The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,600 times in 2010. That’s about 9 full 747s.

In 2010, there was 1 new post, growing the total archive of this blog to 31 posts. There were 2 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 67kb.

The busiest day of the year was June 6th with 61 views. The most popular post that day was Coca-Cola ‘Expedition 206′.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were michaeljacksonhoaxforum.com, linkedin.com, bestwwwoffers.com, facebook.com, and twitter.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for in game advertising, chief growth officer, in-game advertising, expedition 206, and augmented reality experiential marketing.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Coca-Cola ‘Expedition 206′ October 2009

How Augmented Reality can be used in Retail & Experiential Marketing December 2009
6 comments

In-game Advertising – Next Big Thing in Digital Marketing September 2009

About me October 2009
2 comments

New profile additions in the C-suite – Chief Growth Officer (CGO) August 2009

2 years ago i.e. 2008…

In 2008, PhoCusWright, the travel industry research company predicted bright prospects for online travel bookings in North European countries. As per their Online Travel Overview Fourth Edition, PhoCusWright found that Europe will continue to see double-digit growth in online travel in the next 2-3 years.

• Spain would experience the fastest growth in online bookings from 17% in 2007 to 26% in 2010 due to the shifting of rail & hotel segments from traditional channels to the Internet.
• Italy would grow by 22% in the same period as nearly half of the country’s online leisure/unmanaged business travel sales are generated by low-cost carriers.
• France was projected to increase 16% to €7.3 billion in 2008 as online travel agencies (OTAs) were growing at an even faster pace, as both large chains and independent hotels make extensive use of this sales channel
• Scandinavia was predicted to “cross the chasm” by 2010, making it the second European market to generate half its bookings online (after the U.K.).

…similarly PhoCusWright gave bright prospects for online travel bookings in almost all other European countries. However, in the last 2 years the picture has completely changed …

The current scenario in 2010…

Everything was on a growth path as predicted by PhoCusWright, until…

…financial crisis hit the Eurozone. First it was Iceland’s ash cloud that brought the entire travel industry to a halt and then suddenly with Greece the worst financial crisis hit the European market and specially North European countries. In the last 15-20 days, stock markets across Europe have crashed, affecting markets across the world. The euro hit a 14-month low against the dollar. Earlier it was companies that were going bankrupt, now countries are turning belly up. Experts believe it is just the tip of the iceberg and some more economies would surrender soon as Eurozone countries have total government debt worth 6 trillion pounds. The EU’s debt crisis could spill over into banks in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the UK, according to Moody’s. Rating agencies have downgraded the debts of Spain and Portugal in addition to that of Greece. Spain’s 20% jobless rate is the highest in the developed world. Standard & Poor’s lowered Spain’s long-term sovereign credit rating to ‘AA’ from ‘AA+’. There could be a further downgrade.

Its effect on online travel market and especially for midsized, independent and boutique hotels…

These local hotels are severely being hit with not only the financial crisis and already glooming travel industry but also with the increasing presence of global giants especially from the US that are looking for expansion in Europe for sources of growth outside the market they already dominate. Recently, Otus & Co. reported that Four Seasons Hotels Inc., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Marriott International Inc. are stepping up their expansion efforts in Europe.

These big names with their financial might completely eclipse the presence of local players on internet – the one and only medium through which small players reach out to their prospective guests across the world. Whether its search engine positioning or OTA listings or even online advertisements and social media platforms, big hotels aggressively market themselves to become visible to majority of target audience looking for an accommodation in that region. Taking into consideration the way local European giants as well as the global ones that are expanding their reach in this region, it’s quite obvious that all leading portals, key words, banners, search results in engines and OTAs etc. will be enveloped and these brands would be all over on the digital space.

Additionally, around the world, international visitation fell an estimated 4.7%. Overnight visits to European destinations declined 6% in 2009, erasing two years of gains, while international travel around the world fell an estimated 4.7% against the headwinds of the global recession. The losses were more severe in Europe which shed approximately 6% in visitor volumes in Q1 2010. This marks a continuing trend of global market share losses for Western Europe, while Emerging Europe continues to gain market share. Similar is the outlook for inbound travelers from the US and other significant contributors from other European countries like Germany, France, UK, Russia etc.

