With a growing, tech-savvy gaming audience, Latin America is a fertile ground for advergaming strategies. While expectations for this strategy remain high, implementation lags, presenting a unique opportunity for brands to lead in digital engagement and gain a competitive edge.
In an increasingly competitive digital environment, connecting with audiences has become more challenging than ever. However, in unison, the rapid evolution of technological advancements has opened new avenues for interaction between brands and consumers.
In this context, experiential marketing has emerged as a powerful means of leveraging these technologies to not only capture consumers’ attention but also engage users on a deeper level. By creating memorable experiences, this approach goes beyond traditional, more passive kinds of advertising, reshaping how brands connect with consumers.
Within the arsenal of experiential marketing services, lies a unique engagement driver in the form of advergaming—a compelling strategy that blends gaming with brand storytelling making users active participants in the experience. This tactic turns passive viewers into engaged players, creating memorable interactions that drive stronger brand connections.
The Latin American region, where the gaming industry is rapidly expanding and audiences are highly receptive to unique, engaging digital experiences, is particularly fertile ground for advergaming to unveil its full potential.
With over 420 million gamers across the region, advergaming can be the perfect bridge, presenting companies with an unparalleled opportunity to connect their communication efforts with this massive Latin American gaming audience.
What is Advergaming? The Quietly Advancing Industry
Advergaming, also known as in-game advertising, is a form of experiential marketing where brands incorporate advertising elements directly into video games to engage consumers in a more interactive and memorable way.
Unlike traditional ads, which might appear as banners or pop-ups, advergaming seamlessly weaves brand messages and elements into the gaming environment itself. This integration transforms the gaming experience, making it a part of the brand’s story rather than an interruption, helping it forge a stronger emotional connection between the brand and the player.
For instance, Coca-Cola has effectively made use of advergaming as a vehicle to engage consumers through interactive experiences. One notable example is their collaboration with the popular game Fortnite, where they introduced a limited-time event featuring Coca-Cola-themed in-game items and challenges.
Another example is the 1999 release of “PepsiMan,” a video game developed for the PlayStation console where players control PepsiMan, a character tasked with delivering Pepsi to thirsty individuals while navigating various obstacles.
A New Frontier with Deep Roots and Evolving Potential
This practice of using video games as a vehicle for brand promotion is nothing new; yet, it has undergone major transformation fuelled by technological advancements.
Advergaming emerged in the 1980s, and during the 1990s it began gaining traction. As technology advanced in the 2000s – and with it, video games – the advergaming landscape evolved, with brands integrating ads directly into popular game titles and experimenting with in-game placements. This included branded billboards and character endorsements as seen in sports and racing games, providing brands with subtle yet impactful visibility.
The advent of mobile gaming in the 2010s further revolutionised advergaming, offering brands even more direct engagement with consumers on their personal devices. Branded mobile games, interactive ads and reward-based ad models became popular formats, capitalising on the accessibility and popularity of smartphones.
Today, its integration with advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) has added new layers, making brand integration more immersive than ever and unlocking fresh possibilities and new markets that were previously untapped or less accessible.
So, while not an entirely new concept, today, advergaming presents opportunities that make it a “new frontier” for innovative brand engagement.
The Advergaming Industry in Numbers
According to Statista, the in-game advertising market is projected to experience a significant increase in revenue, reaching up to an impressive USD 109.60 billion. This projection reflects the steady growth of this industry.
In Latin America, a particularly promising market for advergaming, the gaming industry boasts a projected annual growth rate of 10% by 2028. In Brazil alone, one of the major Latin American markets, there were approximately 136.6 million gamers, followed by Mexico in second place with 104.1 million gaming users.
These figures underscore the substantial and growing Latin American gaming market that presents valuable opportunities for brands and marketers to integrate technology, gaming and storytelling into a memorable experience.
Tapping into Play: What Makes Gamers the Perfect Audience for Brand Engagement
With the evolution of gaming from a niche pastime to a mainstream cultural force, its audience has expanded dramatically, making it an increasingly attractive industry.
Today, gamers represent a massive, diverse and highly engaged demographic. This audience is particularly appealing for brands as it includes a large portion of tech-savvy Millennials and Gen Z consumers who tend to have high engagement with digital platforms and a preference for immersive, interactive experiences.
