketers the opportunity to network face to face, which remains one human experience AI has not yet replaced. At least not until the chatbot learns to wear a conference badge, hover near the shrimp platter and promise to follow up next week.
