NBC Universal to Begin Selling Ads in Video Games
IGA Worldwide Deal Will Allow NBCU Digital Media to Create Packages
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/30/2007 9:33:00 AM
NBC Universal struck a deal with IGA Worldwide, a firm that creates and sells ads in PC and console games.
Under terms of the deal, NBCU Digital Media’s ad-sales team will sell a portion of IGA’s premium in-game ad inventory and will create packages for marketing clients on IGA’s network.
"We are focused on creating multiplatform solutions for our marketing clients, ensuring that they achieve their campaign goals and connect with engaged consumers wherever they are spending their time," NBCU Digital Media Advertising Sales vice president Nick Johnson said in a statement.
"The virtual world and gaming space is one of the fastest-growing mediums around,” he added. “Working with IGA, the global independent leader in in-game advertising solutions, we will now, in addition to TV, Web and mobile, be able to offer marketers a whole new opportunity to reach a highly engaged and ever-growing audience."
In-game advertising is increasingly being used to reach gamers, male and female, young and old, often by incorporating products into games themselves. Cellular phones, cars and household products can become a part of the plot of games itself. They can also appear on virtual billboards, vending machines, or in other less intrusive forms.
According to Nielsen Interactive Entertainment, more than one-quarter of “active gamers” noticed advertising in games they played.
"The partnership is validation that in-game advertising is an important part of the media mix for advertisers of all sizes, as well as the publishers in our network," IGA CEO Justin Townsend said in a statement.
According to IGA, in-game ad spending is expected to grow 33% per year over the next five years, faster than online advertising.
The move into the virtual arena comes just one day after NBCU branched out into real arenas, signing a deal with Arena Media Networks to provide content at sporting locales across the country.
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