(Source: European Tourism in 2010: Trends & Prospects (Q1/2010), European Travel Commission, April 2010)

Another contributing factor to this dismal performance is that travelers tended toward shorter holidays in both distance and duration. This has resulted in the plunging of room rates.

Small & Mid-Sized Hotels need to expand beyond the top global OTAs

Amidst this scenario, hotel industry across Europe is struggling hard to maintain their existence and fascinating numbers of 2008 by PhoCusWright is nothing but a mirage. In view of all these factors, it’s quite evident that all these local and independent players will be experiencing significant decline in their online bookings. Big question is how these small, mid, independent and boutique hotels can survive and maintain their existence in this highly competitive and recessionary environment.

To meet any crisis, the best option is to look for the best practices from the history. There are numerous cases of companies expanding their reach to the emerging economies which the world lobby terms generally as the third world i.e. Asia. Especially from the travel industry perspective, Asia holds a lot of importance and underlying opportunity for European Hospitality Sector.

Source: European Tourism in 2010: Trends & Prospects (Q1/2010), European Travel Commission, April 2010

Every year, majority of outbound travelers from Asian countries like India, China, Korea, Japan, etc. travel to European countries for business and leisure purposes. This region has experienced one of the fastest adoption rates for online travel bookings. Now the question is from where these travelers buy their packages – Mainly from their local, national or regional OTAs.

However, contacting a local travel agent is a thing of the past in Asia. These countries have seen a digital revolution in the recent times, not only the internet penetration in Asia has increased but digital arena as a whole such as mobile and social media sites have led to a dramatic increase in online travel bookings across Asia. Today online travel bookings contribute a majority share in the total bookings done from this region.

Small & mid-sized hotels need to move beyond the top global OTAs as well as their regional ones and directly reach out to the top OTAs across Asia and be available & listed on the platform from where maximum tourists book their packages. These local and specialized OTAs in Asian countries have partnership arrangements with their counterparts across Europe to provide travel and lodging packages from their region.

Some of the top regional OTAs that I would recommend small and mid-sized hotels to partner within Asia are: -

• India: Makemytrip, Yatra, Travel Guru, Cleartrip.com
• China: Chinatravel.com, Topchinatrip.com
• Australia: Wotif.com, Qantasholidays.com, Checkin.com, Directflights.com, Flightcentre.com, Roamfree.com
• Singapore: Asiatravel.com, Holidaycity.com, Zuji
• South East Asia: Agoda.com, Sprice.com. Ratetogo.com, Priceline.com

Hence, the success mantra for small and midsized hotels in Europe to tackle the increasing dominance of global brands and declining online bookings is to expand their reach to Asian countries and partner with the local and specialized OTAs in this region.

—-

About the author

Nishith Srivastava is the VP, Product Marketing of RateGain, one of the most awarded hospitality and travel technology companies in Asia offering innovative web-based solutions for hoteliers worldwide. RateGain offers an innovative channel/inventory management product, ChannelGain, to 2000+ hotels in Europe and US to facilitate their reach to 300+ global and regional OTAs for an increase in their online bookings. Established in 2004, RateGain is headquartered in Noida, India with a team of more than 200 people in its offices across US, Spain and UK. For more information, visit www.rategain.com or email nishith.srivastava@rategain.com.

According to Juniper’s Mobile Augmented Reality Report, “initially most AR application revenue will come from location-based search, although AR-enabled games will be first to create serious revenues, followed by mobile enterprise solutions from 2012 onwards. Juniper Research is predicting that the market for Augmented Reality (AR) services will reach $732 million by 2014. AR applications will likely focus on AR apps for location-based search, games, lifestyle and healthcare, education and reference; multimedia and entertainment; social networking, and enterprise, with revenues generated by initial fees like paid for downloads, incremental fees including subscriptions and advertising. At present most mobile devices do not have all the necessary features for AR, such as camera, GPS, digital compass, tilt sensors and broadband connectivity, but with the launch of more and more handsets that include such functions, AR is expected to become more common.

