Imagine this: You’ve just set foot into a new, exciting world where ads don’t interrupt gameplay but are carefully crafted into your surroundings. Intrigued?
Welcome to the world of intrinsic in-game advertising! Join us as we take you on an adventure, revealing the hidden treasures of this powerful ad format that is changing the way advertisers connect with players and how they can make your brand stand out.
Before embarking on our adventure, let’s first chart the terrain. Intrinsic in-game advertising isn’t your usual pop-up ad—it’s naturally woven into the fabric of the game itself, like a hidden treasure chest waiting to be discovered and peered into by players.
Intrinsic in-game ads often appear where you’d expect to find them in the real world, like alongside the road as you’re speeding down a racetrack in games like Trackmania, on the side of a building as you navigate through a bustling city in The Sims, and around a packed sports stadium in Madden as you get ready to make a touchdown. This has led many to compare them to out-of-home ads (OOH), but with the massive advantage that they’re in the digital realm, so they’re much more measurable and targetable.
Another very important thing to remember is unlike most other in-game ads, intrinsic in-game ads are not clickable, meaning they do not send the player away from the game. This helps maintain the gameplay's immersion, ensuring the player remains engaged with the experience.
Every great adventurer needs a map, and in the world of in-game ads, that map is the IAB guidelines. These standards are crucial for advertisers new to this space, as they provide clear rules and benchmarks to ensure ad placements are effective, measurable, and respectful of player privacy.
The Intrinsic In-Game Measurement Guidelines are a set of industry standards agreed upon and updated in August 2022. They give advertisers more confidence when planning in-game investments and have been instrumental in solidifying gaming as a recognized advertising medium alongside social media, CTV, and other digital channels.
Previously, in-game ad measurement lacked precision. The guidelines now ensure that a “viewable impression” only counts if the ad takes up at least 1.5% of the screen, displays 50% of its pixels, and is consecutively visible for at least one second. The old 10-second cumulative exposure rule has been replaced with one-second intervals for greater accuracy. For the first time, the guidelines also include VR and AR ads, bringing them in line with the same standards. Finally, the update standardizes measurement terms across the industry to ensure consistency.
In any great adventure, measuring progress is key—so it’s essential to understand the key metrics for in-game advertising success. Think of it like having a compass that guides you directly to the treasure of meaningful results.
Measuring the success of intrinsic in-game ads is similar to other digital advertising channels, with a focus on metrics like viewability, attention, and brand lift. They help you understand how well the ads performed, with key brand lift indicators like purchase intent, brand favorability, and ad recall.
What sets intrinsic in-game ads apart is the 3D environment they operate in, unlike the traditional 2D world of other ad formats. This adds complexities, such as in-game objects moving around and blocking ads, the angle at which players view the ad, and whether the ad is encountered naturally as players navigate the expansive gaming world with multiple routes and paths.
Because intrinsic in-game ads are non-clickable, the traditional reliance on click-through rates doesn’t apply here. This non-clickable nature immerses players in the game, allowing advertisers to focus on metrics like viewability and engagement, which are better suited for evaluating brand impact. Thanks to recent advancements, measuring these metrics using various partners and tools is easier than ever. Many providers already used by advertisers across other channels now support intrinsic in-game ad measurement.
To level up your measurement knowledge, check out this guide, which covers everything you need to know before embarking on your in-game advertising journey.
No treasure hunt is without risks—brand safety is the key to ensuring your ad campaign doesn’t get lost in a swamp of misplacement. Learning how to protect your brand’s image while navigating this ad territory is extremely important if you want to succeed in gaming.
Regarding intrinsic in-game advertising, brand safety simply means ensuring that the ads shown within games align with your brand's values, image, and messaging without harming players. This is done by carefully considering the game's content, audience demographics, and potential associations that could either enhance or detract from your brand's identity. Factors like the game's themes, language, and visual elements should all be taken into account, resonate positively with your target audience, and uphold industry standards of ethics and responsibility.
Intrinsic in-game advertising also boasts low fraud rates compared to industry standards. The gaming environment's inherent complexities make it difficult for fraudsters to penetrate while existing protections further enhance security. To delve deeper into this topic, head over to the definitive guide to brand safety in intrinsic in-game advertising, where you can learn more about IVT, preventing disinformation and ad fraud, and legal and regulatory compliance.
Every adventurer needs the right tribe. Thanks to a lot of work over the past few years, advertisers can now easily target the right audience—whether it’s gamers who love action, sports fans, or those who simply can’t get enough of puzzle games.
