Reviews

Kiip: A new intersection for branding, advertising and gaming

As the intersection between social, mobile and gaming technologies hurtles towards us, new platforms are being inventing that transform the advertising landscape as we know it. Kiip is a most recent example that gives brands the opportunity to reach gamers exactly where they live at their critical point of engagement – when they reach a milestone or win a game.

As Brian Wong, CEO of Kiip says, “For too long we’ve seen too much of a focus, in the advertising industry, on display and banner advertising.” Instead Kiip aims to take the boring out of mobile advertising by tethering it to the dynamic and emotional engagement of gaming. This allows brands to deliver rewards when they are least expected and to manage customer engagement in real time.

The overarching goal is to tie the reward to a moment of earned achievement so it has greater impact on the player. As such the reward feels less like an ad and more like a gift giving you a better chance of capturing that player’s attention and turning he or she into a brand advocate.

Kiip is a fascinating example of a new platform that allows players to earn physical rewards through virtual engagement through games. The intersection of mobile, social and gaming technologies holds enormous potential for new advertising strategies but also for social change. Purposed the right way, the new platforms are great cause for optimism about how the private sector (including the virtual world) can be used to build a better world.

What other examples do you know where brands are using gaming to advertise in new ways? What about using gaming to do social good?