In the recent times, we have seen numerous examples of some of the best campaign innovations from renowned brands. Experts opine that it will change the entire definition of digital media advertising and marketing. Most of the support and opinion is for leveraging Mobile and Web as the obvious platform. But as Seth Solomons, Chief Strategy Officer, Digitas says,

“Digital media is not only Web and Mobile but all technology gadgets that can be used for interaction and communication”.

I recently visited a shopping mall in Gurgaon, near New Delhi and I was amazed to see the use of digital signages, billboards and LCD screens all over the place. No doubt, these digital interactive kiosks and screens are innovatively leveraging the buzzwords of today’s marketing game mantra – “Be interactive and engage your customers”. And suddenly a popular quotation from my company’s President & Co-Founder Kanika Mathur flashed in my mind

“80% of purchase decisions are due to the influence at the point of sale”

In tune with what Seth said, I strongly feel that scope and horizon of augmented reality can be leveraged beyond the obvious platforms and can be easily extended to these retail outlets i.e. Point of Sale. An interesting and innovative campaign based on Augmented Reality can make a huge impact and easily influence the purchase decision of the consumer within no time.

I did some research and found that companies have already started experimenting with AR at their retail points. Some of the most interesting examples I could source are:

Cisco Augmented Reality @ retail fitting rooms

Hugo Boss

Animated Lego Digital Box

Hand from Above, a joint co-commission between FACT and Liverpool City Council for BBC Big Screen

Zugara’s online shopping

Companies like YDreams have created several interesting marketing and advertising examples based on AR.

So, what all can be used at the Retail POS

Basically any screen that can be connected with a computer and a webcam.

1. Existing multimedia screens like kiosks, billboards, LCD screens, digital signages, storefront displays etc
2. Digital marketing materials such as brochures, cards, leaflets etc

I’m hoping in the next few months, we will definitely see Augmented Reality enabled digital screens not only of big sizes but also handheld devices.

And, how advertising & marketing agencies can leverage AR at Retail POS

1. Experiential Marketing (Product Demos & Exhibitions, Shopping Assistance, Trial Rooms, Mall or Outlet Navigation)
2. Event & Promotion Marketing
3. Large interactive screens and kiosks etc

I would be eagerly waiting to see innovative campaigns from hardcore below the line (BTL) marketing and advertising agencies that would leverage Augmented Reality in their communication with the consumers at retail point of sale…

Their mission: Find out what makes people happy.

According to Coca-Cola:

In January 2010, a team of three travelers will begin an unprecedented journey. A mission. An expedition. A quest to visit in 365 days 206 countries where Coca-Cola is sold. These three travelers are more than mere explorers–they are Happiness Ambassadors, and they will seek and share the optimism and happiness of Coca-Cola from Aruba to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between. They will participate in some amazing events including the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the World Expo in Shanghai.

Throughout the year-long journey, these Happiness Ambassadors will be sharing their blog posts, tweets, videos, interviews and pictures so you can follow their adventures in every country along the way.

But first we need your help. We need you to help us select the lucky travelers who will undertake this exciting and record-breaking journey. Which Ambassador team will uncover happiness in every corner of the world? It’s up to you. Check out the team profiles, vote for your favorite and let the journey begin.

The campaign is called ‘Expedition 206′ and will run throughout 2010.

There is an online voting being done to choose which teams should be preferred to undertake the journey, from a shortlist of nine finalists. The winners will begin their journey on 1 January in Madrid and end it in Atlanta on 31 December, at the World of Coca-Cola museum.

Mash-up Social Media Strategy – USP

It will be documented via the official Expedition 206 website as well as on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr.

The public can engage with the campaign by acting as virtual tour guides, making suggestions as to where the ambassadors should go and what they should do when they are there.

“This mash-up of social media — online photo galleries, video clips, blogs, microblogs, social networking — combined with an amazing journey, enthusiastic travellers and a theme of happiness is a great way for us to connect with people around the world.” – Adam Brown, director of digital communications and social media at Coca-Cola.

