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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE VIRAL ADVERGAMING AS A MARKETING STRATEGY Author: Tamara Gabriel Presented as part of the requirement for an award within the Modular Scheme at the University of Gloucestershire April, 2010 © 2010 Tamara Gabriel DECLARATION This dissertation is a product of my own work and is the result of nothing done in collaboration. I agree that this dissertation may be made available for reference either in print or online*. Word length: Approx 5,200 Signed:____________________________ Tamara Gabriel * Online dissertations will be made available through the Learning Centre Catalogue but may be subsequently moved to a suitable University digital repository. Access to online dissertations is currently restricted to University staff and students, on a read-only basis. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 2 Table of Contents Abstract…..………………………………………………………………………………….5 Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................... 6 1.1 Main Objectives ........................................................................................... 6 1.2 Project Overview .......................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review................................................................................. 7 2.1 Advergames: A Definition ............................................................................. 7 2.2 Viral Marketing/Advertising: A Definition ...................................................... 7 2.2.1 The Effectiveness of Viral Advertising and the Advantages ................... 9 2.2.2 The Disadvantages of Viral Marketing ................................................. 10 2.3 ROI: Return on Investment ........................................................................ 10 2.4 Competition-Based Games: Advantages, Issues & Hacking ...................... 11 2.4.1 Scoreboard Hacking: White Hat Hackers ............................................. 11 Chapter 3: Research Question ............................................................................ 12 3.1 Summary of the Research Question .......................................................... 13 Chapter 4: Methodology ...................................................................................... 14 4.1 Research Approach ................................................................................... 14 4.2 Study Design ............................................................................................. 14 4.2.1 Subject Base ....................................................................................... 14 4.2.2 Hypothesis .......................................................................................... 14 4.2.3 Null Hypothesis ................................................................................... 14 Chapter 5: Method ............................................................................................... 15 5.1 Tasks ......................................................................................................... 15 5.2 Questionnaire ............................................................................................ 15 5.3 Discussion Session .................................................................................... 15 5.4 Potential Problems ..................................................................................... 15 5.4.1 Issues .................................................................................................. 16 5.4.2 Bias ..................................................................................................... 16 © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 3 5.5 Focus Group Materials and Environment ................................................... 16 5.6 Prototype Development.............................................................................. 16 Chapter 6: Results ............................................................................................... 19 6.1 Collecting the Results ................................................................................ 19 6.1.1 Participants.......................................................................................... 19 6.1.2 Tasks................................................................................................... 19 6.1.3 Questionnaire Results ......................................................................... 19 Chapter 7: Discussion ......................................................................................... 21 7.1 Discussion Results ..................................................................................... 21 7.1.1 The Product ......................................................................................... 21 7.1.2 Advergames and Product Placement .................................................. 21 7.1.3 Social Networking and Online Games ................................................. 21 7.2 Analysing The Results ............................................................................... 22 7.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 23 Chapter 8: Bibliography ...................................................................................... 