Online advertising is on the increase. It’s obvious. The Internet Advertising Bureau found that online ad revenues hit $5.8 billion for the first quarter of 2008 - an 18.2% increase over the same period last year.
And as this trend continues, advertisers are forced to find new and innovative ways to promote their wares to consumers. Banner blindness has set in; consumers are savvy and know when they’re being sold to. We can no longer put all of our dollars into a banner campaign or AdWords then sit back and relax. Engagement is the buzzword of the day - but how do you ‘engage’ consumers who have an attention span of roughly 8 seconds? Some creative techies started asking this question 7 or 8 years ago. They wanted to find a way for brands to reach out and befriend their audience, using shared interests to find new ways to bond with them. They even started hanging out and playing online games with them. They developed worlds where the boundaries of who is in control of what happens are shrouded in secrecy. Welcome to the world of alternate reality games (ARGs).
Elan Lee, creative director at 42Entertainment is credited with developing the first ARG (The Beast) to promote the movie AI: Artificial Intelligence in 2001. Since then, ARGs have been developed for television series (e. g. Lost ); musicians (e.g. Nine Inch Nails); clothing lines; operating systems (e.g. Windows Vista) and of course video games (e.g. Halo 2).
ARGs provide an interactive experience that spreads across a huge range of channels - from the internet people are directed to call a phone number or send a text message, then email an address to receive further instructions. ‘Rabbit holes’ are entry points into the game - a website or movie trailer or ad that launches a user into the alternative reality. Everything in each game is intentional and used to tell a part of the story. The win is when players start to view their real world through the eyes of the alternate reality created through the game.
Considering this impressive shift in consumer habits who interact with the games, ARGs are being touted as the ‘next big thing’ in online advertising. They can be an effective way to affect brand perception and consideration. They are an immersive entertainment experience that allows the audience to participate in a unique way with properties and brands.
ARGs are right at the point where the online social network boom joins with the online gaming and online social activism boom. They not only get their energy from these waves, they also present a way to solve some of their problems, such as: how do we introduce new people to our ideas? How do we get a very diverse set of people to work together? Social games have always been one of the best answers to these questions.