Here is the list
1. Ascension Aircraft
What It Does: Aircraft sales and leasing
Founder: Jamail Larkins, 25
Web Site: www.ascensionaircraft.com
Based: Augusta, Ga.

2. Box.net
What It Does: Online collaboration tool
Founders: Aaron Levie, 24, and Dylan Smith, 24
Web Site: box.net
Based: Palo Alto, Calif.

3. Click To Client
What It Does: Online marketing agency
Founder: Shama Kabani, 24
Web Site: www.clicktoclient.com
Based: Dallas

4. Emergent
What It Does: Renewable energy consulting
Founders: Jesse Gossett, 23 (left); Jayson Uppal, 23 (center); and Chris Jacobs, 21 (right)
Web Site: www.emergentgroup.com
Based: Boston

5. I Bec Creative
What It Does: Web development and graphic design
Founder: Becky Stockbridge, 25
Web Site: www.ibeccreative.com
Based: Portland, Me.

6. Intern Queen
What It Does: Internship placement consultancy
Founder: Lauren Berger, 25
Web Site: www.internqueen.com
Based: Los Angeles

7. ModCloth
What It Does: Online marketplace for indie designer fashion and decor
Founders: Eric Koger, 25, and Susan Koger, 24
Web Site: www.modcloth.com
Based: Pittsburgh

8. NoteHall
What It Does: Online marketplace for class notes
Founders: Sean Conway, 25 (right); Justin Miller, 21(far right); B.J. Stephan, 24 (left); Fadi Chalfoon, 23 (second from left)
Web Site: www.notehall.com
Based: Tucson, Ariz.

9. Trunk Club
What It Does: Online clothes shopping service for men
Founder: Joanna Van Vleck, 26
Web Site: www.trunkclub.com
Based: Bend, Ore.

10. Tumblr
What It Does: Microblogging platform
Founder: David Karp, 23
Web Site: www.tumblr.com
Based: New York

See the full slide show of 25 U.S. Entrepreneurs Ages 25 and Under

YouGov then gives the company a score between -100 and 100, compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive.

Here’s the bad news for Yahoo (YHOO). Since the launch of “It’s Y!ou” campaign on September 28th, Yahoo’s buzz score dropped from a 35.4 to a score of 25.5 as of yesterday, Monday, October 12th.

Source: Business Insider, Silicon Alley Insider

Over the past few years social media has emerged as a powerful platform not only for connecting likeminded people online but also to understand specific preferences of different niche groups. There are a number of such examples. Not just the big brands but even the small and medium sized businesses are making their presence felt through this platform and are also introducing innovative marketing campaigns to leverage this highly lucrative platform. Few companies have been able to garner impressive ROI, one such example is of Dell, the company made more than 3 million USD using Twitter as a medium to reach out to its existing and potential customers. There are many other examples.

It seems that the life cycle evolution of social media is waiting for the next giant leap. One can classify the evolution of social media so far into three phases;

• First Phase: began with one or two sites and then graduated to networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Wikis, Blogs, Video and Picture sharing.

• Second Phase: Techies coined the term Web 2.0 to make their presence felt and interesting applications were introduced.

• Third Phase: The current phase, where digital marketing evolved from the web marketing era and became synonymous with an integrated digital marketing concept that imbibed web 2.0 and mobile marketing. Companies realized the potential and power of this combined Digital Marketing Concept and came up with innovative marketing campaigns. Thanks to the creative and digital agencies for these path-breaking concepts.

One common trait in all the innovative marketing campaigns is that despite huge engagements & participation by the target audiences that resulted in sales, companies used social media platforms to reach out to their customers and engage them with interesting tools instigating them to buy. Dell is a unique example where they approached the customers with the core objective of listening to their opinion and getting their feedback. An interesting fact is that the company used this information to align its marketing and sales approach to digital platforms.

