Matador info
News
News
News
News


Issue 6
Issues 1-5
Matador Moms

the Matador Charity
Wired Magazine and Brain Cancer
How to Write a Record Review
Stop the Vote

Advertorial 101

this picture belongs somewhere else really but I haven't gotten to that page yet

THIS WEEK:
Is it a game or is it an ad?

RIDDLER

A game about riddles where visitors throw around branded tokens (AT&T chips, for example) to win branded prizes. When it gets too tough, they can fork over extra tokens to buy hints...so long as they ante up personal data to answer marketer-created questions.

Hard to imagine this no-brainer would draw in a ton of people, but then that's not really the issue. The audience that it does draw is specifically targeted: it's the "right" audience for particular advertisers. Snapple, for instance. The not-too-huge, not-too-slickness of Riddler is just the right image for the lowbrow beverage.

CYBERHUNT

Advertising Age (March 11, 1996) refers to this as one in a genre of "journey-oriented games that encourage sleuthing for a fictional character in various Web sites." Sounds more like a scavenger hunt to me since the character is, after all, an object. Well, whatever. Cyberhunt's ad rates are based on "ad integration" -- advertisers pay more for brands that appear as part of the entertainment. Synergy indeed, and an increasingly common way of footing web bills.

NEXT TIME:
Is it television or is it Friends?

A Rational Argument (index) | Suggested Reading

back to Matador home page