Food, Shoes, and Cars Most Recognizable In-Game Ad Brands

Coke, Pepsi, Burger King, Nike, Adidas, and Ford were found to be among the most recognizable companies in video game ads by a recent survey.

A recent study from the Phoenix Marketing International marketing firm found that the most recognizable brands for in-game advertisements included a large amount of food and beverage brands and shoe companies.

An equal number of female and male gamers above the age of 18 were asked a number of game related questions in online questionnaires. Fourty-two percent of those interviewed could remember specific in-game ads. The list of the most commonly recalled brands from advertisements in games included: Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Ford, BMW, Samsung, McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Axe. Sports gamers made up the majority of those who recognized the advertisement, and the most popular titles with in-game ads were FIFA World Cup, NHL 2K7, Madden NFL 07, NBA 2K7, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

The study also revealed that 23% of those interviewed were more likely to purchase a Playstation 3 than a Wii, which only received 14% of the votes. More men than women found the Wii as an appealing product, but each gender had an equal interest in the Playstation 3. As part of the first wave of Phoenix’s Video Game Advertising & Measurement Evaluation Research Syndication (GAMERS), 1,502 individuals were interviewed online between October 5th and October 11th, 2006. Gamers were defined as individuals who either purchased or rented a game on a current system in the past month.

David Pluchino, the Senior Research Manager at Phoenix, explained the role of in-game advertising to GameDaily BIZ: “The ultimate goal of advertising is to make a person want to go out and buy that product. Even with a natural fit of banners around a stadium, very few gamers are likely to consider a product just because they see it in the football stadium of their favorite video game. In order for ‘in-game’ advertising to have an effect in the console world, it needs to be incorporated as part of the game-play as seen with many of the Massively Multiplayer Online Games. In-game advertising is still in its early stages and there are many things to learn.”