It is clear that just Listening to the social media consumer is no longer enough. It is time for companies to think out of the box and not just use social media platforms to make their presence felt. They should get involved in different ways, such as product/services conceptualization and development, positioning, communication, offers/discounts etc. Basically, use social media to understand what people are talking about, understand their viewpoint and preferences, gather insights, identify their problems and opportunities, and reach out to them with much more efficient marketing strategy. Brands also need to be more flexible in how they approach social media, avoiding “One size fits all” approach to marketing.

Another important aspect is to merge the marketing concept with localized touch i.e. one should not forget that the basic definition of social media is community based networking. Although the platform is globally available; it is advisable to transform the global campaign with a localized digital marketing strategy e.g. in Asia and Europe, where every country has different and unique culture, socio-economic divides.

From a technology perspective, to complement this approach, Google has taken a path-breaking approach once again with SideWikis.

What’s in the Future?
The fourth phase: which is yet to begin can take forward the concept of SideWikis leading to the emergence of technologies based on human intelligence and will track and analyze all the opinions voiced by users on social media platforms. These tools will not only track comments but also act like a typical sales or BD executive who categorizes similar opinions and approach them with a right proposition.

Popular social media platforms like blogs, facebook, twitter, discussion boards etc. can be integrated with technologies that can carry out the following processes:
• Track user comments and opinions
• Understand requirements and talk like human minds
• Categorize the opinions and comments
• Create graphs and charts using business intelligence
• Provide a user interface for the BD and Sales executives to access list of potential targets with their exact requirements and approach them with the right sales or brand awareness or image enhancement proposition

One major example in this context is Crimson Hexagon’s VoxTrot listening platform. Crimson Hexagon’s VoxTrot listening platform provides companies with actionable insight into consumer opinion of their brand, product, or market. VoxTrot technology can identify opinion from large quantities of text, whether it’s an in-house content repository or the vast blogosphere. Crimson Hexagon’s VoxTrot Opinion Monitor has its roots in a statistical algorithm created by Gary King, a professor at Harvard University. Proven in research and commercial settings, the technology is patent-pending and already in use with global brands.

This technology analyzes the vast social internet (blog posts, forum messages, Tweets, etc.) by identifying statistical patterns in the words used to express opinions on different topics. It uses these patterns to calculate the percentage of opinion for reach opinion category, as defined by you, the business user. Competitive technologies, by contrast, simply count the number of mentions of different keywords or infer generic positive/negative sentiment. You can read about the technology in detail at following links:
- How a listening platform provides actionable insight
- Measuring brand equity in the age of big data

I would love to hear from you on this article, be it in response to what I have outlined here or your own thoughts on the subject. In case you have an opinion or viewpoint, let’s connect and discuss innovative options for the transformation of Social Media & Web 2.0 to the next level.

Objective: Intel wanted to demonstrate these lifestyle benefits more than ever…

Strategy: Intel tapped Singapore’s most influential tech and fashion bloggers to generate a profile for a visually uninspiring, but technologically exciting, product. Top 10 famous tech bloggers from Singapore were prepared to embark on a live 24-hour, non-stop, Intel-powered ‘Blogathon’.

Vision
1) Create maximum visibility for the slimline notebooks fitted with Intel’s range of ultra-low-voltage processors;
2) Bring the chip to life for consumers by making it relevant to their lifestyles;
3) Educate consumers on the performance of the Intel Core 2 Solo chip.

Execution plan (17 July – 18 July)

Hardware provider (Laptops): Lenovo

Sponsor (design and appearence): Singaporean fashion brand TANGS

Selection process of bloggers: An intensive audit was conducted to identify relevant, influential bloggers to participate in the event. An equal percentage of both ‘tech geeks’ and ‘fashionistas’ were engaged with a view to expanding brand equity between both groups.

Media channels & platforms

Youtube.com: A reality-TV-style video was aired on YouTube four days before the launch. It also served as material for the participants to include in their blogs. The video revealed the bloggers’ initial thoughts about the challenge alongside a sneak preview of their makeover experience at TANGS.

Microsite: A Flash-based microsite with blog aggregator was created to inspire the bloggers to create content over the 24-hour period.

Analytics: A tracking system was integrated on the microsite to ensure precise measurements usually unattainable in a blogger engagement programme (such as measuring the time spent per visitor on average per blog post).

