Brand new play

Marketers are keeping an eye peeled on the gaming trend

A significant trend unfolded last November in India. Mumbai saw over 15,000 participants (read potential consumers) from major Indian cities, line up to take part in the shortlisting for 'World Cyber Games' "� India round.

The event, organised by indiagames.com, was sponsored by Samsung. This is just the beginning of the shape of things to come.

Consider the ways in which it is starting to pan out: There is internet 'advergaming' (games being created around brands) and there are casual games websites that regularly host banner advertisements for clients.

On the mobility side, there are plenty of games which are getting branded. Online games are also being developed now where marketers can look at ways of weaving a brand in . And, of course, there are those offline gaming events where companies sponsor these .

Industry estimates there are 40 million Internet users in India. Of this, 20 per cent are gamers, accounting for about eight million gamers. And out of the 75 million mobile population, approximately 5 per cent use games, making for around 4 million mobile gamers.

"And the estimate is that each user spends an average of Rs. 50-100 a month gaming. Thus the market here works out to $55 million for the timebeing," says Alok Kejriwal, CEO, contest2win.com.

To understand the kind of growth, here's looking at the numbers from another perspective: According to Instat Market Research the Indian mobile gaming market will generate $336 million in annual revenue by 2009, up from $26 million in 2004.

In terms of a global reference, clearly the money is to be made from data services offered by the mobile operators "� which, of course, includes mobile gaming.

For instance, the annualised data revenue for Verizon Wireless was $1.9 billion (second quarter, 2005), which constitutes seven per cent of the total service revenue. JAMDAT Mobile has reached 20 million BREW (i.e the platform provided by Qualcomm for mobile gaming) downloads worldwide.

Meanwhile, in India, brands such as Coca-Cola, L'Oreal, Samsung, Smirnoff are all actively exploring ways that seek to connect them not just with youth but also with an audience that gives, quite simply, undivided attention and time to gaming as an activity.

Kejriwal speaks of the response: "We have so far concluded over 1600 online contests that are basically advergames revolving around brand themes for over 400 of the Fortune 500 brands in India."

Meanwhile, others are working to offer different platforms. According to Rajesh Rao, CEO, Dhruva Interactive, "We are now in the beta-test stage for 'Pool On The Net' and are open to ways where discreet placement of brands can happen."

Meanwhile, Vishal Gondal, ceo, indiagames.com, feels that mobile gaming is clearly going to lead in Indian market. The company has already come up with the Mandira Bedi Cricket game and Mona Singh (of Jassi Jaisi..fame) for a lifestyle-based game.

According to Ashwin Rajagopal, head of marketing, L'Oreal India, "We are are excitied as consumers show a high level of involvement and interactivity with the medium. And we can subtly integrate with a game and customise it to incorporate the brand values into a game."

Vikas Gupta, vice president, marketing, Coca-Cola India, says, "To accurately target and catch the attention of consumers is clearly one of the biggest challenges for marketers." The company has pioneered with its myenjoyzone.com, which includes a comprehensive online gaming section.

The good news is that no one is getting carried away. There's clearly an understanding of the medium and its effect. According to Venkat Mallik, managing director, Level Up India, "At the heart of gaming revenue is not advertising, but clearly the game itself. One has to understand that gaming is a massive industry onto itself, and advertising contributes just a small part of it. Companies, across the world, realise that they tend to put off serious gamers by going overboard with branding. If it can be done in a subtle way, then it works, otherwise it become a major turnoff." Level Up Network, is the first player to have brought in Ragnarok, a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online game) into India where people can go online and play with anybody across the world online.

Even as the debate rages on, players such as Qualcomm in India are seeking to offer latest technology, which will enable operators to customise everything and where brands can flash messages real time that are relevant to the gamer.

Globally, pizza companies have successfully worked out a model where gamers can order their meal as the play. Car companies are known to have their own popular versions of branded games. And it is not long before Indian gaming developers too latch on the same brandwagon.