Miami, Florida-based Internet Media Services (IMS), a 400-employee digital marketing company, recently teamed up with Electronic Arts (EA), which has 300 million registered game players worldwide, to bring ads to Latin America's video gamers.
The effort will create “one more opportunity so that brands can reach users at an optimal point,” Daniel Alonso, IMS vice president of business development, said during a phone interview with Latin Business Daily.
Founded by Argentine entrepreneurs, the company has expanded in a decade to 400 employees and multiple offices across Latin America. In July, Sony Pictures Television bought a majority share in the company.
“For us, the opportunity is very good," Alonso said. "We seek associations with leading brands in each of their industries.”
The idea is to reach consumers while they are playing games either with mobile telephones, online or through video game consoles. Game downloads beat those of music or videos, Alonso said.
“While the consumer is playing, he is immersed in an environment and is a lot less susceptible to (multiple) screens,” he said.
Since gamers only focus on one screen, more of their attention can be captured while doing things that can pose a challenge.
“One modality is when there is an exchange of value between the announcer and the player," Alonso said. "A player can reach a higher level based on his gaming skills alone, but could also opt for watching publicity if that could give him those points he needs."
Representing EA games in Latin America is a huge opportunity.
Out of the $90 billion spent in worldwide games, $4 billion are spent by Latin Americans, Alonso said.
EA owns trademark brands such as The Sims, Battlefield, Dragon Age and Plants vs. Zombies while it also has permission to use brands such as NFL, NBA, NHL and Fifa in games. For its fiscal year 2015, the company posted a net revenue of $4.5 billion.
The early focus on IMS' efforts with EA will be in Mexico and Brazil.
Mobile gaming has shown a compounded annual growth rate of 45 percent for the 2014-2018 period, IMS has said.
"Video ads in EA games have a 2.5 times higher ad recall than television, making it a powerful place for brands to connect with their consumers," Dave Madden, senior vice president of Global Media Solutions for EA, said in a press release.
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