Video Game Advertising

Marketing through games has become a popular channel as gamers have take to multiple channels to engage; computers, consoles, and even handheld mobile devices have become gaming devices.  Recently there has been a shift in console gaming away from violence filled games aimed at young males and now aimed towards the entire family.  This has caused marketers to spend more advertising dollars on gaming as the target market has skewed dramatically.  Advertising and marketing through video games can be grouped into two major categories; Advergaming, and In-Game Advertising.

            Advergames – Advergames are games developed by a company solely to promote a specific brand or product.  According to a news article on CBS News most of these games are aimed at youth because they can hold their attention longer than a typical ad and build loyalty for the future.  These games are typically short in duration, require no capital investment, and can be played by all skill levels.  Some examples you may be familiar with have come from Orbitz Travel and began with a pop-up ad which allowed users to sink a putt, hit a home-run, or flick a field goal.  The advergame went so well that Orbitz started a website dedicated to the games, Orbitz Games.

            In-Game Advertising – In Game Advertising consists of advertising built into video games with pre-existing narratives.  This advertising can be static such as a billboard for McDonalds that remains in a video games environment, regardless of where the user is playing. 

This type of advertisement works well for national brands but will not work well for regional or local companies.  A second approach to in-game advertising can be through dynamic advertising targeting local consumers who are connected via the internet for gaming.  This can allow companies to target specific regional areas based on connection.

The picture on top is an advertisement for State Farm on MLB Live that appears based on connectivity, the actual field is below and show the billboard does not exist in real life.

            Both of these types of marketing will continue to prevalent in the near future as marketers look for alternate ways to reach a more captive audience.

Channel Conflict

In the recent years many established companies have shifted their focus from selling product solely through traditional stores to a combination of a physical store presence and an internet presence.  This has caused conflict as distributers now resemble competitors for product sales.  I want to expand on some of the ways companies avoid channel conflict that were touched on in the class notes, and give real-world examples of companies who do a good job managing their distribution arrangements.

• Partnership – One example of a company that partners manufacturing and distribution is Pirelli Tires. Pirelli manages over 6,000 distributers for their high end tires and uses software to help the process run efficiently.  Pirelli handles all manufacturing and manages the website.  Sales made on the website are automatically fed to computer systems at local distributors for delivery.  Pirelli was able to cut inventory and distribution costs by 20% and has shared this profit with many of their distributors who have partnered with them.  A snippet of this business case can be found at Tibco Software.

• Non-Participation – Companies that do not engage in online sales but have an internet presence can run the risk of losing sales as customers have trouble finding their products.  One industry that operates with this model is the Golf industry.  Manufacturers such as Ping, Titleist, and Cobra Golf.  Each company offers product reviews and specification on their websites, but directs customers to local distributors through the use of a zip-code locator.

• Direct Sales - One example of direct from the manufacturer sales that works well is for large products with relatively low unit costs, such as low end furniture.  Companies that manufacture low cost furniture can avoid the costs of a warehouse distribution channel and increase the margins on each product.

5 Best & Worst Practices for Search Engine Optimization

Just because Search Engine Optimization is about improving the page rank of a site through un-paid, or "organic" means, doesn't mean that investing capital into the process of SEO won't bring high ROI if done correctly.  Listed below are some of the best and worst practices for Search Engine Optimization:
Great Link to SEO Techniques

Best Practices for SEO

1. Relevant Keywords - Search Engine Optimization only works if you are using keywords that people actually search for.  Spend some time looking for what words and topics are relevant and timely.
2. Page Titles Lead With Keywords - One common mistake is to have keywords in the page titles appear after non site specific words such as "Welcome" or 'Enter".  All title pages should lead with the keywords.
3. Meta Descriptions That Have a Call to Action - Although meta descriptions do not change the page rank of a site, having a relevant meta description with a call to action can increase the click rate which can lead to higher page ranks in the future.
4. Custom Error Pages - A customer error page with the company's logo and correct status code can help reduce a site visitor's frustration if they reach a page that no longer exists.
5. Optimized Internal Linking Structure - The hierarchical linking structure on your site tells the search engine how important you feel each pages is compared to each other.

Worst Practices for SEO

1. Spread Site Across Multiple Domains - Although spreading your site across multiple domains can reduce traffic to each site, each page is thus reduced in page ranking as your traffic is divided among multiple pages.
2. Title Tags the Same on Each Page - Using unique keywords on each title page will increase the page rank of your site.
3. "Keyword Stuffing" - Putting the same keyword everyone on the page including comments and tabs may actually hurt your page ranking if Google feels you are being deceptive on your site or the keywords are not relevant at that specific place.
4. Pull Down Bars for Navigation - If you use pull downs for navigation, search engine robots will not be able to follow your site past page 1, navigation must never be in drop down form.
5. Not enough Copy - Pages rich in graphics are often most appealing to users, however text is what increases a pages search ranking.  Text/Copy should be included on each pages of a site.

Take a look at various pages you visit and share some areas for improvement you see.