Advergames: A Peek Into Advergames

There have been many advergames employed by companies to promote their products or services. Some have been very successful, some have failed. Companies are generally reluctant to accept that an advergame failed, so the information on the success or failure is not always available.

Details of some of the advergames used are given below

1. Company: Nescafe - India

Contests2win (C2W) was given a brief to create an advergame to create a connection between coffee and the rejuvenation of the mind. The consumers must want to come back for their daily "fix" of coffee in the real as well as the virtual world, they should want to savor Nescafe in real as well as the virtual world.

The Game: In this game everyday words were "stirred" to jumble them up. The players then had to stir them back to the right order. Stirred is a term used for the process of mixing coffee. The game was designed at different levels of difficulty, labeled Regular, Medium and Strong, which is coffee lingo for different brews available in coffee. Daily cash prizes added to the attraction of playing the game and keeping people coming back for more. Also the game challenged people at an "intellectual" level and earned the satisfaction of having solved an engaging puzzle. The response generated was very good. The game was played over 15 Lakh times, with over 1 lakh people playing it, each game lasted 5-7 minutes.

2. Company: Yamaha - India

Contests2win (C2W) was given a brief to create an advergame to introduce the new "Fazer" bike to the target audience. The advergame was also intended to convey that the bike had good pickup, good mileage, great styling and the limited edition bike was available in two exciting colours.

The Game: The initial part of the game was a short movie which introduces the bike. In the next part players can choose the colour of the bike and then they can play the game. The game clearly emphasizes to the player the good pickup which the bike provides. Finally, the last part of the game involved an easy and short set of questions on the features of the bike. One special edition "Fazer" bike was the prize on offer.

(www.contests2win.com)

3. Company: ICICI Prudential Insurance - India

The brief was to create an advergame which educated people on the concepts like retirement planning, insurance as an investment vehicle and to drive home the point that procrastination is expensive. The advergame should be easy, interactive and non-intimidating.

The Game: The advergame is centered on the company's mascot Chintamani, who plays different avatars of a doctor, a gym instructor and dietician. Chintamani asks for player's personal information like