24 Appendices Appendix A: Consent Form……………………………………………………………26 Appendix B: Tasks……………………………………………………………………….27 Appendix C: Questionnaire……………………………………………………………..28 Appendix D: Discussion Questions…………………………………………………..29 © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 4 Abstract Advergames and in-game advertising are becoming more recognised as a viable form of advertising a brand, product or services for businesses and organizations. Even with the constant influx of online games, there is still a market for advergames if they target the right audience. Viral marketing and distribution of these games is becoming more popular with social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The success of advergames and in-game advertising lies mainly in the execution of the development. The key point is to keep advertising subtle but still clear enough to communicate effectively the brand message to the intended market. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 5 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Main Objectives The main objectives of this dissertation is to look at viral advergames and how gamers respond to them, as well as to look at their role in online marketing; assessing whether these types of games are a successful tool for businesses and companies to create and boost brand awareness. This paper will also look into how valuable viral advergames are to companies wanting to promote their products and services online; to see whether or not it is a cost effective platform for advertising and to track information about customers and clients as well as monitor the volume of traffic to a company‟s website due to the game itself. This paper also aims to investigate whether the distribution of the games through social networking sites and implementing a competition with a good prize also increases the volume of people playing the game; thus increasing traffic to a company‟s website. 1.2 Project Overview This paper will go into detail about advergames and what they are as well as discussing in-game advertising otherwise known as product placement. The paper will also be going into detail about viral marketing, its different forms, advantages and issues. Following that there will be a discussion about the research carried out and the results gathered. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Advergames: A Definition Advergames fit into the category of Branded Entertainment. They are online games developed specifically for the company or business to communicate with its consumers, by delivering messages about their products or services to the consumer in an interactive way (Wise, Bolls et al. 2008). In advergames the central feature of the game is usually the brand, product or service the company is wishing to promote, whereas in-game advertising focuses on product placement, where the products are embedded in the background of a game on objects such as billboards, logos on character clothing, etc (Winkler and Buckner 2006). The aim of advergames is to promote brand awareness for new businesses and companies and to also boost brand awareness for companies that are already established. Not only do these games advertise but, they also collect data about new and existing customers, as well as supporters and clients, (Winkler and Buckner 2006). Once the advergame has been developed it is normally accessible via the company‟s corporate website. From a gamer‟s perspective, the popularity of the idea about having the real commercial world simulated within a game is not very high, which shows the gamer‟s reluctance to engage with and view brand content that is intrusive or overtly obvious. From the perspective of a marketer, developing these types of games can be challenging when trying to expose a brand or product by developing a game that embeds the brand message or the brand itself (Nichols, Farrand et al. 2006). This suggests that it may be more effective to advertise subtly with in-game advertising rather than obvious product placement advertising objects and assets that do not fit in with the gameplay or the theme and environment of the game. 2.2 Viral Marketing/Advertising: A Definition The term „viral marketing was established in 1996 by Steve Jurvetson and Tim Draper, who described their marketing strategy for the free Hotmail email accounts © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 7 by sending out emails that originated from Hotmail accounts telling people about these free email accounts (Porter and Golan 2006). Viral marketing was also interpreted as a method to not only market but to also distribute; describing it as a means for consumers to forward information about new brands and products through the use of email to people in their social networking circle, of friends, family and colleagues (Porter and Golan 2006). The meaning of viral marketing is any strategy whereby a marketing message is passed onto individuals from others. Through this the message grows exponentially in exposure and influence (Wilson 2000). Viral marketing can be referred to in many ways, one of which is Electronic word-of-mouth marketing (Porter and Golan 2006). It can be described as a medium for a marketing message to be passed on through networks of friends, family and colleagues through the use of digital media communication (Smith 2006). According to Dobele and Toleman et al (2005:62) viral marketing is also referred to as “buzz marketing, convergence marketing and reaching the tipping point”. They also state that these keywords are simply another way to describe viral marketing as word-of-mouth communication. For viral marketing to be effective it first needs to provide exceptional content to engage the consumer from the start, and make them want to endorse the advert by passing it on (Howell and Smith 2003).Howell and Smith (2003) suggest that first impressions are key and important in any type of marketing strategy to grab and hold the attention of the consumer and leave an everlasting, positive impression. Seven years ago, Howell and Smith (2003:31) took a rather pessimistic view of viral advertising claiming that “viral has become synonymous with vaguely interactive, lazily rebranded games,” suggesting that viral marketing campaigns were poorly constructed and lacked creativity. However, four years ago Winkler and Buckner (2006) state that advergames are effective for generating brand prominence. This shows signs of progression regarding the way in which viral advertising is being viewed and consumed. There now appears to be a more positive attitude towards virally marketing. