Brands like PepsiCo, Ally, Mondelz, and Coty reveal how they've scored big returns by advertising

Publish date: 2024-07-13
2023-03-09T11:00:00Z

Brands as diverse as PepsiCo, Ally, Mondelēz, and Coty have all been successfully using video games as an advertising medium to drive big results. For instance, when Ally sponsored an island in the video game "Animal Crossing" in 2020, account openings increased 320%, said Beth Woodruff, a senior marketer at the bank who oversees brand strategy and gaming.

She was speaking on a panel at the IAB Playfronts in New York.

Advertising in video games represents a big opportunity for brands to get in front of a large, engaged audience. Insider Intelligence, Insider's sister company, estimated that 54% of the US population were digital gamers in 2022. And advertisers are pouring billions into the gaming industry to sponsor in-game advertisements, streaming ads, and sponsorships, according to research and advisory firm Technavio.  

On the panel, Woodruff and marketers from PepsiCo, Coty, and Mondelēz all revealed how they've made sure their video game-related investments pay off.

They built campaigns that made the game experience better

PepsiCo is an old hand at advertising in video games, having done so since 2008, said Paul Mascali, the company's head of esports and gaming. PepsiCo is coming off a busy fourth quarter, with three national promotions that tied into video games, and the company makes sure to center its activations around in-game rewards and content. "We work with our development partners to unlock in-game content and peripherals we offer back to the community," Mascali said. 

Financial services company Ally doesn't offer products as endemic to gaming as PepsiCo, but its tactics are similar. "We're trying to be additive to the gameplay," said Woodruff. The company's "Animal Crossing" activation guaranteed the price of digital goods — namely turnips — that players could sell. There was however a hiccup, as gamers complained when Ally ran out of turnips, and had to activate more.

Woodruff said brands shouldn't panic if that happens. "It gave us the opportunity to make it right," Woodruff said. "So it's being adaptive in that you don't know everything about the space, and that's okay. It won't damage your brand, but you want to be in communication with them always to make sure their gameplay is enhanced."

In April, Ally will release a combat arena as part of a new campaign in the video game "Fortnite."

Working with influencers can ensure a gaming ad campaign is a hit 

PepsiCo is aggressive at collaborating with influencers like Dr DisRespect. "The viewership and engagement is incredible," Mascali said. Influencers are "massive" when advertising in video games, he added, and each one plays a specific role, depending on what sort of result the brand is trying to drive. PepsiCo also lets its creators have creative control over the messaging. "That's where you get the gold: memes and inside jokes and buy-in from audiences," Mascali said. "It's become more than just an ad, but a piece of content they're engaging with." 

Working with creators also helps brands stay relevant even as video game culture constantly evolves. 

"The space is changing so constantly, and what we've leaned into over the years is finding the right creators," said Lauryn McDonough senior marketing director at Mondelēz. The CPG just wrapped up its biggest video game campaign ever — Fruit Fight, which marketed four new flavors for Sour Patch Kids and involved a four-week tournament where NFL players, professional gamers, and amateurs to compete in a video game against each other. 

"That was a huge win for us this year," McDonough said, adding that the company is still tallying up results but the campaign got "huge engagement." 

Video game advertising requires a lot of collaboration 

One of the biggest challenges brands face when advertising in video games is getting alignment across the company. 

Most of the time, the decision to advertise in a video game comes from the innovation team, said Nicolas Comestaz VP of global media at Coty. "It requires a lot of willingness to collaborate within the team," he said.

Marketers also face difficulty selling a video game campaign to company brass. 

"Sometimes, leadership is like, 'Gaming? Really?'" said Woodruff. "We feel we have to constantly prove that down funnel." However, this has been surprisingly easy, she said. She cites stats like the 320% account increase from the "Animal Crossing" campaign, and a 13% increase in awareness from a different campaign that Ally ran on Twitch to convince higher-ups to invest in video games.

Another difficulty brands face is developing a video game campaign that's not just a one-off. 

"The biggest challenge is moving from being opportunistic and defining a strategy to engaging these communities in the mid-to long term, which is quite difficult because this is a very fast-moving area," said Comestaz.

But brands should invest in video games for the long term, said Mascali.

"Consistency is really important," he said. "A lot of brands might be testing and learning and doing one-off things, but that's not how you build a relationship."

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