In-Game Advertising: Advantages And Limitations For Advertisers

The increase fragmentation of mass-media and the decline on television efficiency in promotion and market targeting, determined the appearance and development of new methods, more efficient for communicating with consumers, especially for gaining attention of those who are not for the moment consumers of a specific brand. The attempt of finding new promotion methods, video games found a place as a new advertising environment. In-game advertising is remarkable due to its numerous benefits, firstly due to the online environment were it operates, and secondly due to its strong connection to entertaining, witch increases the acceptance rate of the consumers. In-game advertising, the technique of presenting advertising into the virtual environment of a video game, gains more and more sympathizers among brands who chose to become present in this environment. Online video games offers special advantages of communication and interaction between brand and its public, brings advantages that has been exploited only partially, but also implies limitations that marketers have to take count of when they chose to use this environment for their promotion purposes. This paper tries to presents a theoretical systematization, based on secondary data, of the specific elements of in-game advertising, concentrating on classification, potential and limitations that this type of promotion implies for advertisers.