BTL/On-ground support: To maintain a high level of interest during the event, attract on-ground traffic, and maintain a constant level of dialogue, real-time Twitter conversations were aired on LCD TV screens placed in each window display; a product demonstration booth allowed shoppers to try out the Lenovo laptops used by the bloggers; and trained product specialists from Lenovo provided on-site education on the laptops and the capabilities of Intel’s Core 2 Solo processor.

Digital agency: Ogilvy 360º Digital Influence, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, responsible for the live integration of the visual capabilities of Flash

Blog platform: WordPress, content management system

After the event, a video summarising the highlights was posted on YouTube.

Results

Total hits on the micro-site: 3,705 people from 34 markets visited the microsite in five days; 88 per cent were from Singapore. The site helped build an organic database, with 353 votes cast on-site.

Total visitors / Blog participation: 3,958 unique visitors. A total of 140 blog posts were generated in 24 hours, averaging 5.8 blog posts per hour; 817 comments were posted in 24 hours, averaging 34 per hour. It was covered across eight news platforms, 51 external blogs, and a leading design portal, notcot.org.
With no prizes or activities created on the site to incentivise visitors, bloggers were challenged to create more engaging content than their rivals and to read and comment on posts. This resulted in 42,372 page-views in five days, averaging about 11.44 page-views per person; each visitor spent on average 12:04 minutes on the site, the equivalent of 24 30-second TV commercials watched consecutively in the same time period; the bounce rate was low at 32.42 per cent. Only three out of 10 visitors dropped out in under a minute, while around 10 per cent of visitors (300) viewed 20 pages or more.

Reference: Haymarket Media

Companies like Google and Microsoft have already joined the bandwagon and are offering interesting propositions of in-game advertising. Microsoft, which bought Massive in May 2006, is a leader in placing dynamic advertising in games. The market is filled with many smaller players, such as a company called Double Fusion. But it’s also attracting other big technology names, including Google, which bought AdScape Media for $23 million in 2007. The new ad format is provided by Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. In-game advertising is available through Microsoft Advertising across the region and campaigns are currently running in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Microsoft showed off its Massive advertising platform in Sep 2007. Flashing high above 43rd Street were clips from a series of games that showed avatars stopping to view a movie trailer for the Hollywood blockbuster 300. A Toyota advertisement also lined the outfield wall in a baseball game that’s played on Microsoft’s Xbox game console.

“The idea is to have advertisements appear and fit in naturally to the games just as they would in real life. But these advertisements are also dynamic. So the ads can be updated or changed by the advertiser at any time.” — Jay Sampson, VP, North American and Asia Pacific sales for Massive, Microsoft’s in-game advertising marketplace.

“In-game advertising provider Massive Inc., acquired by Microsoft in 2006, has signed up or renewed contracts with several publishers, notably EA, Blizzard Entertainment, THQ, and Activision. Eagerly anticipated games like Need for Speed: Shift will feature the technology that continuously collects ‘anonymous’ information about users, sends them to the Massive database for analysis, and downloads advertisements to be shown in the game.

“The games industry sees in-game advertising as a promising new revenue stream. Video Games with revenue expected to break the $10 billion mark this year and garner over $300 million in advertising investment, the gaming industry represents a strong marketing opportunity.

Video gaming offers the opportunity to connect with traditionally difficult-to-reach consumers– young affluent males. It attains the fourth-highest reach (after TV, internet and radio) against teens and heavy gamers. Not only can in-game advertising efficiently reach key consumers, it can also reach them while they are actively engaged with the medium.

In order to maximize the value of in-game communication, several studies have examined the role of brands within video games and players’ attitudes towards gaming and in-game communication. The goal has been to learn how best to use games to create meaningful relationships between brands and consumers.

The results are a set of insights and guidelines that will help deliver more effective in-game communication.” — Fran Kennish, Senior Partner, Director of Strategic Planning at MEC MediaLab

Industry figures suggest that such advertisement could increase profits for publishers by an extra $1 to $2 per game unit sold – a significant increase over the current $5 to $6 profit per unit.

