nFusion Creates Interactive Game to Promote “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown” DVD Release
…New advertisements, called advergames, highlight a shift in marketing strategy. In addition to creating simple, addictive games that highlight a brand or new product, advertisers are increasingly looking to product placements within computer and video games as a way to tap into the lucrative demographic group of 18-to-34-year-olds. Game advertising has become a multimillion-dollar industry as younger generations turn away from traditional entertainment forms. Although product placement in games has been around since the late 1980s, it has only gained traction in recent years thanks to new technology that allows advertisements in online games and some console games to be updated frequently. “The young kids are not spending all of their time watching movies and TV shows,” said Michael Cai, the director of broadband and gaming for Dallas-based research firm Parks Associates. “They are playing games.”
In 2005, advertisers spent $80 million on game advertising, ranging from product placements to sponsoring tournaments. That amount is expected to reach $120 million this year and $600 million by 2010, according to Parks Associates.
Several Austin companies are embracing this trend…nFusion created a game earlier this year to promote the DVD release of “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown,” where visitors to the movie’s Web site can adopt and name a sloth, complete with adoption papers and a sloth sanctuary. Once inside the sanctuary, a player can engage his or her sloth in various online games. A sloth was one of the main characters in the movie.
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