Archive for April, 2008
France’s draconian gambling laws and betting monopoly have attracted much criticism over the years. The French authorities’ crackdown on foreign gambling firms even led to several high profile arrests last year.
However, all this may be about to change, according to the French finance minister Eric Woerth. Woerth will be recommending to President Sarkozy that the country begin to relax their laws and open up the gambling market.
Hit by the European Commission over their breach of free trade laws within Europe, France looks set to mend its ways, and end the state-run monopoly. The European Commissioner had warned that any member states flouting the rules would face the European Court of Justice to settle the dispute.
The Sarkozy government plans on a “controlled opening” of the gambling market to begin in 2009 with a trial phase. This will allow private betting companies to operate within France under license under the same conditions as the current national monopoly, Pari Mutuel Urbain.
This is good news for online gambling, since in recent months, more and more markets had been closed off to operators. Other countries criticized were Germany, Greece and the Netherlands. The European Commission has been a champion for free trade in this respect, imposing the principles of the EU and forcing member states to reconsider their protectionist policies.
It remains to be seen how things will work out in the French market, but it is clear that many online casino and gambling networks will be breathing a sigh of relief.
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Advertising is adapting to the modern world and merging with the world of gaming. Free online games commissioned by companies are the latest way to enter the public consciousness.
Giants Coca-Cola and Nestle are the latest to get in on the action, creating their own games to boost brand awareness and promote their products.
Advergames often take the form of customized games on a company’s site, promoting its products and encouraging people to spend more time on the site.
They can also be video games designed with a marketing message, for example the US Army’s recruitment drive “America’s Army”.
Product placement is yet another form of advergaming, where products are advertised within a video game, as part of the game landscape. This could take the form of billboards on the street of a virtual town, or characters using the company’s products.
Advergaming encourages consumer interaction, increases brand awareness and produces surprisingly high conversion rates, making it ideal for the advertiser.
Games can include competitions and promotions to get people to sign up. Consumers must provide contact details before they can play the game. Scratch cards, instant win games, roulette and racing games have all been used. And where games increase consumer interaction, casino games are all the more likely to succeed.
Advergaming is often used to target young audiences with fun games likely to capture children’s and teenagers’ imaginations. However, it’s not just teenagers who play advergames. A recent survey showed that 30% of those playing are aged 35-49, a perfect market for casino games.
Implanting a company’s marketing message in a game is less annoying than a dedicated advert, and has more chance of permeating the subconscious, since the player remains in contact with the product for some time, and comes to associate it with an entertaining experience or with winning a prize.
The company also has the chance to create positive associations around their product or service, by creating a virtual world populated with characters that fit the company ethos and spread their message.
Successful games can benefit from viral marketing. When consumers particularly enjoy a game, they pass it on to friends and so the marketing message goes by word-of-mouth.
Estimates put the future value of advergaming at $312 million by 2009.
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