Advergaming Is An Effective viral marketing tool

The concept is that, if the game is fun, consumers are more likely to remember not just the brand or product itself, but to associate specific brand attributes with it. If the game is popular, players will challenge friends to try it or simply ad it in their blogs. Studies suggest that 50% of recipients play the advergame for an average of 25 minutes. 90% of players who receive a challenge from a friend play the game and respond back with their score or statistics.

At web 2.0 web sites like Multigames.com, users them self upload their own free flash games. This is not unlike

YouTube but for Flash Games. Once uploaded the games are provided with embed codes, add to Face-book features and other social bookmarking tools that encourages viral spread of the game. "One of our most popular games is actually an advergame for Guitar Hero 2 by Red Octane." Explains Multigames CEO Christian Lovstedt. " It’s a simplified version of the real Guitar Hero game that you play with your computer keyboards. This advergame is also the game that is being embedded the most so it’s a very effective word of mouth communicator for Guitar Hero 2"

“ I am not sure if marketing departments are using the full potential of viral spread of advergames yet. The common set up is that a promotion site is launched with an advergame and the advertising company will spend time trying to drive traffic to that specific site. But you can attract a lot of attention to your product by letting the game "transport itself" virally over the internet. We hope to see more of Advergames on our site in the future” Says Christian. The advergame industry is expected to generate $312.2 million by 2009, up from $83.6 million in 2004, according to Boston research firm Yankee Group. Christian Lovstedt, Multigames, Sweden AB, Maria Bangata 6, Stockholm,118 63, +47627687, christian.lovstedt@multigames.com