Key Takeaways:
Product placement is at its best when it is harmless and
helps drive the overall content of the game without irritating the player
Delivery of messaging can range in unique ways that may
subtly address the brand
Blatant product placement, while not offensive, may be
perplexing for a gamer to comprehend and potentially erode at brand equity of
both the game and the company represented
(Yup, this
actually happened. Credit: MMOBomb.com)
Product placement has been a longtime mainstay in several
forms of media. Not to be confused with Advergames (take a look here at 7-Up’s Cool Spot for a good example of
advergaming done right), product placement refers to a company having its
product specifically in a media, whether drawing attention to it or not remains
up to the partnership. Since the early days of gaming, product placement has
been able to carve out its own niche in gaming; however, there has been no
perfect strategy for figuring out the proper way to utilize product placement
in gaming, and as a result, the gaming industry has been left with some
instances of success, some of failure, and a lot of random and unusual attempts
at promoting brands. In most cases, we’re left with unique results.
Case 1 – Crazy Taxi Takes You To All Your
Favorite Brands:
(Get to the
Colonel ASAP. Credit: Mweb.co)
When Crazy Taxi hit
the arcades starting in 1999 no one had ever seen anything like it. It was a
fast paced, punk rock fueled, driving game where you played a taxi driver. It
was not a traditional racing game trying to beat out opponents. Instead,
players were tasked with driving to an available passenger in what seemed like
a downtown San Francisco. Passengers were marked with colors ranging from
green, yellow, orange, and red depending on distance to destination (green was
extremely short or easy, while red was a longer, more difficult drive). Players
were paid various sums depending on how fast they could get to the destination
and driving skill, meaning if they were able to swerve through traffic without
getting hit or fly through shortcuts or jumps they would be rewarded with bonus
cash. There was a limited amount of time that would be replenished somewhat
once the drive was completed. It’s important to stress that the game is more of
an action racing game, and again, unlike anything seen for the genre. Players
do not have a lot of time to think about the destinations or routes. The game
focuses on reactions and trying to hold off the time limit from expiring.
Marketers realized the potential hit and partnered with Sega to utilize the
game for superb product placement.
What made the product placement so great was that the products
represented were the destinations players would deliver customers to for fares.
The game included Fila, Levi’s, Tower Records, KFC, and Pizza Hut as potential
destinations. While Tower Records may not have been able to fully utilize the
advertising effectively going forward (a result of a changing market), the
other brands still remain household names. Furthermore, in a game about speed
and quick reactions, the transmission power associated with the products may
have made it even easier for players to recognize what to look for. Instead of
a generic location (and there are some in the games), players knew what the
destination was ahead of time, even if they had not seen the virtual location
previously. This marketing also provided locking power, because if a player
were to play it with a friend and barely reach a destination, at least there
would be something to talk about in the story following the in game activities.
Most importantly, perhaps due to the rapid reaction time and lack to fully
comprehend the advertising attempt, there is not enough time for a player to
bemoan the use of product placement, because the product simply does not have
relevance for its advertising and is instead meant as a key part of the game.
With Crazy Taxi being the 2nd
best-selling Dreamcast game in 2000 (selling nearly 750,000 units), it is fair
to assume the advertisers got their money’s worth.
Case 2 – Mercedes-Benz
has no idea who its audience is and decides to partner with Nintendo:
(Well those aren’t traditional go karts…)
When I think of Mercedes-Benz, I think of luxury. The high
priced cars that hopefully I’ll be able to afford sometime shortly after
finishing business school[1].
The longstanding brand that seems to ooze class and success. I do not think of
it as the primary vehicle of choice for the inhabitants of the Mushroom
Kingdom. Nevertheless, Mercedes-Benz and its team thought of the idea of
partnering with Nintendo to provide a downloadable content pack for the Wii U’s
Mario Kart 8 in 2015 which allowed
Mario, Luigi, and all of their friends to drive in current and older models of
the company’s famous cars. While the jury is out on whether or not it was truly
effective, in a very short period of time it has been largely questioned across
the industry. Furthermore, it has appeared on several “Blatant Product
Placement” lists, which is clearly not the greatest outcome for either company[2].
In attempt to stop publicity from taking on a life of its
own, Mercedes attempted to address the rationale as to why it wanted to add its
cars to the game. According to Caroline Pitz, the head of product placement
with Mercedes, the main factor was nostalgia, as she specifically stated that “Many people
grew up with Mario during the last 30 years, so there are
quite a lot of 30- and 40-somethings around for which Super Mario Maker hails back to
their childhood days and gives them a large dose of nostalgia”[3].
While this quote directly references Super
Mario Maker where downloadable content was produced earlier this year from
the automaker, the quote still rings true for the efforts in Mario Kart 8.
(The Super Mario Maker collaboration. Credit:
Nintendo.com)
Unfortunately, I would strongly disagree with Ms. Pitz’s
assessment on a number of factors. First, the individuals that Mercedes is
looking to target are not playing Mario
Kart 8. Since the console wars of the 1980’s and 1990’s, Nintendo has been
battling against being typecast as a children’s console. As time has progressed
that sentiment has not truly changed, if anything, it’s gotten worse. Third
party developers who focus on more mature titles have shied away from
Nintendo’s recent consoles, continuing the stigma that Nintendo systems are
meant for children. While I personally do not agree with this concept (Mario
and Zelda are great regardless of age) it cannot be denied that the industry is
shifting. Therefore, it would be a mistake to assume 30 and 40 year old
individuals are playing Mario Kart on
the Wii U, and thus Mercedes is left with individuals who will almost assuredly
not be able to purchase one of their cars.
