KEY TAKEAWAY: While the gaming sector has lost some of its pizazz, it cannot be overlooked as a source of growth and opportunity.
I wish I had a title like “Entrepreneur in Residence.”
I wish I could channel my teenage son’s desire to get paid for playing and knowing about the world of video games.
AND, I wish I could have the futuristic foresight like Clara Markovich does.
Alas, there’s no genie in a bottle granting me three wishes, but Clara is as close to a “trend capturer” that Verve has. And she wants to make sure marketers don’t forget about the gaming sector as a source of opportunity and insight as to where the next wave of growth may take place.
Clara had a chance to sit down with #AVA and me to talk about the obvious and not-so-obvious ways that gaming can benefit clients across the Verve ecosystem. She started by talking about our parent company’s origins and why they matter more than ever.
“With our parent company being Media and Games Invest (MGI), you would have to think that our company invests in media companies and gaming companies. In business and in life, media and games naturally go together,” Clara said. “While these units operate independently, we always look for opportunities to collaborate. For instance, MGI brought together a CTV re-engagement/user acquisition campaign with a gamigo group game. It is but one way we connected the dots. We believe there are more opportunities like that on the horizon.”
Games People Play (for Money)
Clara may be on to something, especially when looking at the number of ad tech conglomerates adding gaming studios to their portfolios (e.g., Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard). Verve’s sister company, gamigo group, has more than 500 games across mobile, PC and the web. This means we can hear and learn from gamers’ pain points about advertising more closely. For example, we can better understand the consumer and user journey thanks to data intelligence within the apps. We can also identify and discover consumers more efficiently. These direct insights help Verve solve problems that benefit all gaming publishers across our stack — and potentially other publishers who may face similar situations.
“The most important thing to be mindful of when looking at the gaming sector is tapping into the data possibilities stemming from owned and operated games,” Clara noted. “In an ideal world, we can utilize and enhance all the pain points our gaming unit has through data, and at the same time have the capability of creating new gaming audiences that our clients can benefit from.”
Publishers and brands alike should tap into Verve’s gaming expertise to find some “extra plays” in the form of new revenue sources. Reach out to your Client Partner Manager to learn more about how gaming can help you grow your business.