Unlike passive viewers of traditional media, gamers are active participants who spend a significant amount of time engaging with content, often amassing many hours in games that incorporate complex storylines, character interactions and community-driven elements. This high level of engagement creates a prime opportunity for brands to interact with consumers in a setting where they are fully immersed and more receptive to memorable, branded experiences.
Moreover, by having access to data on player behaviours and preferences, companies can employ highly-targeted marketing efforts, customising ad experiences based on factors such as gameplay habits and engagement patterns. This results in ads that feel less intrusive and more aligned with players’ interests.
Interestingly, this reflects how advergaming isn’t just advantageous for brands—it also enhances the gaming experience for players. Well-executed advergames can add depth to gameplay, offering rewards, unlockable content and exclusive experiences that make the game more enjoyable.
Latin American Gamers
The Google for Games report reveals that the demographic profile of Latin American gamers is notably youthful, with an average age of 34, making it the youngest audience among the four major global regions. This young demographic is predominantly tech-savvy and highly engaged with digital platforms, presenting a prime opportunity for brands to connect through strategies such as advergaming.
Gamers in the region are not only numerous but also highly engaged. For instance, 80% of Brazilians identify as game enthusiasts, with more than half watching gaming video content. This high level of engagement indicates a receptive audience for interactive marketing approaches that can seamlessly integrate brand messages into gaming experiences.
Game On! How Advergaming Opens New Doors for Brands in Latin America
With Latin America’s large, youthful and highly engaged gaming audience continuing to expand, advergaming presents a unique set of advantages for brands aiming to expand their communication efforts in the region. These advantages include:
1. Greater Reach and Engagement
In-game ads reach millions of players, ensuring extensive brand exposure. Additionally, engagement is significantly higher, since – unlike passive ads – advergaming allows brands
to seamlessly integrate into the gameplay, making players active participants in the brand experience.
2. Brand Positioning and Recall
This strategy enables brands to associate their products, services or messages with the fun and excitement of gaming, strengthening the brand’s position as relevant in consumers’ lives and fostering a positive image in their minds.
Additionally, this high engagement drives stronger brand recall and emotional connection. Research indicates that players who engage with branded content in games are more likely to remember the brand and feel positively about it, which can ultimately lead to higher conversion rates.
3. Brand Loyalty and Customer Retention
Advergaming can include rewards and exclusive content, encouraging customer loyalty. A study by TapJoy reveals that 72% of players willingly engage with ads in apps that offer rewards. Furthermore, players often return to the game to unlock more content, which prolongs brand exposure and supports customer retention.
4. Access to Valuable Consumer Insights
Advergaming provides brands with access to valuable data on player behaviour. This enables a deeper understanding of consumer preferences and habits, which in turn informs future advertising strategies. Armed with these insights, brands are able craft more acutely targeted campaigns that align closely with the expectations and preferences of local audiences.
Crossing the New Frontier: Lasting Brand Engagement through Advergaming in Latin America
Advergaming has opened up an exciting frontier for brand engagement in Latin America, promising innovative ways for companies to forge meaningful connections with a highly engaged audience. This young, tech-savvy demographic represents a fertile ground for impactful, memorable brand interactions signifying more than mere fleeting moments—they’re lasting experiences that foster brand loyalty and recall.
Additionally, this strategy also has the unique ability to continuously adapt through the integration of emerging technologies, which positions it as a relevant and effective strategy in the near future. In fact, 81% of media buyers indicate they will maintain or increase their spending on advergaming over the next 12 months. Combined with reported figures confirming the industry’s growth, this suggests a promising future for advergaming.
However, its implementation does not seem to be keeping pace with expectations, which do
not seem to be materialising into concrete advergaming actions. This scenario creates a significant window of opportunity. For businesses ready to act, this gap presents a clear path to a competitive edge.
By embracing advergaming, brands can position themselves as pioneers within the region, capitalising on this relatively untapped space to capture consumer loyalty in memorable, immersive ways. In doing so, companies won’t only gain visibility—they’ll build lasting relationships within a growing Latin American gaming culture where authentic engagement is highly valued.
Seizing this opportunity doesn’t only require a keen understanding of the gaming landscape but also a sensitivity to local preferences and cultural nuances. By aligning strategies with the distinct qualities of each Latin American vibrant market, brands can achieve far more than visibility; they can forge meaningful connections that resonate with audiences across the region, driving lasting brand affinity in an ever-changing and increasingly competitive digital world.