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 8 2.2.1 The Effectiveness of Viral Advertising and the Advantages Viral advertising has been compared to and described as a virus due to the speed at which it is passed on (Tsai 2009). Viral marketing is a fast way for a brand, product or service to become recognised amongst the public. Word-of-mouth provides a good opportunity to spread the word and get approval of a product or service. It allows for praise so that when people hear the product name or brand name, they automatically associate that product brand or service with positive connotations (Dobele, Toleman et al. 2005). Viral advertising has become a desired form of advertising due to the low cost, cheap and yet effective, ways of communicating a brand, product or service message. This can be done by mediums such as email and SMS; costs that are born by the consumer as they forward the message onto their social network or friends, family and colleagues (Dobele, Toleman et al. 2005). By using viral marketing the recipient of the forwarded message is more likely to appreciate what is being advertised as they were chosen by the sender in particular, who has automatically engaged with the target market – the recipient. Another form of viral marketing that keeps the cost down to a low figure is the use of popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. As these social networking sites are free to create profiles, businesses and individuals companies and organisations see this as a cost effective way to market a product or service as well as distributing games. Through observation it appears that Facebook is a perfect platform for delivery and viral distribution of games; it‟s a good way for a company to advertise or a game developer to host their game. It seems by integrating Facebook within the game structure and leader board, people are able to invite and challenge their friends and upload scores to their Posts; thus, passing the word around about the game. Therefore, allowing the product, brand or service being advertised to gain more exposure. This will go into more detail later. Though there is a strong advantage to viral marketing there are also the disadvantages to consider. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 9 2.2.2 The Disadvantages of Viral Marketing With the internet, current technologies and communicative media tools in place: mobile phones, PDAs, instant messaging, emailing; this can pose somewhat of a disadvantage to viral marketing. People are now able to instantly alert their friends, family, colleagues about bad services or products before they become known in greater aspects of the media such as newspapers, magazine reviews and TV (Dobele, Toleman et al. 2005). Even though the distribution costs of the advert is born by the consumer; thus being extremely cheap for the company or organisation, in order to produce a marketing strategy and an engaging advert, the company is more likely to need to invest a great deal of time and money to create a phenomenal campaign (Howell and Smith 2003), which suggests spending a substantial portion on time and money to develop an advergame or a game with product placement is extremely important. This being said, according to Ward (2000) by planning a viral marketing campaign it does not guarantee that the message will be distributed amongst the public by word-of-mouth or otherwise. The message is only distributed among avid consumers if the product or service being advertised is what people want and the message is worthy of the consumers‟ time (Ward 2000). Applying this to the development of advergames signifies that the game being developed needs to not only appeal to the target market for the product or service but also appeal to gamers, through being addictive, fun and highly interactive and something they will want to share with their friends. This also implies that advergames can only really be used as an effect marketing strategy if the target market for the product or service enjoys playing games, if they do not then to develop an advergame to promote brand awareness for a company is a waste of time and money; therefore, the campaign will not be successful. 2.3 ROI: Return on Investment According to Howel and Smith (2003) justifying a cost for a service, brand or product increases the ROI (Return on Investment), however Ferguson (2008) states that ROI is more difficult to track and measure than the return brand awareness produces. