Early last week, technology giant Microsoft purchased Mojang software, a Swedesh videogame developer and the brains behind the mega-hit Minecraft, for $2.5B. Mjoang's Minecraft sold 54M copies in the first three quarters of 2014 alone. Though this moved puzzled many, digital advertisers are betting that this could lead to a completely new type of digital advertising platform - in-game content advertising.
It's possible that Microsoft views MC as a way to access a younger demographic that plays games and consumes content more on mobile devices and less on traditional PC's, the bulwark of Microsoft's traditional dominance. This would give Microsoft unparalleled access to a very devoted base of consumers that are hard to reach through other methods. For example, some digital marketing specialists are speculating that Microsoft will create sponsored content for the game - think branded in-game items or environments - and place them into the game for free, offering brand exposure for advertisers in the hard-to reach-younger demographic.
The raises the question of whether digital games represent a new forefront in digital marketing. Implications of a rise in videogame advertising - advertising placed inside or developed within interactive computer and videogames - poses both exciting opportunities as well as risks for brands and marketers. Games offer a targeted way to reach a demographic - 18-45 year old males in particular - that are becoming much harder to reach through conventional means of marketing such as TV or print. They could be more targeted and engaging methods of marketing compared to online display or search. At the same time, there's always a risk of alienating consumers, though. Gamers in particular are known for being hyper-involved, vocal, and responsive, as the immediate negative backlash to the MC sale has shown. Gaming websites and blogs have been flooded with angry comments from long-time Minecraft players about the Microsoft acquisition. Moreover, the economics of game advertising are extremely nebulous at this point. Pricing and tracking this new kind of advertising presents a host of challenges, nor is there an infrastructure in place to A) price and place and B) track the effectiveness of in game advertising, particularly in a hugely open and constantly changing game life Minecraft. Microsoft has a delicate balancing act to conduct.
Source: http://mashable.com/2014/07/22/customer-retention-acquisition/
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