There's been a lot of hype lately about gaming, advergaming, and the role both play online and in the mobile marketing value chain. Brands can use web based and mobile games for brand awareness, premium content revenue, product placement, and so on. Games can help integrate fun and entertainment into the mobile consumer's experience, driving overall adoption of mobile and brand participation.

Online gaming -- a marketing method sometimes referred to as "advergaming. The sheer magnitude of feedback from the contest4uae team suggests this format in online marketing campaigns is catching on in the UAE. The ads encourage consumer interaction, garnering relatively high click-through and conversion rates in the process. This facility for engaging users has led many companies to develop online games that not only increase brand awareness and recall, but that also can be used in conjunction with online contests and promotions to attract registrations and expand e-mail databases.

Instant-win promotions and contests requiring some level of consumer participation are increasingly popular. Again, their purpose goes beyond branding into acquisition and building databases of customers and prospects. These games can take many forms, from a roulette-style wheel spun by the user to determine whether she's got a winning game card to an online drag race in which consumers challenge an automated car for a chance to win a Brands are finding more and more ways to tweak otherwise simple contests and create more interest in them. Kotex, for example, has used an ingenious online game to overcome a natural lack of interest by teenage girls in communicating with the Kimberly-Clark Corporation hygiene brand. Girls can not only win a prize instantly by trying to collect pieces of virtual clothes, but they can also win a grand prize if they manage to become the only person to collect all of the pieces. About 11 percent of girls playing this game return more than 10 times; each visit strengthens their relationship with the Kotex brand.

Advergaming is also a great opportunity for integrated marketing efforts. A recent sweepstakes for an apparel company, for example, promoted the apparel company's new "tagless" t-shirt by using a tag as the virtual game piece: "Lifting" it with the mouse revealed the visitor's prize. New synergies are being created daily as interactive-relationship marketing helps drive consumers beyond the Internet. For example, a supermarket chain has used its online games to drive people to supermarkets to actually buy its products, by offering the chance for customers to print "mystery coupons" off the Internet, which can be redeemed in-store for prizes ranging from 50 cents off to a US$ 1 million jackpot.

One marketer specializing in such online instant promotions had noteworthy results with incentive-based online games and contests hosted on contest4uae.com The Development team of contest for uae points out the average instant-win game created by their company receives 2.7 times as many opt-in registrations as a traditional sweepstakes promotion But while it may cost a brand marketer only a few thousand dollars to develop, launch and execute a simple online sweepstakes, the contest 4 uae team well known for mobile and flash games claim more companies are anteing up to invest the six-figure sums that are required to field a full-blown, highly branded video game online. Such games weren't even a possibility until the very recent advance of Internet-transmission technology.

Mobile Gaming catching on in the UAE
Mobile Advergaming
Advergaming basically promotes a product or service throughout the game. Many brands already leverage advergaming in campaigns Teen Expectations based on a research carried out by the contest4uae and mobile4uae Team The team, looked at how teens use mobile content and what would make them . The results sugested teenagers expected to be marketed to on their phones, similar to how the Internet, TV, and other media work. In regard to gaming, teens anticipate and expect advertising, special offers, e-mail, and SMS messages advising them of new games, incentives, and ways to rate and share games (viral marketing). The poll also shows teens are surprised there aren't more games that tie into the brands they recognize (they're actually looking for television and movie references). Teens expect advertising in their gaming experience, particularly if it leads to discounts or incentives. And one of the main reasons for this is to enjoy using mobile features at a reduced cost.

For information on the research report for the uae i.e. Sharjah, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Al ain, Dubai and Umm Al Qaiwain visit contest4uae.com or get in touch with the team at info@contest4uae.com. How can games be made more economical for consumers? Perhaps the easiest and most talked about method is to subsidize games through advertising. By watching an ad before the game or allowing brand product placement within a game, consumers can download the game at a discount or for free. Advertising dominates every sphere of our life: the Internet, television, outdoor, online... Ads are everywhere, and mobile is no exception. Ads are being rolled out or trialed in messaging, mobile Web, video, and downloads. As with every other advertising medium, ads will play a role in the mobile channel. It's simply a question of how and when. What opportunities do games present to the brand? A source of premium content revenue? Maybe. A chance to connect with consumers and build brand awareness on an ongoing basis? Yes. An opportunity to integrate advertising and product placement into games to further expand the message to the consumer? Definitely! Advergaming presents an opportunity for brands to reach the consumer. If the demographic target like the UAE is ideal and fun is a focus, try offering games as part of your mobile marketing mix.

As with other promotional initiatives, The Contest4uae & Mobile4uae Team stresses the goal is for sustained dialogue with consumers via a trusted relationship with their brands. Contest4uae & Mobile4uae ensures consumer protection by requiring a double opt-in for participation, although double opt-in isn't necessary. To maximize the consumer relationship and brand loyalty, contest4uae.com and mobile4uae.com also offers a loyalty or points program for repeat visitors.

For more information visit www.contest4uae.com or E-MAIL: info@contest4uae.com