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 10 ROI has no clear scientific method for gauging how effective an advert or marketing strategy is (Ferguson 2008). Relating this to online games, from recent observation a suggestion would be to monitor click through rates. Another opportunity that involves social networking would be to create a fan page on Facebook and monitor how many members become fans of the page. 2.4 Competition-Based Games: Advantages, Issues & Hacking Competitions appear to be a good way to get people interested in a message, especially if the prize is something of worth to the target market. Through recent researched it has been proven that when developing a flash based game that holds a competition attached to the scoreboard itself, can be problematic. Scoreboards can be invaded by two types of Hackers: White Hat and Black Hat. This paper will focus of White Hat Hackers due to the Card Thieves score board being hacked by this particular kind. 2.4.1 Scoreboard Hacking: White Hat Hackers Unlike Black Hat Hackers who are malicious hackers out to cause havoc and destruction, White Hat Hackers are hackers that benefit from attempting to find holes in security in order to make people aware and make security better. Some White Hat Hackers end up being employed by security firms or directly being employed by the government (Computer Weekly 2009). When the game Card Thieves was hacked, the hacker was identified as a White Hat hacker, as the hacker was alerting the developer to the issue of security within the game. This was particularly useful due to the fact that the score board was hacked with a counterfeit score being inputted and the competition was based on the person with the highest score winning the cash prize of £50. Through research it has been made aware that attaching competitions to score boards in particular is very uncommon due to security issues that cannot always be avoided with Flash based games. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 11 Chapter 3: Research Question This paper‟s overall objective is to assess how viral advergaming can be an effective strategy for companies wanting to market their products and services; aiming to create brand awareness and communicate a message to its consumers. This is not the only area to look at; the other key points will include information about: 1. The users‟ reaction to the game Card Thieves that was advertising AfterDark Magazine. The Users will be asked about their first initial reaction in regards to layout, design and navigation. 2. The next area to be addressed will be the users‟ interest in AfterDark. Whether they were interested in the product being advertised and whether they were interested in the company itself at all. 3. The study also aims to address a consumer‟s thoughts about in-game advertising and advergames. The users will be asked about how they feel about games that are developed solely to advertise a product or service and they will also be asked about games that are developed with the intention of subtly advertising a product within the game environment. The question aims to find out whether the user is less likely or more likely to play the two types of games. 4. To test the accuracy of the games playability for the intended demographic, the users will be asked to comment on their gameplay experience in terms of complexity, character movement and control, enemy combat and the clarity of the game instructions. 5. As well as the game play experience, the paper will address social networking for viral marketing purposes. The users will be asked to comment on their thoughts about social networking, whether they use sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Beebo, etc to share links with their network of friends and family. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 12 6. One of the most important aspects of the study the paper will address is the type of games users from the chosen demographic like to play. The users will be asked to comment about the kind of games they like to play online. 3.1 Summary of the Research Question By summarising the research questions there is a clear focus about what the study is aiming to achieve: User interest in a company advertising a product or service Users‟ thoughts about in-game advertising and advergames, are they more or less likely to play these games? What is the level of complexity a game can be before it gets to the point of not being enjoyable and fun? What makes a game addictive? Are social networking sites an effective tool for marketing and reaching consumers? When all these questions are answered and addressed during the focus group, the study will be able to reveal the conclusion of whether viral advergames can be an effective strategy for companies wanting to market their products and services; aiming to create brand awareness and communicate a message to its consumers. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 13 Chapter 4: Methodology 4.1 Research Approach A Qualitative study was carried out on the 22 nd February 2010. Participants were asked to take part in a Focus Group, they were then asked to fill out a Consent Form, stating that their identity would not be revealed and that they were free to leave the group at anytime. They were then asked to play the game Card Thieves, designed and developed by Tamara Gabriel accessible via the TAGD:1 Games website at http://www.tagd1games.co.uk/CardThieves.html or on the disc at the back of this paper, for a maximum of 12 minutes. After having played, the participants gathered around a table and were asked various questions relating to the game and to advergames in general. 4.2 Study Design 4.2.1 Subject Base A total of 6 participants were asked to take part in the Focus group. The participants were all Level 1 and Level 2 students studying a course of Interactive Games Design at the University of Gloucestershire; aged between 18 and 20 years old. 4.2.2 Hypothesis The participants will confirm that viral advergames are a viable and effective tool for online marketing and for companies and businesses to promote brand awareness amongst their consumers. 