Editor's note: Edmund M. Jessup is an academic librarian at the New York Institute of Technology's Manhattan campus. He can be reached at edjessup@gmail.com. This article appeared in the August 13, 2012, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.


It is no secret that social media has become an integral part of the virtual landscape, influencing the way users interact with the Web. Marketers have been scrambling to understand and negotiate how to integrate their products and services in social media and the challenge it presents for marketers is the ever-evolving methods in which users engage one another. As social media changes and becomes more sophisticated, different platforms have emerged in which users may interact with each other.  


Break the mold  


Gamers via social media tend to break the mold of the traditional young male gamer, likely due to the simplistic, addictive and task-oriented nature of popular games via social media. In fact, the average player is female and the average player age is 43 (20 percent are under age 30; 21 percent ages 30-39; 20 percent ages 40-49; and 38 percent ages 50+), according to data from Information Solutions Group.  


Whatever the platform, digital games all utilize game mechanics, including incentives (i.e., points, badges, next levels and achievements) to motivate users to continue playing. Unlike a viral video or image where an Internet user clicks, watches and moves on, games accessed through social networks provide circumstances for repeat opportunities - just think of the 20 million FarmVille players.  


Companies like Slide, Blizzard and Zynga lead the pack of interactive game creators. Zynga especially has a strong presence in the social media games market with diversions like FarmVille, CityVille, Treasure Isle, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker. Zynga is working to pioneer innovative ways for companies to present themselves to the consumer via display ads, banner ads, video interstitials, in-game branded virtual items and brand partnerships/sponsorships.  


Benefits to businesses  


Zynga taken its position by providing gamers with entertainment and also by providing benefits to businesses looking to increase visibility and access to their products and services. Zynga has relationships with advertisers such as Coca-Cola, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Citibank, McDonald's, 7-Eleven, Cascadian Farms and American Express, to name just a few.  


Cascadian Farms


In the case of Cascadian Farms integrating with FarmVille, where players plant crops, the objective is for FarmVille users to learn about organic farming and green living while earning additional points to grow fruits and vegetables or raise animals on their virtual farms. Cascadian Farm executives say they hope that the company can expand its food niche and make itself better known by increasing awareness among FarmVille's audience. Cascadian Farms believes the game is a great venue for discussion and aims for all 20 million FarmVille users to plant Cascadian crop.  


Best Buy  


Another brand partnership Zynga has is with Best Buy. In Zynga's game CityVille, users create their own city through placing objects on plots of virtual land by way of growing crops and gathering goods through incoming trains and ships to purchase more objects to grow their city. Zynga's partnership with Best Buy allows players to place Best Buy stores, which the company hopes will help it move beyond traditional advertising to engage consumers in a manner that's equal parts familiar and cutting-edge. Similar partnerships have included Citibank and Farmers Insurance.  


Virtual goods and economies  


The notion of virtual goods and virtual economies is becoming less a theme out of a science fiction story and more an increased reality. Players are often buying and selling virtual goods using virtual currencies and this multibillion-dollar trend is expected to grow as online games through social media increase in popularity,    


According to Vili Lehdonvirta, researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology and visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo, virtual economies are global and real. "People feel a sense of material value for objects they own online," says Lehdonvirta. 


American Express  


Large and successful companies are taking notice. We only have to look to the relationship between financial services giant American Express has with Zynga. Amercian Express and Zynga have entered into a strategic relationship allowing customers to use Membership Rewards points from American Express to pay for limited-edition virtual goods, as well as physical and virtual game cards for Zynga's games.


Increasing panorama


In the increasing panorama of interactive games through social media networks one trend remains clear: Simple and addictive task-oriented games are not going away anytime soon and are providing lucrative opportunities for marketers and advertisers to spread awareness of their products and services in extraordinary ways.  


New yet developed ways to connect to consumers though social media games are not only dynamic but are breaking new ground in how marketers and advertisers connect with consumers. The integrated and interactive nature of these games, combined with already-successful partnerships between online gaming companies and prominent marketers and advertisers, demonstrates that this trend will endure.   

 

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