Gaming advertising: “Your audience is moving from social to gaming. Time to evolve your media mix"

Proximus has been the prime Belgian benchmark for gaming marketing for years. Yet Tim Colman, Head of Digital Communication at the telecom company, expects more challengers to step up. “After the shift to social, we are now seeing the shift to gaming. The question What does my brand do with gaming? is therefore becoming increasingly important.” A conversation about traditional versus new media channels, gaming advertising within your overall strategy, and best practices.

Proximus, Scarlet, and Mobile Vikings. Three brands under one roof, each with its own positioning, distinct goals, and different products. Proximus is the quality label, Scarlet the budget choice, and Mobile Vikings the brand with the distinctly rebellious character.

Gaming marketing has earned its place in the strategy of each of those brands.

From social to gaming

“For Proximus Fiber, for example, this is an interesting target audience because they are tech-savvy and want the best of the best. Gamers are also willing to spend more on technology than the average consumer,” Tim begins. “But that doesn’t mean we automatically go all-in on gaming advertising for every single one of our products. The overall strategy is always leading.”

There is another important reason why gaming advertising has a permanent spot in those overall strategies. “Our time spent is shifting. Especially among those younger target groups. Young people are getting into gaming at an increasingly early age. And the time they spend on it is on the rise.”

More difficult to reach through social

“We see games like FIFA and Roblox taking away more and more time from social media. This means that with a classic digital strategy, you are going to find it harder to reach a certain part of your target audience.”

“As a marketer, you have to be where your audience is. And all reports and studies show that the time we spend in games and virtual worlds is only increasing. Gaming is becoming a media channel in its own right, just like a Facebook or Instagram,” Tim predicts.

That makes the following questions increasingly relevant:

• What do we do as a brand with gaming advertising?
• How does it fit into our marketing strategy?
• And how do we get started with it?

To crack that final question, there are two scenarios.

1. You know gaming

“I’m a fan of gaming myself,” Tim says. “That means I sometimes have to suppress my passion for it. Because gaming advertising isn’t the right answer to every marketing question. First, look closely at your objectives and target audience. Then, connect it to the bigger strategy. Only then do you check if gamers are the ideal audience, and it’s time to work on a concept.”

“Otherwise, you won’t get it sold internally. Or chances are high that your first gaming campaign won’t deliver a return. Don’t lead with the idea, lead with the strategy. Only then can you open eyes and ears for gaming within your company.

“If you understand gaming, you are at an advantage. Because it means you can translate that world into the internal reality of your brand. The day-to-day reality that management is looking at. You have a serious head start in bridging the gap between gaming and your commercial challenges. It’s up to you to bring those two worlds together.”

2. You don’t know gaming

“Then free up an hour or two to study a game. My advice: start with Fortnite. See how other brands approach brand integration there. Try to understand how that ecosystem works, and how gamers navigate within that ecosystem.”

Our addition from No Noob: Roblox. Because this game is wildly popular with young teenagers. And because within Roblox, there are many games where they can create things themselves. For instance, there is a game where you can design your own jewelry. As a brand, you can observe which colors and materials they choose and how they work with them.

The best scenario

Whichever of the two scenarios applies to you: get in touch if you want to know more about the possibilities of gaming advertising.