TV advertising loses appeal for games firms

Major games publishers are turning their backs on TV advertising.

Marketers have told MCV they have been scaling back their TV spend and focusing more of their efforts online.

For the first half of 2012, there’s been 23 per cent fewer video game UK TV campaigns, according to research firm Generation Media. In terms of Television Viewer Ratings, video game ads have declined 48 per cent.

Online is far more personal and effective. Things like TV are very impersonal,” EA Games marketing chief Laura Miele told MCV.

For Bad Company 2, 80 per cent of our media dollars was spent on TV. Fast-forward to Battlefield 3, we spent 53 per cent on TV. That’s a radical swing.

And it costs less to buy something online than it does to buy something on NBC or ITV. We’re just changing how we reach out.”

Sega’s European marketing director Amanda Farr added:?TV viewing has not declined but consumers have increased their online media consumption faster than the increase in TV viewing especially amongst gamers. What has also changed is the number of people that are watching TV while viewing online at the same time. Marketers are having to factor in the dual screen world.

But also, packaged goods are down 30 per cent and TV is expensive, so the decline in TV reflects that.”