I like companies with “Play” in the name.  I also like companies that have started to crack the micro-payment model in the US.  Playdom just announced a funding round that raised $43M while Playfish made off with $275M from EA.  This amounts to some interesting validation of the Social-Causal Game / Micro-Payment Space.  Details are sketchy but it looks like these guys are pulling in $40M to $60M a year in micro-payments fueled by their Facebook and MySpace games such as Mob Wars and Social Life.

We’ve seen excitement with this kind of thing before — remember the Beenz and Flooz craze?  But this is different.  This is a new low risk / high engagement way for consumers to pay for casual games — and soon other things too.  Why ask the consumer to pay $20 once up front for a game or service while you could ask them for $1.00 at a time 5 times a day for everyday they use the game/service.  Expect this new payment method to be proven and profected in the game space then move into consul and handheld games, online video, social networking, news, and maybe to TV.

There are a couple factors at play that make the micro-payment model compelling to producers and consumers.  But two overlooked factors are environmental trends and the decline in consumerism.  The next generation may feel completely comfortable with sending a $1 virtual rose bouquet on V-day rather than spending $40 of on handful of flowers that were cut from the ground to whither and die just for that special someone.

Mindless Games on the Rise

Causal Gaming is a huge opportunity for those marketers looking to reach Moms and working women — yes, we’ve discussed this before and it’s true.  These are not games for kids — they are there is give working women and Moms 5 minutes of serenity.

Now that the economy has officially sunk past the 3rd ring of the abyss all of the Casual Game sites are on fire.  In a good way.  Figure the worse things get the more people look for escape.  The numbers posted here from eMarketer tell the story.

Mountain Dew Volt Micro Site

This is a very robust online campaign for Mountain Dew Voltage.  Check out all the details at ClickZ (link here).

A couple highlights:

• Visitors got to contribute with the making of this new product by voting on flavor, packaging, ect.
• The campaign leveraged advergaming, Facebook ap, mobile, banner, email — just about everything to surround the consumer.
• The micro-site is built on and in conjunction with Yahoo.  This is an interesting way to tap into the built in audience on Yahoo.
• The campaign uses a point system to reward it’s consumers with contests and prizes.  The more the consumer is engaged with the brand the more points. More points equal more rewards.  This is advergaming PLUS continuity

The soda companies are always a bit ahead of the rest of the pack in innovating marketing.  This campaign is a good example of leveraging just about every online stratgey available.  I’ll keep an eye out for any results data.

Nielson Online Report

That’s a terrible title for a post, but it’s late and I couldn’t think of a better one.  The important point is that we’re seeing a rise in online gaming AND we need to remember that gaming is not just for zit faced teens that only leave the basement when the Mountain Dew runs low.

If you’re looking for an innovative and engaging way to reach your audience give some thought to Advergaming.  Better yet combine your Product/Brand message with a game that includes a viral/social aspect.

Thoughts:

Online gaming will continue to grow as platforms continue to grow — especially on cell phone.

Gaming provides a very interactive experience which can be very powerful for entertainment and lifestyle products.

If you’re looking to reach Moms take a very serious look at online gaming.  Especially games played via social networks like Facebook.

I came accross this example of a Walmart Advergame today and thought it worthy of sharing.  I don’t have any stats on how it is performing or if the intended audience is Moms or Kids.  But this is a good example of taking a basic game engine — in this case a simple matching game — and layering on a Walmart message.