Road Safety Ads in Games: Good or Bad?

[balthazarr]

From http://www.news.com.au/technology/st...14239,00.html:

Video games to get local road safety ads
By Simon Canning The Australian September 07, 2009 02:00am

VIRTUAL billboards in car-racing and Guitar Hero games will soon feature state government road safety messages.

Victoria's Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has increased its commitment to advertising in computer games, saying the medium is emerging as the best way to target young males with road safety messages.

The TAC has signed a new one-year contract with Microsoft's in-game advertising service Massive to put virtual billboards in games ranging from music hit Guitar Hero to the soon-to-be-released racing game Forza Motorsport 3.

TAC senior marketing manager John Thompson said the decision to increase the presence of messages in games was a reflection of the impact the medium had already had.

Mr Thompson said the TAC was also about to embark on a major survey of the impact of in-game branding and the effect of safety messages in a live online environment with Microsoft gaming rival Sony.

Industry experts predict the next year will see an explosion in the power of in-game advertising, with Sony and Microsoft launching a major pre-Christmas marketing price war expected to see the number of consoles installed in homes and connected to broadband networks rise significantly.

"I identified this back in 2004 on my list of future opportunities," Mr Thompson said.

"TV is having a tumultuous time and we had to identify what we could do to get in front of more eyeballs.

"My belief in this dates back to the Commodore 64 (an early gaming machine), but the technology and the product was not there to do this even in 2004.

"This is about targeting males aged 18 to 39 - that's our world because we believe we can change their behaviour."

Mr Thompson said while the TAC had been a global pioneer in road safety advertising and created story lines not just for ads but even for shows such as Neighbours, the interactive environment offered an entirely new way to drive home the message.

"When we are able to flex our creative muscle in this environment is when it really starts to bite," he said.

Ads to be inserted into games include banner ads and virtual signs that blend in with the surrounding game environment, such as sports stadium hoardings and the walls of buildings.

Brian Neal, regional sales manager for Massive, said the TAC's target audience was spending up to 15 hours a week in online gaming environments where advertisers could reach them.

"One major benefit to in-game is the lack of competing media," Mr Neal said.

"As these guys watch TV, there is a high chance they're going to have their laptop open surfing the web, texting and chatting on the phone.

"Because a game is an ... experience that requires all your focus, in-game doesn't have to worry about competing for their attention."

Will it work? Is it a waste of money? Would you rather see "Wipe off 5." and "Drink. Drive. Bloody Idiot." as you're tearing around a race track, than generic "ads" (or even real ads)?

Personally, I'd rather not see any ads at all... it's not as if we get the game for free, and the ads support it - it's just another money spinner. But, if we have to have ads (and I don't think they're going away any time soon), are safety ads the way to go?