IGA Worldwide launches world's first global media group for advertising in PC and video games
Acquires specialist agency Hive Partners
London, England - Tuesday April 26th 2005 - Riding on a wave of research, conferences and announcements which has seen advertising in PC and video games confirmed as the most exciting new brand communication medium, IGA Worldwide has today officially unveiled the first global specialist media group dedicated to advertising opportunities in the game space.
Operating from New York, London and Berlin, the IGA Worldwide network of companies currently includes IGA Partners North America (formerly In-game Partners LLC), IGA Partners Europe and IGA Technologies, with further offices in Paris, Benelux, Los Angeles and Tokyo soon to follow.
A 'technology enabled' media company, IGA Partners' primary offering is the planning, serving and tracking of highly targeted and dynamically updateable advertising campaigns into their global network of live premium PC and videogame titles, via proprietary ad-serving technology.
This technology allows IGA brand clients to reach millions of end-users, who will see a range of territory-localized and context-sensitive advertising content both during and between gameplay sessions, including billboards, interstitial screens, TV spots and a wide variety of other formats comparable with real world advertising. And with the imminent approach of the next generation of high definition, broadband-enabled, 'always on' game consoles, this content will rapidly expand to include a wider variety of rich media and even brand-specific gameplay content.
IGA Partners European CEO, Justin Townsend said; "The advertising industry as a whole has been slow in recognizing the continuing migration of the highly valued 18-34 male demographic from prime time TV to PC and video games, and this is something which IGA Partners is keen to rectify."
Adding; "The IGA Partners combination of proven cross-industry expertise and experience ensures that we cater for the highly stringent requirements and demands of not only game publishers and brands, but also the gamer, and as such we have a central focus on ensuring relevant and high quality advertising that enhances the gaming experience, whilst delivering impressive advertising ROI for our portfolio of leading brands."
IGA Partners North America CEO, Andrew Sispoidis continued; "Developers and publishers can expect the revenues for in-game advertising to grow significantly in both scale and frequency over the near to medium future, and one of the roles of IGA Partners is to assist them in developing and maintaining premium pricing for their in-game advertising inventory as the industry continues to mature."
Concluding; "Being a part of our network will prove to be a consistent and valuable source of EBIDTA for publishers, helping to ease the pressures of the increasing costs associated with bringing a title to market as we transition to a new generation of hardware."
Having already served millions of impressions to hundreds of thousands of gamers during public testing of the technology in an open source version of the world's most popular online action game, Counter-Strike, IGA Partners is also the first company to successfully run a live dynamic in-game advertising (DIGA) campaign during May 2004 for US broadcaster Spike TV, and has spent the subsequent 12 months finalizing the SDK and assembling the global infrastructure necessary for the launch of IGA Worldwide.
The technology has been specified and developed in-house in North America by IGA Partners' mix of veteran game development, publishing and senior advertising industry executives to ensure ease of integration and operation as well as providing the critical metrics for both brands and game publishers to calculate reach and ROI.
The group is also the first to offer a 'through the line' approach to the medium, with the recent acquisition of leading integrated communications agency Hive Partners, best known for its groundbreaking in-game advertising work for energy drinks giant Red Bull.
The Hive Partners brand is currently expanding into North America, and will fulfill all creative, strategic, product placement and brand partnership activities for the group's roster of brand and publisher clients. Rachel Norman will assume the role of Managing Director within the company, with current Hive Partners CEO, Ed Bartlett, moving into IGA Partners as European VP of Publishing with immediate effect.
Ed Bartlett said; "It's been incredibly exciting helping to kick-start this new industry over the past couple of years with Hive, but it's been a dot within a dot compared with what is yet to come. My feeling is that in-game advertising will help to finally establish gaming as the dominant entertainment medium of the 21st Century."
He went on to add; "Along with this rapidly changing perception of the game market and its value to consumer brands, I believe that the combination of infrastructure, technology, industry experience and overall approach within IGA Worldwide puts us in an extremely strong position in this market moving forwards."
For further information please visit www.ingameadvertising.com
- Ends
Editors Notes
IGA Worldwide PR contact Europe:
Xavier Adam - The Adam Media Consultancy
+44 (0) 1892 617286 (office direct)
+44 (0) 7795 568376 (mobile)
IGA Worldwide New Business contact Europe (Publishing):
Ed Bartlett - VP of Publishing (Europe)
+44 (0) 117 9624210
+44 (0) 7801 657499
About Hive Partners
A wholly-owned subsidiary of IGA Worldwide Holding AG, Hive Partners is a leading integrated communications agency dedicated to interactive entertainment-focused branded content.
Passionate in their focus on using interactivity to drive, engage and retain consumer interest, the team has set the benchmark for immersive branded experiences in premium retail videogame titles since August 2003.
Hive is responsible for some of the most talked-about interactive in-game product placement integrations, reaching millions of media-savvy consumers through a startling variety of contextually relevant and value-adding gameplay experiences, targeted viral advertising and below-the-line co-promotional activity.
With an enviable network of clients and partners including some of the world's leading videogame publishers and consumer brands, Hive has a diverse and exciting portfolio of globally recognized titles and related brand opportunities spanning every conceivable game platform, reaching into 2006 and beyond.
For further information, please visit: www.hivepartners.com
Or contact:
Rachel Norman - Managing Director
+44 (0) 117 9625626
+44 (0) 7966 482244