Samsung doesn’t own a console, and it doesn’t make or publish any games like rivals Sony and Microsoft.
But the company does have access to the biggest screen in the home. And because Sony has invested in a user interface that more and more customers use to navigate their connected TVs, the. company has an opportunity to help gamers find more games to play.
That’s the idea behind the recently launched Samsung Gaming Hub, which feature hundreds of free to play games, explained Karl Meyer, Head of Samsung Ads, Media and Entertainment, North America.
“What we do really well is search and discovery,”he told Beet.TV. Just like Samsung shows people targeted ads when they search for specific shows and genres, it is able to do the same in its Gaming Hub.
Meyer, a gaming industry veteran who previously worked at Xbox, said that the gaming audience – once thought of reflexively rejecting advertising – has become far more receptive to marketing, particularly in free gaming environments.
“A lot of gamers. have come around. they are far more open to relevant and contextual ads,” he said. It helps that Samsung is able to track what gamers watch on their TVs when they are not playing games, allowing brands reach them with targeted ads whether they are playing or just streaming.
“We’ve built quite a large audience segment,” he said. “It dives precision to that gaming audience.”