Effective targeting with intrinsic in-game advertising goes beyond mere placement. It involves understanding and reaching players based on factors, including in-game behavior, preferences, demographics, and psychographics. This targeted approach ensures that ads resonate deeply with players, enhancing engagement and driving better brand results.
Some of the in-game targeting options available today include targeting based on keywords and site lists, game genres, audience, and publisher data, as well as retargeting, lookalike targeting, and geo-based targeting. To delve deeper into this, check out this complete guide to targeting in-game.
Like different realms in a fantasy world, in-game ads look different depending on your industry. Just as adventurers tailor their gear for each environment, advertisers must align their campaigns with the unique characteristics of their target audience and game genres. It’s important to align your brand with the right games and tailor your ads to reach the right players to succeed.
Style Realm— Fashion
For a long time, fashion brands have led the way in gaming by tapping into the vast, engaged gaming audience with creative in-game advertising campaigns. Major fashion labels, including Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger, and American Eagle, have successfully integrated their brand messaging into popular games with beautiful, high-resolution ad creatives that fully take advantage of the premium gaming environment.
In the case of Tommy Hilfiger, they used multiple creative sets featuring different products to reach millions of players with intrinsic in-game ads. The campaign saw a 14pt lift in ad recall after exposure, a 20pt lift in brand favorability, a 24pt lift in brand recommendation, and a 23pt lift in purchase intent.
Treasure Vault — Finance
Many companies within finance and fintech are beginning to look beyond social to gaming to reach their key audiences—younger consumers who are just starting their financial journeys, planning their investments, and looking for a cool new brand that represents them in modern society.
In the case of Klarna, they looked to intrinsic in-game advertising to reach young audiences through the games they play. Working with Anzu for a campaign based in Australia, Klarna featured intrinsic in-game ads blended seamlessly into the country’s most popular mobile games, achieving an 81% VCR vs. the 56% industry average and 95% viewability vs. the 64% industry average.
Story Stage — Media & Entertainment
Many of the biggest media and entertainment brands know their audience plays games. As a result, we have seen Disney+, 20th Century Studios, Universal, HBO Max, Prime Video, Spotify, Paramount+, and many more leverage gaming to connect with their target audiences.
A great example here comes from US-based record label EMPIRE used intrinsic in-game ads to promote their artist Baby Face Ray to push the rapper's album to top the charts. The campaign saw 3.3 seconds of average attention vs. the desktop display norm of 0.7 and a 9% increase in listening intent.
Champion Arena — Sports
With billions of enthusiasts worldwide, both sports and gaming boast massive followings on their own. When both spaces team up, the potential for increased engagement is unparalleled. Given the rise of trends like esports, major sports game franchises seeing millions of players worldwide, and sports titles exploding in popularity across the mobile ecosystem, video games are the perfect playing field for sports brands.
A great example here comes from a campaign we worked on with a popular sportswear brand that came alive in the gaming world. By placing engaging creatives within intrinsic in-game ad placements across popular gaming titles, they saw a 15-point lift in brand affinity, a 15-point lift in recommendation intent, and a 10-point lift in purchase intent.
Feast Hall — Restaurants & Grocery Stores
In the US, which has an estimated 202k quick service restaurants across the country, 41% of gamers say they enjoy going to fast food restaurants as a top out-of-home activity. 68% also say they have eaten at a fast food or family restaurant in the past month.
The popular convenience chain 7-Eleven used intrinsic in-game ads to promote a limited edition flavor of their signature Slurpee drink to Australian players. After targeting players aged 13-44, the chain reached a total of 1m unique users and saw an 86% increase in top-of-mind awareness and a 97% viewability rate. The cost per visit also went down to $0.19 for every user who visited the store.
Let’s wrap up this adventure with why in-game ads are a goldmine for reaching new audiences. The treasure isn’t just in the game itself; it’s in the engagement, brand recall, and loyalty you can build with these fun, non-intrusive ads. By integrating your brand right into the game, you’re reaching players who are actively engaged and tuned in. Unlike traditional ads, in-game ads don’t interrupt—they become a part of the experience, making your brand stick in players’ minds.
What makes intrinsic in-game advertising so powerful is that it allows you to create memorable, interactive moments that players actually enjoy. It’s all about connecting with your audience in a way that feels natural and rewarding. With gaming growing bigger than ever, this is your chance to tap into a space where people are spending more time in a way that doesn’t feel like “just another ad.”