Real objectives

June 8, 2006 on 10:43 am | In Advergames, Brands |

I know I’ve mentioned the AT&T campaign before, but it’s worth discussing again with regard to the whole issue of strategic thinking in advergames design.

Achieving 87,000 hours of brand exposure — as claimed for the AT&T game — is a process goal. It’s a means to an end. It’s not an end in itself.

Strategic thinkers in marketing want to track the relationship between process goals and marketing outcomes, such as measurable increases in awareness, consideration and purchase. The advergaming industry needs to get smarter if we want to shift games from the “nice to have” basket to “must have.”

Branding is increasingly something you can offer as a metric with games and other online content. There are opportunities to deliver accountable solutions, whether you measure new leads or increases in brand awareness. When we’re accountable, we’ll have the respect of marketers.