Analytics for video game marketing need a rethink, Nielsen says
Published April 28, 2010
Researchers at Nielsen are carefully studying the proposition that an hour of TV viewing time should be viewed in the same way as an hour spent playing video games.
Gerardo Guzman of Nielsen Games said that "advertisers should be very interested to see the amount of time consumers spend interacting with these games - especially during those appointment-based '1 vs 100 Live' sessions. What makes this pilot study so important is the potential for precise audience segmenting. As more game companies and advertisers participate in studies like these, we're able to define and refine an efficient set of metrics for gaming that can be compared against other media."
An Xbox LIVE representative commented that an advertiser had found notable increases in brand awareness thanks to advertisements placed in-game.
Services like Xbox LIVE and the Steam PC gaming network can provide a wealth of usage information that data-driven marketing efforts require for success, experts say.