“Where do I start?” “How do I enter in a way that’s authentic?”
These are the kinds of questions Samantha Lim, Publicis’ SVP, Gaming Strategy and Innovation gets from marketers all the time. Brands are asking about how best to advertise in the vast gaming universe – but the questions and general uncertainty echoes that found in digital media overall a few decades ago.
In the early days of the web, marketers often felt overwhelmed by the number of options, and uncertain about how best to get started without making a mistake, Lim said. There is a similar level of fragmentation and resulting confusion today, which is holding back ad spending,”The same thing is basically happening in gaming,” said Lim in an interview with Beet.TV. “The overall spend within gaming needs to improve.”
Lim is optimistic that more marketers will test the waters in gaming, thanks to events like the PlayFronts. Already, seemingly conservative brands are taking the plunge, such as a recent CPG company that Publicis worked with to build a custom Fortnite experience leading up to a major sporting event. The campaign featured a gaming tournament that was even live streamed on Twitch and viewed by multiple gaming influencers.
But for more brands to make progress in this arena, a shift needs to happen. Much like with digital media, gaming – given its prevalence, needs to be weaved into marketers’ overarching strategies, not just tacked on, Lim said.
“It should be holistic vs. a one off,” she said. “That means thinking about [gaming] differently.”