4.2.3 Null Hypothesis The participants will not confirm that viral advergames are a viable and effective tool for online marketing and for companies and businesses to promote brand awareness amongst their consumers, and will lean more to traditional forms of online advertising. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 14 Chapter 5: Method 5.1 Tasks The first part of the Focus Group will concentrate on the participants carrying out a series of tasks. The participants will first be asked to fill out a consent form (Appendix A), they will then be asked to complete a series of tasks (Appendix B), including navigate through the TAGD:1 Games website, locate the game Card Thieves and play it for a total of 12 minutes; whilst aiming to complete the game and upload their score to the scoreboard. Prior to playing the game the participants will not be briefed on aspects of the site or game that they should look out for, they will merely be asked to play the game. 5.2 Questionnaire After 12 minutes the participants will be asked to come back to the table and fill in a questionnaire that will be handed out to them by the Focus Group Conductor. The questionnaire will be structured in a way that will to ask them questions about the game they will have just played and the site they will have visited that hosted the game. The questionnaire will also present the participants with a section to add extra notes about their gameplay experience, for more in-depth feedback (Appendix C). 5.3 Discussion Session The discussion session will enable the participants to comment in further detail about their individual gameplay experience, whilst being prompted with questions from the Focus Group Conductor about certain aspects of the participants‟ experience. The questions will be open so that it gives the participants the chance to go into detail rather than give „yes‟, „no‟ answers. During this discussion session detailed notes will be taken and transcribed by the conductor in order for them to be thoroughly analysed in the Results and Discussion part of this paper. 5.4 Potential Problems © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 15 5.4.1 Issues There potential problems that could arise from the Focus Group, which relate to equipment failure, incorrect versions of the required software needed to run the website and the game. With regards to participants, there could be a low turnout of participants on the day. The only way to plan and overcome these issues is to carry out pre-checks on equipment and test the product on all of the PCs that will be used within the chosen lab and to have a back-up list of participants that can step in at the last minute if needs be. 5.4.2 Bias When carrying out Focus Groups there is a possibility for bias, with the conductor potentially swaying the conversation in one particular direction. The participants may also feel pressured into providing positive feedback to the conductor as they may feel wary about expressing their full opinion so as not to be negative about the product. 5.5 Focus Group Materials and Environment The focus group will take place in a lab with approximately 12 PCs, a projector and a big table in the middle. The equipment that will be used to carry out the Focus Group will be a HDD Panasonic Camera on a tripod. Only 6 of the PCs will be used. 5.6 Prototype Development In order to carry out this study a prototype Flash game was developed along with a portal website. The Flash game was developed in order to advertise the company AfterDark Magazine and promote their product, which was a discount card. The client wanted a game that would be quite simple and easy to play, and also one that fully advertised the company and the product. With this in mind the following guidelines for the game were decided by the developer and the client: © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 16 The game was to target a specific demographic of people aged between 18 and 35 years old. Both male and female, with a specific aim to target all levels of university students. The game had to be developed with a specific resolution of 550x400 pixels in order for it to be comply with the guidelines of Flash game portal websites (such as Mochimedia) that freely distribute flash games across the web. The client required that the game be very simple and easy to learn from the first level. The game needed to get progressively hard to challenge the player, but not to the point where it was too frustrating to continue playing. The client also required that the game be short so that the user could play it within 10-15 minutes, so as to appeal to those who might be on a lunch break or have a spare few minutes. The game developed, Card Thieves, had 6 levels to complete and lasted between 10 -12 minutes complete depending on the player‟s experience and prior knowledge of the gameplay. The main focus of the game had to be to promote brand awareness for AfterDark, therefore, rather than develop a game that presented in-game advertising, the client specified that the game should be an advergame and the gameplay should centre on the discount card. Therefore, the main objective was to collect all the discount cards that had been stolen by attacking enemies; engaging in combat consisting of jumping on and punching the enemies. The second objective was to collect the bonus icons that revealed places around Cheltenham where the discount card could be used and the level of discount offered. The guidelines for the website the game would be hosted on would adhere to the following design and navigation layout: The home page would feature the game of the month, which was Card Thieves, and a paragraph about the competition it held. The colour scheme was chosen using Adobe Kuler and was designed for this project in particular. The page that held the game would follow the colours of the AfterDark brand, therefore; this page was designed solely with the company‟s image in mind, also using Adobe Kuler to blend colours together. