Gaming can be a powerful research tool to advertisers providing quick and easy-to-access information about a brand’s target audience. Scott Johnston, Head of global PR, Spil Games, looks at how brands can use games and interactive surveys to unlock insight.
In a loud and busy world where competition for our attention continues to grow, the challenge of engaging potential consumers has never been more important – or exciting. I think it’s pretty safe to say that we know a thing or two about keeping people engaged online at Spil Games.
Playing a game online represents the ultimate engaging web experience. Recent IAB research confirmed that gaming is twice as engaging as any other media channel – but for the most part, that conversation has focused on using games as an interactive promotion to motivate consumers. But there is another role that games can play in the brand-consumer relationship, and that is as a tool for insight.
Everything from basic data capture to online behaviour profiles can be measured through gaming. Theoretically, a brand could even use games as a Research & Development tool in product testing, using virtual design prototypes in a game environment and monitoring player interaction.
But this is getting ahead of things. Insight is often at its best when it is uncovered by asking the right questions. But with the best survey in the world, the challenge of persuading people to take part still exists. Surveys can be seen as an interruption. Those that have prizes for completion can seem biased, while those without can seem like a boring waste of time.
This brings us back to the question of engagement. Our different gaming platforms at Spil Games are, almost by definition, engaging environments. Players of our games have to enter a world built around their chosen property, and a relationship of trust between the player and the platform is created.
This is reflected in the click through rates (CTR) that the sites are achieving for advertisers. The average CTR for skinned pre-rolls stands at 4.7%, with specific websites such as GirlsgoGames registering CTRs in the UK as high as 15.75% for exceptionally well-targeted campaigns, and as high as 12.24% on the US site. Completion rates are even more impressive with GirlsgoGames registering around 85-90% compared to an industry benchmark of 70% (Source: YuMe 2011 Video Advertising Metrics Report).
A combined 180 million monthly active users globally trust Spil Games’ platforms, which include GirlsgoGames or A10 as reliable sources of safe, age-relevant fun. And not only does this trust mean that we can create excellent brand campaign opportunities, it also means we can use our position to discover more about our different player audiences.
Case study: Engaging with teenage girls
Spil Games wanted to discover more about the eating habits of young girls in the US and Europe. A short multiple-choice survey was created, asking questions about snacks, family mealtime habits, home cooking and school meals. The survey was advertised in an ad-unit on different localised versions of the GirlsgoGames platform in the US, UK and France for a weekend in November 2012.
In just two days, the survey unit generated 34,000 responses, allowing Spil Games to publish a detailed report about the eating habits and attitudes to food of younger teenage (‘tween’) girls.
Attitudes towards school were measured in the GirlsgoGames ‘Back to School’ survey in 2012.
Respondents were asked about their feelings about returning to school after the holidays, issues surrounding uniform, as well as questions about favourite subjects and school lunches. More than 100,000 girls responded to the survey.
Valentine’s Day has been another popular survey for the GirlsgoGames platform. The 2012 survey examined schoolgirl crushes and ranked the top celebrity heart-throbs according to the GirlsGoGames community, and was answered by an astonishing 213,000 respondents.
Why this is good for brands
The potential for brands to access this kind of information is one of the advantages of using a gaming environment to engage with online consumers. In the case of Spil Games, surveys can serve as a powerful research resource, providing quick and easy-to-access information about a brand’s target audience.
Much has been made of the case of brands using gaming as content – but for those that want to learn more about their consumers, it’s still worthwhile making a visit to the arcade.
By Scott Johnston
Head of global PR
Spil Games
http://www.spilgames.com/
