SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Mobile games have become a key advertising platform with their power to immerse consumers in a fun digital environment that’s conducive to brand messaging. The pervasiveness of smartphones also helps to reach a broad audience.
“A core component of what we do in my team’s mission is actually to bring brands to consumers through the power of play,” Gabrielle Heyman, vice president of global brand sales and partnership at video-game maker Zynga, said in this interview at the Beet Retreat Santa Monica with Beet.TV contributor Rob Williams.
“It’s really such a powerful medium because there is so much engagement, and it really creates a two-way conversation between brand and consumer that not that many other platforms can rival,” Heyman said. “We see a lot of performance around consideration and favorability because you are really able to embed like during people’s favorite activity, which is playing games for many people.”
Publishers of mobile games were quick to adopt freemium or ad-supported strategies, offering games for free or low cost to consumers in exchange for showing advertising. This strategy was less likely to fuel resentment among gamers, such as those who pay $60 or more for a console game and don’t want their gaming experience interrupted with commercial messaging.
“Mobile games are free to play the entire ecosystem, so there’s like a very low barrier to entry,” Heyman said. “You’re downloading it from the app store and you’re ready to go.”
Zynga’s hit games include “Words With Friends,” “Zynga Poker” and “Empires & Puzzles.”
Fewer than 5% of consumers pay to download a mobile game, she said. Instead, they’re often playing to gain digital rewards that help to advance through a variety of levels.
“Consumers in the mobile gaming space uniquely are very used to seeing ads,” Heyman said. “We’ve retained players for 15 years, and ‘Words with Friends’ still has 4.5 million players monthly in the U.S. That kind of reach rivals the reach of huge television franchises.”
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