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 17 The game page also featured information about AfterDark Magazine, the competition and a link to the AfterDark website, as well as a form for users to send valuable feedback to the developer about their gameplay experience. The competition had to be appealing to the user therefore the client and the developer decided upon a cash prize for the player with the highest score by the 1st March 2010. The prototype game and site were developed using a range of design tools and software packages: The game was developed using Adobe Flash CS4 to design the overall look of the game; the environment, characters and menu interfaces. A Wacom Intuos 4.0 Professional Pen graphics tablet was used to carry out the drawing to give more precision and accuracy, rather than using a mouse. Actionscript 3.0 was used to script the game; controlling character and enemy movement and interaction with the game environment and menu interfaces. As well as to communicate with the server through PHP in order for players to upload their high scores. Adobe Photoshop CS4 (64bit) was used to edit the original images sent by the client to incorporate into the game. Photoshop was mainly used to rescale and crop images. The website was developed using Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 to build the website and create the PHP script for the leader board. MySQL was used as the database to store the players‟ information and high scores. phpMyAdmin was the platform used to access the MySQL database. Google Analytics was used to track and log the visitors that visited the site. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 18 Chapter 6: Results 6.1 Collecting the Results 6.1.1 Participants The Focus Group resulted in all six participants - all of which were male with no females taking part in the study. The participants were and mix of Level 1 and 2 students from the University of Gloucestershire. 6.1.2 Tasks At the start of the Focus Group the participants were given 12 minutes exactly to play the game. After the 12 minutes questionnaires were filled out and a discussion took place. Questionnaires were provided for the participants so that it was more useful to gather independent opinions without any of the participants feeling unable to talk during the discussion and express their full views. 6.1.3 Questionnaire Results Design In terms of design 83.3% of the participants agree that the game Card Thieves was well designed with the remaining 16.7% undecided. The 16.7% went on to explaining how the design was good but certain elements such as jumping could have been designed better. Suggesting that with these changes the game would be more enjoyable to play; thus perhaps appealing to a wider audience. As expected the results show that the design of Card Thieves clearly engaged the consumer with the brand/product that was being advertised with 66.7% of the participants agreeing that they were fully aware of what the game was promoting and 33.3% not entirely sure. This suggest that subtle product placement within game-play is effective in communicating a promotional message to the consumer. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 19 In-game advertising 50% of the participants believed that the in-game advertising was excellent and clear to what was being advertised whereas 16.7% didn‟t answer and the remaining 33.3% decided it was poor. This was unexpected as the gameplay involved the product that was being advertised and the product was used as an asset within the game and also placed on a billboard displaying a message about the product. Competition Participants were asked whether they were more likely to play a game that had a competition incentive 50% of the participants were extremely likely to play, while 33.3% were undecided and 16.7% were unlikely. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 20 Chapter 7: Discussion 7.1 Discussion Results The first reactions to the game Card Thieves were positive, especially in terms of design. One participant had played the game before, therefore identified a couple of issues regarding the character movement: jumping. Had this of been fixed the game would have been more enjoyable to play. 7.1.1 The Product When asked whether they had heard about the company being advertised: AfterDark, half of the participants had already heard about the company, but still were not too familiar with what the game itself was advertising. Where a few others understood clearly that the game was advertising, which was the AfterDark discount card. The advertising in the game and the site that the game was hosted on made the participants want to visit the AfterDark website to learn more about the company; who they were and what they did. As the product being advertised appealed to students the participants were very interested in getting some more information. 7.1.2 Advergames and Product Placement The participants were asked how they felt about advergames and in-game advertising. The outcome was the same with all participants responding with a positive outlook, stating that they accept advergames and in-game advertising as long as the advertising was not intrusive, too obvious or distracting from the game, otherwise they tend not to bother with those types of games and lean more towards entertainment games. 