Thece was a sponsor for the IAB PlayFronts for the second year in a row. This gathering of the advertising community, both agencies and brands, alongside gaming and esports industry professionals is always full of great discussions, hot topics, industry challenges and camaraderie. Coming out of the conference this year, we had some takeaways and key learnings.
- Custom integrations are still popular, but there is opportunity for a lower cost, higher volume ad products that can provide better value.
- Creators, influencers and streamers are the driving force behind engagement and interaction, but it’s important to also consider audience composition.
- Offering value to mid-tier creators and diverse audiences can be a differentiator in a landscape where other organizations are primarily focused on major and mega creators.
- Education is key to understanding the vast audience in the gaming industry, as two-thirds of people in the U.S. identify as gamers. This makes it a larger industry than the music industry and Hollywood combined.
- To allow for easy implementation, scalable buys and measurement solutions, standardization of advertising offerings in the gaming industry is essential. There has to be a solution to avoid the time-consuming and costly customization of advertising for each creator or game publisher.
Gaming and esports is still in its infancy when compared to other advertising media, but it has a larger audience than most. There is an immense opportunity to increase revenue to this industry, bring professionalism and offer advertising products that scale for both creators and advertisers.