Publishers see this revenue stream as a way to offset growing game development costs, which are estimated to rise up to $20 million per title for a 7th generation console. Some developers believe that the extra revenue will reduce the risk involved in a game development project, allowing them to experiment with more innovative game-play and new ideas.

In-game advertising has even replaced purchase price as a revenue model for some mobile phone games. In 2005, spending on in-game advertising was US $56 million, and this figure is estimated to grow to $1.8 billion by 2010 according to Massive Incorporated, although Yankee Group gives a lower estimate at $732 million.

Yankee Group revealed that the global in-game advertising market, which generated $77.7 million globally in 2006, continues to develop at an exponential rate. By 2011, worldwide in-game advertising expenditures (fixed product placement/static ads and dynamic ads) will grow to $971.3 million.

“As ubiquitous connectivity continues to reshape the media and entertainment landscape, media fragmentation and clutter are a result, making traditional advertising channels less effective. Advertisers are increasingly finding in-game advertising to be a greater investment value because of the variety of opportunities that exist in and around games. Video games represent an ‘above the line’ opportunity, which means that video games should be used to build brands and not as a call to action that distracts from the game play.” – Michael Goodman, Director, Digital Entertainment, Yankee Group’s Consumer Research Group

In-game advertising is seen by some in the games industry as offering a new revenue stream, allowing developers to offset growing development costs and to take more risks in game play. Advertisers see in-game advertising as a prime way to target the male 18-34 demographic, who are increasingly neglecting television in favor of computer and video games.

However, some gamers see these moves as greedy and invasive, dubbing in-game advertising software as spyware. This view was demonstrated by the backlash against Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 2142 which contained in-game advertisements from IGA Worldwide. This has not, however, stopped traditional firms such as Nielsen Media Research branching out into the in-game advertising space, by announcing a new video games ratings service (similar to Nielsen ratings) called GamePlay Metrics to serve in-game advertisers.

According to a recent news in Media Asia, McDonald’s becomes Microsoft’s first in-game advertiser in Hong Kong — McDonald’s is to set to unveil its first in-game advertising campaign for the Hong Kong market in conjunction with Microsoft Advertising. The initiative will feature a series of virtual ‘McDelivery’ billboards in five leading video games on the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. The games include PES 2009, The Need for Speed, Undercover, Rainbow Six: Las Vegas 2, NBA Live 2009 and Burnout: Paradise.

“There is a growing opportunity for in-game advertising because it is the only platform where people are completely immersed in one activity. When gamers play a game, they tend to only play the game. We don’t see trends that indicate they do much multi-tasking which would split their attention away from the game.” — Richard Dunmall, Managing Director, Microsoft Advertising Asia Pacific

“Computer and online games are where young man and women often hang out with their friends these days. The in-game advertsing platform is suitable for advertisers like fast-food chains, sports and fashion brands alike who are looking to target the demographic using gaming. The in-game advertising is imbedded in the game environment, and should be an extension of advertisers’ existing marketing campaigns, as part of the media channels across multiple platforms”. – Kenneth Andrew, Marketing Director, Greater Asia Pacific, Microsoft Advertising

Digital storytelling is the best weapon for media creatives. There are three ways in which digital storytelling was different from analogue storytelling. It creates a brand story, and doesn’t just provide product information. Also, it allows marketers to pull in people, rather than pushing merely consumers. Thirdly, it creates significant word of mouth.
- Thomas Kin, Creative Director, Global Creative Team, Cheil Worldwide

Digital storytelling aims to make its audience spread the stories spontaneously by word of mouth and create a buzz over the internet. Lately various forms of commercial messages, including advertising on portal sites, microsites and games sites, have become more prevalent.

Some of the interesting campaigns in the recent times that leveraged digital storytelling are Samsung’s ‘Haptic Mission’, Nike’s ‘Be the Legend’, “Hang in There Jack”, Zack 16 etc.

An interesting proposition would be using digital storytelling of a product in a campaign using social media platform to engage customers.

More interesting case studies on campaigns involving digital storytelling to follow soon….