7.1.3 Social Networking and Online Games The participants were also asked if they use social networking sites such as Facebook to play games. They were asked whether they had see Card Thieves advertised on Facebook, only a couple answered with a yes. When asked whether © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 21 they play games on Facebook they all replied with a yes, suggesting that social networking sites are a good avenue for promoting games. One of the participants went on to further discuss that although it is fun to sometimes play games on Facebook, it can be frustrating when alerts of a friend‟s status or high score is constantly posted, the participant referred to this a spamming. Another participant also mentioned that the kind of games that are developed for Facebook require that an individual be involved as they tend to require a network of people interacting together. The participants went on to discussing how they also like to play games on game websites such as Miniclip and Nitrome, but they also like to play MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online games; suggesting that these types of games can provide an opportunity for subtle product placement. 7.2 Analysing The Results It is clear from the results to see how product placement within games and advergames themselves can be an effective marketing strategy. The results prove the earlier theory that the audience approves of product placement and advergames, as long as the advertising is subtle. What‟s more, the intent to engage the consumer with the product being advertised requires that the product be of some value to the consumer in the first place before the brand message becomes clear and worth anything. As expected, these results prove the effectiveness of the advertising within the game due to the fact that the marketing campaign was aimed at a specific demographic, which included students. In terms of viral distribution, the results demonstrate how social networking sites such as Facebook can provide an opportunity for the game to be advertised and reach a larger network of the intended demographic, but it can also be used for the consumer to forward the message onto their network of friends and family. As previously mentioned earlier, by the consumer reaching their own network and specifically choosing who they want to share the message with, the recipient is more likely to take note of the marketing campaign and this case play the game. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 22 Unexpectedly the results show that that only half responded with positive feedback about games that have competition incentives. The expected outcome was thought to be higher as a competition linked to the product that was being advertised appeared to be a good way to engage the consumer from the start. Though the game was originally developed with a cash incentive prize, this did not seem to sway the consumer anymore than a game without. 7.3 Conclusion Advergames have proven to be an effective form of advertising and a great way to plan and execute a marketing campaign. As long as the product place placement within the game is kept to a minimum and does don‟t intrude on the players gameplay experience, in-game advertising is generally accepted. With regards to advergames, they too appear to be accepted if the product is relevant to gameplay and centers on making gameplay fun and beneficial in learning about and getting information from the product or service. Viral distribution of online games appears to be based on social networking sites, where people can easily forward information and links to a game or post up high scores to their wall. The only problem and issues this seems to cause is unwanted messages and posts to friends within the player‟s network, which can otherwise be interpreted as spamming. Overall, viral advergames work in favour for businesses, organizations and companies who wish to communicate a message with their consumers in a fun and interactive way. Though competition incentives to play the game do not seem a popular idea as long as the game is captivating, addictive and fun viral advergaming is a great way for brand promotion and could be a major breakthrough in the future of marketing. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 23 Chapter 8: Bibliography Computer Weekly (2009). UK Takes Fight To THe Hackers. Computer Weekly. Surrey: 1/8. Dobele, A., D. Toleman, et al. (2005). Controlled infection! Spreading the brand message through viral marketing. Market Leader. Oxfordshire, World Advertising Research Center Limited: 3/5p. Ferguson, R. (2008). "Word of Mouth and Viral Marketing: Thaing the Temperature of the Hottest Trends in Marketing." Journl of Consumer Marketing 25(3): 4. Howell, N. and p. Smith (2003). Catching The Bug. New Media Age. London, Centaur Communications: 2. Nichols, D., T. Farrand, et al. (2006). Brands and Gaming: The Computer Gaming Phenomenon and Its Impact on Brands and Business. Hampshire, Palgrave MacMillian. Porter, L. and G. J. Golan (2006). "From Subservient Chickens to Brawny Men: A Comparison of Viral Advertising to Television Advertising." Journal of Interactive Advertising 6(2): 9. Smith, C. (2006). New Media, Same Rules. Marketing. London, Haymarket Business Publications Ltd: 1/2 p. Tsai, J. (2009). The Cure For The Common Virus. CRM Magazine. New Jersey. 13: 6. Ward, E. (2000). "Viral marketing involves serendipity, not planning." B to B 85(10): 1/2. Wilson, D. R. F. (2000). "The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing." Webmarketing Today 1(70): 3. