1. Social Entertainment
Chapter Seven

2. Learning Objectives
What are the characteristics of social games and gamer segments?
How can social media marketers use social games to meet branding objectives?
Why are social games an effective tool for marketing?
What are the characteristics of alternate reality games (ARGs)?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using alternate reality games as a marketing communications channel?

3. Social Entertainment Zone
Social entertainment zone is among the fastest growing areas of social media
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Tuten, T., & Solomon, M. (2013). Social Media Marketing. Boston: Pearson.

4. Social Games
Augmented reality (AR) - a form of technology that enables the overlay of digital images and information over a real (physical) environment
QR Code - a two-dimensional bar code that can be read using a webcam or mobile device equipped with a code reader
QR = Quick Response
Social Game - a multiplayer, competitive, goal-oriented activity with defined rules of engagement and online connectivity among a community of players
Key elements: leaderboards, achievement badges, friend (buddy) lists

5. Gamer Segments
Casual games - low barriers-to-entry; require only a small amount of time per session, are easy to learn, and are readily available online
Core games - require extended lengths of time per gameplay session (90 minutes or several hours), are highly immersive, and demand advanced skills for ongoing play; may be available online or may have specific hardware and software requirements
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6. Gamer Segments
67% of American households play computer and video games
Average gamer is 34 years old with 12 years of gaming experience
eMarketer estimated that 40 million people played social games in the U.S. in 2010
Games exhibit a high degree of stickiness
Gamers spend more time gaming online than they do on the Internet in all other activities except social networking
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7. Gamer Segments
Games meet all of the criteria for viable market segmentation:
The market is substantial, reachable, and measurable
The gaming demographic has broadened so that games are now considered viable vehicles to reach women and older consumers as well as young males
Gamers spend sufficient, dedicated time with games to achieve valuable ad impressions

8. How We Categorize Social Games
Game Platforms
Game platform - the hardware systems on which the game is played
Game consoles - interactive, electronic devices used to display video games (ex. Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360)
Computers (ex. online games)
Portable devices (ex. Sony PSP, Nintendo DS)
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
Tuten, T., & Solomon, M. (2013). Social Media Marketing. Boston: Pearson.

9. How We Categorize Social Games
Mode and Milieu
Mode - the way the game world is experienced (single/multiplayer, close/virtual proximity, real-time/turn-based)
Milieu - the visual nature of the game (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and retro)
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10. How We Categorize Social Games
Genres
Genre - the method of play
Simulation games - attempt to depict real-world situations as accurately as possible (ex. racing/flight simulations)
Action games
First-person shooters (FPS) - “see” the game as the avatar does
Third-person games
Role-playing games (RPGs) - the players play a character role with the goal of completing some mission, closely tied to the milieu of fantasy
MMORPGs - massive multiplayer online role-playing games
Strategy games - involve expert play to organize and value variables in the game system; may involve contextualizing information available from secondary resources
Puzzle games

11. Game-Based Marketing
Advergame - a game that delivers a branded message
In-Game Advertising - promotion within a game that another company develops and sells
Display ads - integrated in a game's environment as billboards, movie posters, and store fronts, or simply as ad space within the game screen
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12. Game-Based Marketing In-Game Advertising
Static ads - hard-coded in into the game and ensure that all players view the advertising
Dynamic ads - variable; change based on specific criteria, offer a high degree of control and real-time measurements
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13. Product Placement
Product placement - the placement of a branded item in an entertainment property such as a television program, movie, or game
Screen placement - incorporate the brand into what’s happening on the show
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14. Product Placement
Script placement - verbal mentions of the brand’s name and attributes in the plot
Transactional advertising - rewards players if they respond to a request; part product placement, part direct response advertising, and part sales promotion
Rewards: virtual goods (which players can use in the game or offer as gifts to friends), currency (used to advance in the game), codes (used to unlock prizes and limited-access player experiences)

15. Brand Integration
In-game immersive advertising - interactive product placements, branded in game experiences, and game integration between the game and the brand
Plot placement - involves situations in which the brand is actually incorporated into the story in a substantive manner (film industry)

16. Brand Integration Advergames
Game itself is a form of branded entertainment
Almost exclusively available online
Tend to be more casual rather than core games
Goal = spread a branded message
“Reskinned” versions of existing games - reprogrammed to contain brand logos/other sponsored images
Not intended to make money
Lack technical and sophistication
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17. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
Social games have huge potential for marketers
Social games make it possible to finely target users because most games attract a distinct type of player
Relatively inexpensive to use the social game medium to advertise
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18. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
Brand exclusivity is available
where a sponsor is the sole advertiser in a gaming environment
Metrics are available to measure how well the game works to attract players
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19. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
Negatives of social game advertising
game clutter: there are too many games out that compete for a player’s attention
problem because of the time investment involved in playing a game
available inventory for in-game advertising

20. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
Key characteristics of games that make advertising in social games attractive to marketers
gamers are open to advertising content in games
brands benefit when they associate with a successful game
Transference Effect: when players love a game, some of the positive feelings rub off on the brands they encounter within it
Internalization: occurs when members of the target market accept the beliefs of an endorser as their own
Meaning Transfer Model: states that consumers associate meaning with the endorser & then transfer the meaning to the brand in question
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21. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
Key characteristics of games that make advertising in social games attractive to marketers (continued)
players identify with the brands their characters use
this increases their brand involvement
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22. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
Key characteristics of games that make advertising in social games attractive to marketers (continued)
branding within a game’s story is an unobtrusive way to share a brand’s core message
marketers can measure a game’s promotional value
Counterarguing: when spectators become actors, they are less likely to sit back & think of reasons why the advertising message (on the screen) doesn’t apply to them
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23. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
Narrative Transportation Theory
explains how imagined interactivity can build positive brand attitudes
proposes that mental stimulation through narrative storytelling encourages players to become lost in the story
once immersed in the plot, players are distracted from the advertising embedded in the game & do not counterargue against those messages
results in players forming attitudes toward the brand simply based on the positive feelings the story evokes

24. The Bottom Line: Why Do Social Games Work for Marketers?
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25. Alternate Reality Games: A Transmedia Genre
Unfiction.com defines an alternate reality game as a “cross-media genre of interactive fiction using multiple delivery & communications media, including TV, radio, newspapers, Internet, , SMS, telephone, voic , & postal service”
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26. Alternate Reality Games: A Transmedia Genre
Transmedia Social Games: games that involve two or more different media (ARGs are transmedia social games)
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27. Alternate Reality Games: A Transmedia Genre
Characteristics of ARGs
begin with a scripted scenario; are based on a fictional story
characters, events, places, & plot are imagined & explored by the game writers (known as puppet masters)
Characteristics of ARGs
strategy/puzzle games
collective detective: acknowledges the need for a team approach to solve the mystery
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28. Alternate Reality Games: A Transmedia Genre
Characteristics of ARGs
players collaborate to unravel the meanings of clues but also compete to be the first to solve layers of the mystery

29. Alternate Reality Games: A Transmedia Genre
The Vocabulary of ARGs

30. Alternate Reality Games: A Transmedia Genre
The Marketing Value of ARGs

31. Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Brand-Sponsored ARGs

35. Chapter Summary