Wired magazine spoke last week with several gaming publishers and advertisers and found that game makers are exploring new methods of getting product placement in front of gamers.
Focusing largely around EA’s efforts to get branding into their flagship sports titles, the article revealed that, in addition to the 100 “Adidas-specific elements” in the game, the advertiser has further plans for expanding a new campaign that will allow players of EA’s next-gen NBA Live to unlock new content. Wired revealed that, “through retail, online and real-world NBA events like the All-Star Weekend and NBA Finals, Adidas will provide single-use unique codes that message its new marketing slogan, “It Takes 5IVE.”
According to Chip Lange, vice president of EA Sports Nation Online, “through this partnership, we have designed an experience that not only creates consumer excitement for the game, but also the Adidas and EA brands.”
Additionally, commenting on his new ad-supported MMO 2Moons, former Shiny Entertainment founder Dave Perry laid out some details of how advertisers will interact directly with gamers within the actual game-space. Said Perry, “When you buy a virtual item, we’re going to do a search to see if any advertiser in real-time is willing to pick up the cost of that item. If you want this sword, it would put up a message and ask if you would like Coca-Cola to buy this item for you.”
Source: Wired News
