Why you should consider the gaming sector in adtech
As someone who has worked in and around the games industry for more than enough years to officially qualify as an industry veteran, I can wholeheartedly say now is the time to consider a role working in gaming adtech. Here’s three reasons.
#1 The Market
It’s often cited when talking about games and advertising that there are 3.2 Billion Gamers out there. This is often quickly followed by the fact that gaming industry is bigger than Hollywood and music combined in terms of revenue generation and is forecast to be $188bn in 2024 (Newzoo).
With two in five people active gamers (WARC, 2004), gaming is mass-market entertainment. This potential reach, along with interactivity and immersion to create new opportunities for advertisers makes it a very exciting space if you want to work with emerging channels.
Gaming spans devices and platforms (mobile, PC, console, streaming) as well as a myriad of genres and art styles. It most often considered an upper funnel channel with brand awareness and brand recall the main effectiveness markers, but is rapidly expanding to become an effective performance channel as well, for example enabling direct response and app install campaigns.
If you’re considering a role in gaming, it’s worth understanding the different environments. IAB define gaming as:
· INTRINSIC IN THE GAME - how brands can directly engage players inside the gaming experience – this can be audio, display or video. Mobile is currently dominating these in-game formats.
· AROUND THE GAME - opportunities available to brands during the gaming experience but not within the gameplay itself. Examples of this include in-app rewarded video and interstitials.
· AWAY FROM THE GAME – advertising opportunities that exist outside of the gameplay itself, the most prolific example being of course Twitch.
In summary: the games ecosystem presents lots of different opportunities for advertising roles.
# 2 Innovation
Gaming is at the forefront of tech, incorporating VR, AR, and AI, and other innovations that can redefine user experiences and advertising campaigns, undoubtedly making it an exciting and future-focused career move.
When it comes to adtech, second only to cookie deprecation, the buzzword of 2024 has undoubtedly been attention. As a lean-forward entertainment, gaming boasts high-viewability high attention formats and is pioneering this measurement trend. In-game activations create sticky and memorable experiences that are viewed as part of the game so drive higher engagement.
Gaming is also highly data-driven, allowing advertisers to reach specific audiences based on their gaming behaviours, preferences, and demographics, which is why it’s been an early adopter of advanced tech like AI-driven targeting, programmatic advertising, and real-time analytics.
In summary: You will get to work with formats and tools that are pushing the boundaries of digital advertising.
# 3 The Challenge
It’s not unreasonable to say that gaming is yet to achieve its full potential as a media channel. This is mainly down to scale, which will undoubtedly come, but also due to the fact gaming is a whole ecosystem not just a single format or channel and this means more education is required.
Advertising standards for gaming are still getting defined and/or adopted. Regulation, in particular relating to targeting e.g. COPPA and GDPR needs to be considered. Stereotypes of spotty teenagers locked in bedrooms eating pizza or concerns around brand safety are typical buyer objections that anyone working in gaming will need to tackle.
This is what makes a role in gaming so exciting. You get to shape it. Whether it’s strategy, programmatic, creative, data analytics, sales, media planning or ad ops, the tech, learnings and the problem-solving skills to be gained are undoubtedly valuable for future career growth.
In summary: You will be pioneering an entirely new media channel
Joanne Lacey is COO at AdInMo, the player insights monetization and advertising platform run by mobile game veterans.