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 24 Winkler, T. and K. Buckner (2006). "Receptiveness of Gamers to Embedded Brand Messages in Advergames: Attitudes towards Product Placement." Journal of Interactive Advertising 7(1). Wise, K., P. D. Bolls, et al. (2008). "Enjoyment of Advergames and Brand Attitudes: The Impact of Thematic Relevance." Journal of Interactive Advertising 9(1): 16. © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 25 Appendix A: Consent Form CARD THIEVES CONSENT FORM Thanks for participating in my study. I will use the data received to analyse the effectiveness of online viral advergaming using the game Card Thieves - accessible via the TAGD:1 Games website. A Camera will be recording all of the focus group as I don‟t want to miss any of your comments, so that I can fully analyse your responses. Only the people in the room will have access to the recordings and all recordings will be erased once I have completed my analysis. The personal information collected will not be released, and you can withdraw from the study at anytime. If you have any comments or queries feel free to contact me via email at [email protected] Any feedback will be greatly appreciated as I try to improve the study to eliminate any variables which I didn‟t account for. Participant © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 26 Appendix B: Tasks List SCHEDULE Introduction Consent Forms (see attachment) Tasks Group Discussion Questionnaire (see attachment) [The Focus Group will last approx 1 hour] Card Thieves Group Tasks [Please don’t talk to anyone as you play and try not to look at other participants’ screens] 1. Visit http://www.tagd1games.co.uk 2. Navigate through the website to find the game Card Thieves 3. Interact with the page, play the game Card Thieves for 10 minutes and try to complete it or get as far as you can – if get to level 6 submit your score (I will let you know when the time is up) 4. Use the form below the game to submit a short sentence of your game experience after the 10 minutes © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 27 Appendix C: Questionnaire 1. What did you think of the game Card Thieves in terms of design? 2. What did you think of the game Card Thieves in terms of gameplay? 3. What did you think of the in-game advertising in Card Thieves? 4. What did you think of the advertising on the Card Thieves web page? 5. How clear was the game Card Thieves in communicating what was being advertised? 6. How likely are you to visit TAGD:1 Games again to play more games? 7. How likely are you to play Card Thieves again? 8. How likely are you to play a game that has a competition attached to it? © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 28 Appendix D: Questionnaire CARD THIEVES FOCUS GROUP Introduction Introduce everyone Discuss the aims of the focus group Information on Recording equipment Consent Forms Inform all participants discussion will be analysed as a whole and participant names will not be used Card Thieves Group Tasks [Please don’t talk to anyone as you play and try not to look at other participants’ screens] 5. Visit http://www.tagd1games.co.uk 6. Navigate through the website to find the game Card Thieves 7. Interact with the page, play the game Card Thieves for 10 minutes and try to complete it or get as far as you can – if get to level 6 submit your score (I will let you know when the time is up) 8. Use the form below the game to submit a short sentence of your game experience after the 10 minutes © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 29 Discussion First Reaction 1. What was your first reaction when landing on the TAGD:1 Games website? 2. Had you visited the website before today? - If you did, had you already played Card Thieves? 3. What was your first initial reaction to the Card Thieves game page (where the game was sitting)? - In terms of design, layout, navigation... What did you think of the advertising, what was your reaction? 4. Were you interested in reading about AfterDark and who they were? - What were your thoughts about AfterDark? - Did you visit the AfterDark website? - Anything else? Games and Ads – In-Game Advertising and Advergames To clarify, in-game advertising is when adverts are posted on objects such as billboards, posters, logos on character clothing, or items themselves such as a coke bottle, etc. Advergames are games developed specifically to promote a company and its brand. So, gameplay is centred on the company’s product. 5. What are your thoughts about in-game advertising in general? © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 30 6. What are your thoughts about advergames? 7. Are you any less likely or more likely to play a game that has in-game advertising or a game that has been developed to advertise a company more so than playing a game that is developed just to entertain? Why? Gameplay Experience 8. Describe your gameplay experience whilst playing Card Thieves... - Complexity - Game instructions - Character movement and controls - Enemy combat 9. In what ways do you think the game could be redeveloped to make it more userfriendly and more fun in terms of gameplay? 10. In general, what do you think makes an online game addictive and re-playable? Social Networking 11. What are your thoughts on using social networking sites or email to let people know about games? - Do you use Facebook features such as ‘become a fan’ or ‘share’? - -Do you use features such as Tell a Friend where you fill out a form with your details and the email address to send the link to? © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 31 12. Do you use Twitter? 13. What type of online games do you like to play? *** END OF FOCUS GROUP *** © 2010 Tamara Gabriel 32