EA Presents At Advertising Week

Electronic Arts gave a presentation on the advantages of advertising within video games as part of the Advertising Week industry conference. Titled "EA: It's Your Move. Get in the Game," company executives joined former New York Giant and current Today Show correspondent Tiki Barber at the Times Center to excite advertising executives about how effective games are in engaging consumers with brands.

After a brief introduction by Advertising Week Executive Director Matt Scheckner, Barber told the attendees a humorous anecdote about how he's a gamer and that his kids constantly ask him if he's any good at Madden NFL. After the chuckles died down, he was followed by EA Senior Vice President of Global Media Sales Elizabeth Harz, who explained how engagement is what separates games from other forms of media, particularly in the current era of media fragmentation. And she asserted that games were the first medium to feature both user generated content and social networking. A benefit resulting from it's digital roots.

One of the most interesting take-aways from the presentation was data regarding the demographics of EA's core audience, which is far more varied than one might initially think. For example the company's console titles reach 18-34 year old males, while the Pogo.com casual game portal reaches 25-54 year old women. Teens, surprisingly enough, are most engaged by The Sims, which has sold over 100 million units. Given the breadth of this audience, Ms. Harz pointed out that games in general reach a much broader demographic than the young men they are typically associated with. During her talk Ms. Harz also announced a partnership with Dr. Pepper, in which the brand will bring free content to players.

Also speaking at the presentation was Vice President/General Manager of EA Montreal Alain Tascan. He showed videos of EA titles "Need for Speed" and "Army of Two" while explaining how games can create powerful bonds with audiences that can last over thousands of hours of play. This level of engagement is important for advertisers who are interested in utilizing in-game advertising as a business model.

Next up was Senior Vice President of EA Sports Andrew Wilson. He detailed how sports video games give players a personal relationship with sports at the highest level of emotion before showing a humorous video of everyday people competing in actual professional sports competitions. His most interesting statistic was that in Madden 2009's first week of release, the equivalent of 21,000 NFL seasons were played online. He then brought Mr. Barber back on stage to compete in Tiger Woods PGA Tour, which by the way Mr. Barber won.

Ms. Harz concluded the presentation by summarizing the efficacy of brands in games and asserted that the medium's potential has yet to be tapped. Overall it was an interesting and thought provoking presentation that really demonstrated the breadth of EA's audience and went a long way towards explaining to advertisers in attendence why in-game marketing is a viable and exciting future business model.