(It just looks…off. Credit:
businessinsider.com)
Furthermore, with a very low install base compared to the Wii,
Mercedes missed a golden opportunity from years earlier. Had it partnered with
Nintendo back during the Wii era Mario
Kart I am positive it would’ve been a more bona fide hit. Back from 2006 –
2012, Wii fever was everywhere, across all age ranges and genders, as motion
control turned the industry upside down, and forced the competition to add
motion control to their platforms. Furthermore, with a historically large
install base, the opportunity to reach a substantial number of individuals was
significant. Here is where Mercedes would have been more successful. By
focusing on the Wii U, Mercedes missed nearly 90 million consumers[4].
Lastly, the content itself is simply too realistic for Mario. Mercedes has done
a good job using its brands in other games on the PlayStation and Xbox, but
with Nintendo, I think adding some cartoon effect would have made the product
placement more successful. Having a cartoon character driving a realistic car
just looks awkward. Nintendo did all the right things with the partnership as
it just established itself as a more viable partner to work with, but perhaps
some additional quality control would have helped deliver stronger overall
content.
Case 3 – EverQuest 2 assumes all gaming
stereotypes and gives you the opportunity to order a pizza while you play.
(Game Nom.
Credit: Daybreakgames.com)
Let’s face the facts – gamers have not been the recipients
of the kindest stereotypes. When I think of how Hollywood, the media, or the
general public portrays gaming, I usually see overweight teenage boys with
pimples, no social skills, and an affinity for getting angry whenever they
lose. Even worse, there is a connotation of stupidity or childish nature
associated with gaming, even though the industry makes billions of dollars a
year and the average age of a gamer is 34. I myself for a very long time would
keep my passion for industry a secret when meeting new people because I was
embarrassed of what people would think of me. Furthermore, I’ve been ardent in
proving people wrong in that gamers can be sociable and active[5].
Nevertheless, when I think of an individual who plays a
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (or MMORPG) I realize these
stereotypes are even more enhanced. MMORPGs offer deep and rewarding
experiences at the expense of countless hours and grinding for level
improvement. Thus, the obese, loner stereotype is only stronger here, South Park even made an episode about
how the four main characters played the most famous MMORPG, World of Warcraft, for months to conquer
one player who had been killing all other players in the universe. The player
in question was obese, old, losing his hair, had a wrist protector (likely due
to carpel tunnel syndrome) with junk food surrounded by his computer. In order
to defeat the player, the boys decide to go on a training regimen. In their
training they gain a substantial amount of weight and pimples across their
faces. In truth, it’s actually a very funny episode, but really emblematic of
how players are perceived.
With this perception in mind, Pizza Hut thought of a
ridiculous (albeit kind of brilliant) means to promote itself to these specific
players: /pizza. In EverQuest 2 (one
of the older but beloved MMORPGs that helped bring the genre to the mainstream)
players had the opportunity to type in “/pizza”, after which, a special Pizza
Hut menu would pop up, where you could type in your order, address, and payment
information while still in the virtual world. Within 45 minutes, there would
then be a pizza delivered to you in the real world. This was introduced in the
mid 2000’s (EverQuest 2 was released
in 2004), well before online ordering was commonplace. Needless to say, the
campaign received a lot of publicity, simply for its ludicrousness.
Nevertheless, I think it’s a brilliant marketing strategy overall. Pizza Hut
believed it understood the targeted audience well enough to know that to enjoy
the game a lot of time was required, and thus gave itself the opportunity to
drive sales in a simple partnership. It’s unlike almost any other type of
product placement I’ve ever seen before (or since) in media, and it clearly
drove content and interest[6].
You really need to give the credit to Pizza Hut in this case. It was able to
come up with something so innovative than the typical product placement used in
video games. Since then Pizza Hut has partnered with Xbox to provide a platform
to order its pizza through your console, so clearly the company has some faith
in the platform.
(Clearly there
were fans. Credit: EQ2wikia.com)
These are just a few instances of product placement. There
have been countless others that have ranged all over the spectrum, whether it’s
using an Axe light fixture as stealth in Splinter
Cell, a billboard for President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in Burnout Paradise, or a Verizon
commercial in Alan Wake, product
placement is everywhere[7].
Furthermore, it appears to be growing steadily with the industry. That being
said, it’s not nearly as offensive or effusive as it is in other industries,
where it can be downright ridiculous (see all Transformers’ movies). Instead, it seems as if it is either something
unique to notice or a mild irritant. Of course, given gaming’s growth more
towards the mainstream with the influence of mobile gaming, that all could be
subject to change.
[1]
“Shortly” means within 10 years. Maybe?
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQzf4SkZTx8
[3] http://fortune.com/2015/12/15/mercedes-benz-targets-nintendo-fans/
[4]
The Wii sold 101 million consoles while the Wii U has currently sold 13.3
million consoles (www.vgchartz.com)
[5]
Sometimes we even attract members of the opposite sex. Crazy I know.
[6]
Just google EverQuest 2 and pizza to
see the publicity.
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/03/six-of-the-best-product-placement-video-games
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