Use Mobile Gaming Ads for A Broader Reach
In today’s digital world, mobile gaming is one of the fastest-growing forms of entertainment. Across the globe, people of all ages are picking up their phones, tapping into games, and escaping into other worlds—for a few minutes or hours. With over 2.7 billion mobile gamers worldwide, the gaming landscape presents an enormous, untapped opportunity for brands that extend beyond gaming companies. Brands from automotive to consumer goods are now finding ways to place ads within mobile games to capture more attention, raise awareness, and make meaningful connections with new audiences. Here’s why this shift is happening and what it means for brands and consumers alike.
The Rise of Mobile Gaming: An Untapped Advertising Opportunity
Games have again extended their phenomenon on mobile devices that have hit people during breaks, travels, and leisure time at home. What used to be a niche interest has now become mainstream, with the mobile gaming market surpassing $93 billion in global revenue in 2023 alone, and it’s only growing. Games like Candy Crush, Fortnite, and Pokémon Go have amassed millions of players, spanning a wide demographic, from young teens to adults in their 50s and beyond. Popularity isn’t just about the number of players; it’s about engagement. Mobile gamers spend, on average, more time within gaming apps than on social media or other mobile activities. That’s a unique space for advertisers who want to reach audiences in an engaged, interactive environment. While industries primarily unrelated to gaming, like auto and packaged goods, have mostly stuck to the ‘old’ web and TV in reaching the consumer, mobile gaming represents a successful and novel approach.
Types of Mobile Gaming Ads
Mobile gaming ads aren’t one-size-fits-all. The specifics of a company's brand goals will dictate which sort of ad format will be most effective. Unfortunately, the format has to be correct, making it a beneficial interaction rather than an interrupting one. Here are some of the most popular ad types brands are using today:
Reward-Based Ads: These ads reward players with bonus lives or coins and offer them an ad break in the game. Coca-Cola is a representative example of this format; globally, brand familiarity has increased by more than 40% among youth who explicitly state this format’s added value.
**Interstate: These full-screen ads appear at natural breaks in gameplay, like between levels. Though effective in capturing attention, timing is everything. When done right, they offer excellent visibility but can lead to frustration if too frequent.
Playable Ads: Interactive and immersive, these ads allow users to engage with a “mini version” of an app or a game. While famous for other games, brands outside gaming also leverage this format creatively—like an automotive brand offering users a quick virtual car race or a travel company allowing users to interact with potential vacation spots.
Banner Ads: Positioned at the top or bottom of the screen, these ads are less interactive but offer a constant, subtle brand reminder. They work best for brand visibility rather than direct engagement.
Why Brands Outside Gaming Are Investing in Mobile Gaming Ads
With the rise of ad fatigue on traditional channels, mobile gaming ads offer a new, engaging format that doesn’t feel intrusive when done right. Brands from diverse industries are noticing this and finding creative ways to integrate themselves into gaming experiences:
Consumer Goods: Unilever is an example of an industry that has successfully targeted young people using a reward-based ad. This peculiar format fits the micro-interaction strategy familiar to Gen Z users, so it would be wonderful to work with it for brands that intend to increase awareness in this audience segment and, consequently, conversion rates.
Automotive Industry: To this end, various firms employ mobile gaming advertisements, such as BMW and Toyota. They mostly target the youthful and technologically competent population. By participating in virtual car races, these brands attract a segment of people who appreciate high-performance and tech-related products.
Finance and Insurance: Ad-informative industries use mobile gaming to reach a demographic in a less pressurized atmosphere. Lending institutions and insurance firms are planting their ads within simulation games to familiarize gamers with their products or ideas. This makes the brand more relatable and fun in a way that seems foreign to most other marketing strategies.
Success Stories: Real Brands, Real Results
The effectiveness of mobile gaming ads can be seen in the successes of brands like Glossier, which used reward-based ads to drive brand engagement among their target demographics, mainly Gen Z and Millennials. Glossier’s approach was simple yet effective: they inserted short advertisements that appeared in specified beauty-related mobile games, for which they received in-game currency in exchange for watching such ads. This strategy increased brand recall significantly among the users who came across the ads.
However, instead of directly appealing to influencers, Daniel Wellington has applied a more reasonable and successful approach, offering its watches to new influencers in mobile games. These influencers would talk about these games to promote the bracelet, which is fashionable but affordable. This made the campaign appear natural and more appealing to the users since it interfered with the influencer’s gaming.
The Future of Mobile Gaming Ads: Innovation and Personalization
Looking ahead, the possibilities for mobile gaming ads will only expand. As augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies advance, brands may soon be able to create highly immersive ad experiences within games. Imagine a user placing a new car model in a virtual racing game or trying on a new pair of sneakers in a VR-style ad format.
In addition, AI tools will enable personalization so that brands can direct ads that are more relevant to users’ experiences. Thus, the use of self- and external feedback and the tracking of the game’s collective user behavior renders more significant and less intrusive advertisements possible. This level of personalization will make brands find better click-through rates for the users and, inturn, when the users will find that they are receiving a value-added experience.
How to Get Started within Ads
For brands considering entering the world of mobile gaming ads, here are some tips to get started:
Start Small with Reward-Based Ads. These are easily absorbed and give accurate results without halting the game.
Partner with Game Developers: Brands can cooperate with game developers to place the ad within the game to fit the location and feel familiar to the players.
Use Data to Refine: Track performance indicators such as CTR and engagement to decide what kind of content may most interest the targeted audience.
Mobile gaming ads aren’t just for gaming brands anymore. These ads targeting consumers in the billions worldwide allow brands in all fields to appeal to and associate their products with consumers in an appealing and positive perspective. As mobile gaming continues to grow, brands that adapt and experiment with this medium stand to capture attention and loyalty in ways traditional ads simply can’t. With this immense universe of connected advertising, mobile gaming ads are the promising new showcase that turns players into audiences and content into brands.
