24/12: Context, Subtext, and the Seamless Ad Patent
There are several ways to classify the marriages of ads and games, and we have an article coming up dedicated to the topic. But today we'll dissect another pet: the philosophy of marriages. Why is it relevant to in-game ads? Let's find out.
They say that, in a marriage, there's always a person who loves, and another person who allows the love. So with in-game ads, too, the medium and the messages that use the medium as the transport are in one of two states: either the medium fuels the messages or the messages fuels the medium. Put simply, advertising coexists with games in either context mode or subtext mode.
(We warned you that it was going to be philosophy, didn't we?)
Context and subtext are two completely different ways to succeed or fail when you have been tasked with creating a piece of interactive entertainment that promotes brands, products, or services. Context and subtext are two types of synergy for promotional activities and games. Whether you succeed or fail does not depend on the type of synergy, just like in a real marriage it does not matter which of the sides allows the love – as long as both are happy.
Understanding of the differences and implications of context and subtext, however, is critical. One could suppose that context means putting ads in context, just like the Big Trio puts ads in the results of online searches. By a strange philosophical coincidence, this description betters suits the subtext synergy.
Context is when you create a game specifically to host ads; you craft a context. The most common examples of creating context are advergames and infomercials sponsored or co-branded by serious companies. Think Ford Racing (Ford's Mark Bentley Talks Licensing; Explains How Cars Get Into Games), for example, or AXE's crazy Pitman game that features an armpit on two legs. (More on context below.)
Subtext is when the ads are just one of the ingredients in the mix that makes up a game; you insert subtext. A good example of subtext comes from the movies industry: the Bond series. Not only the double naught spy had license to kill, he also drove fantastic cars – Lotus, the Jag, Aston Martin to name a few – used cool branded accessories and drank branded beverages. Agent 007 is heavily loaded with product placement, but suitably so. As for games, we have yet to see a nice example of subtext – drop us a line if you think you have one – although examples of mercilessly hacking ads into existing games or games that have already been designed are abound.
Both approaches to marrying ads to games have their uses and merits as well as issues. Today, games rarely, if at all, become the only means of advertising; because you engineer games into the advertising campaign as a whole (and you should), you get yourself a choice and some options.
You can read the rest of the article at V-Lodge. Click.
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They say that, in a marriage, there's always a person who loves, and another person who allows the love. So with in-game ads, too, the medium and the messages that use the medium as the transport are in one of two states: either the medium fuels the messages or the messages fuels the medium. Put simply, advertising coexists with games in either context mode or subtext mode.
(We warned you that it was going to be philosophy, didn't we?)
Context and Subtext
Context and subtext are two completely different ways to succeed or fail when you have been tasked with creating a piece of interactive entertainment that promotes brands, products, or services. Context and subtext are two types of synergy for promotional activities and games. Whether you succeed or fail does not depend on the type of synergy, just like in a real marriage it does not matter which of the sides allows the love – as long as both are happy.
Understanding of the differences and implications of context and subtext, however, is critical. One could suppose that context means putting ads in context, just like the Big Trio puts ads in the results of online searches. By a strange philosophical coincidence, this description betters suits the subtext synergy.
Context is when you create a game specifically to host ads; you craft a context. The most common examples of creating context are advergames and infomercials sponsored or co-branded by serious companies. Think Ford Racing (Ford's Mark Bentley Talks Licensing; Explains How Cars Get Into Games), for example, or AXE's crazy Pitman game that features an armpit on two legs. (More on context below.)
Subtext is when the ads are just one of the ingredients in the mix that makes up a game; you insert subtext. A good example of subtext comes from the movies industry: the Bond series. Not only the double naught spy had license to kill, he also drove fantastic cars – Lotus, the Jag, Aston Martin to name a few – used cool branded accessories and drank branded beverages. Agent 007 is heavily loaded with product placement, but suitably so. As for games, we have yet to see a nice example of subtext – drop us a line if you think you have one – although examples of mercilessly hacking ads into existing games or games that have already been designed are abound.
Both approaches to marrying ads to games have their uses and merits as well as issues. Today, games rarely, if at all, become the only means of advertising; because you engineer games into the advertising campaign as a whole (and you should), you get yourself a choice and some options.
You can read the rest of the article at V-Lodge. Click.
