The use of product placement in video games: is it possible to define it as a new promising area of investments for companies and their brands? A field investigation among experts and passionate

Abstract

Crowded media environment, audience dispersion, heavy clutter and new generations’ increasingly less interest in traditional media are just some examples of the elements that marketers must take into account in the main challenge they daily face: capture consumers’ attention. Today we are in a situation where every purchasing decision is guided by an ever-wider set of brands and their values: they are like a close friend in our life and mind. Companies struggle to have a strong brand strategy in order to be in consumers’ evaluation set and, because of the high level of media saturation, they are always looking at new advertising strategies in order to communicate and reach as many people as possible. These trends have spread the adoption of non-traditional media like social media and the various forms of branded entertainment, among which companies increasingly adopt product placement. This is not, however, a new phenomenon: the first example of product placement dates back to the end of the 19th century, but it became widely adopted just in the 1980s. Product placement is a method to intentionally include elements which remember the brand or its products or services in entertainment media such as television, movies, social media, music and video games. It can be included in the media mix with the aim to target large audiences. This definition includes a media that, even if it is not a new media, has recently received increasing attention by marketers: video games. They can be played both offline, on consoles like PlayStation or on PC, or online on specific platforms. Throughout the lockdown months, as an example, there has been an increase in the hours people spend playing videogames, and this phenomenon is at the base of this dissertation. The act of including product placement in the advertising strategy seems to be a good action plan, so if product placement in movies and TV series is so effective, is it the same also for the brands inserted in video games? Is product placement in video games a new increasing area of investments – to promote products or brands – for companies? Employing videogames in their marketing strategy is an interesting way for companies to increase engagement, brand awareness and reach new segments, like millennials and generation Z. In order to build and expand the affinity with the future customers, video games offer as a plus the possibility to create a storytelling, possibility which is decreasingly available on traditional media due to their intrusiveness. Product placement in games gives also a chance to all companies of all sizes to create their own campaign, since video games provide the same probability of impact on everyone. The final purpose of this dissertation is therefore to understand if it is possible to define video games as a new investment area. This goal has been achieved following different steps: because of a limited literature and databases where to access data, initial explorative research has been made to understand the groundwork. To be more precise, the research starts with a review of the available literature about product placement and video games in general terms with the aim to frame the situation. Considering that the main focus is not on the advertisers and companies’ side, some interviews with experts and passionate have then been made to understand their view and opinion about the topic. Finally, the dissertation goes a little be deeper into the topic with the collection of data among video games players through a questionnaire. It has initially been distributed via my group of contacts, then through the contacts of the respondents and it has been posted on some online platforms. The answers have allowed the tracking of gamers’ feelings and attitude towards product placement in video games.