In October, we participated in MMA Impact Indonesia 2021 – specifically, our Country Manager of Indonesia, Jayesh Shivdasani, spoke about how gaming is shaping the future of modern marketing. Together with Rohan Mahajan (Omnicon Media Group), Fahroni Arifin (Indosat Ooredoo), Matthias Blume (Coca-Cola) and Andi Airin (Samsung), the panel explored the latest trends in gaming and how brands and agencies can communicate effectively and drive outputs within this massive gaming ecosystem.
Over the years, gaming has transcended all cultural touch points, including music, movies, sport, and learning, and acts as a space for players to hangout and play together in the metaverse. This convergence of gaming and social engagement presents a new future where brands and consumers can engage in virtual environments, a future that marketers just cannot afford to ignore. Below are some highlights of the panel discussion:
Mobile gaming in Indonesia surged during the pandemic and shows no signs of stopping —
There are more than 1.2 billion gamers in APAC, with 75.4 million gamers in Indonesia. This region also holds the majority share of the video game industry revenue, accounting for 48% of the market in 2020. With smartphones being the primary mode of access to the Internet in Indonesia, most gamers are gaming on their mobile phones. According to a recent report by App Annie, Indonesia is the fourth largest mobile game market in the world by downloads, exceeding 2 billion downloads in the first half of 2021. Jayesh (Country Manager of Indonesia, AdColony) noted that the average daily time spent on gaming by Indonesian users has also increased from 39 minutes in 2020 to 55 minutes in 2021. These figures are great news for marketers in Indonesia as they present an open invitation to the boundless opportunities in the mobile gaming world.
As the ecosystem matures, brands have begun to be more experimental with their choice of advertising. Gaming quickly emerged as an effective tool for brands to engage their target audience and drive business objectives during the pandemic. For instance, Indosat Ooredoo, Indonesia’s leading digital telco company, has shown its commitment to enhancing the digital lifestyle for its consumers through a one-stop portal for gamers, IMGaming. Fahroni, SVP of Brand Management & Strategy at Indosat, commented that gaming is not just about brand building and engagement; it’s about the experience, and IMGaming is built to provide a unique and fun gaming experience for their customers.
Five gamer personas and how brands can reach the right audience —
In recent years, the value of the gaming audience has become much better understood by brands. The old misconception about gamers being almost exclusively young males with low-to-average disposable income is being demolished. The fact is, brands can reach almost any type of demographic through the medium of games, and this has been jumped on by brands in a variety of sectors, including telco, luxury, food & beverage, and more.
The evolution of gaming and its highly accessible platform means almost everyone you meet on the street is a gamer. But not everyone identifies as one – 68% of gamers in Indonesia do not identify as gamers. At AdColony, we’ve identified five categories of gamers, each with a unique set of preferences and behaviors:
Brands are starting to realize the value of NFTs and the metaverse —
The more time we spend online, the more our identity becomes intertwined with our digital environments. From Ariana Grande holding a virtual world concert on Fortnite to brands like Gucci and Twitter experimenting with NFTs, the metaverse is quickly becoming the new battleground for consumer attention and commerce. For example, Coca-Cola has a long track record of creating and selling collectibles in the real world. Recently, the brand has ventured into digital wearables and also launched its first NFT, showcasing how brands can differentiate themselves in this space. Speaking at the panel about the future of gaming, Matthias (Group Marketing Director, Coca-Cola) says, “Don’t think about gaming as just gaming, but think about gaming as the new social media.”
Watch the full panel session at 4:21:44 below —
About MMA
MMA is the world’s leading global non-profit trade association consisting of 800 member companies from nearly fifty countries across the globe. From brand marketers and agencies to enabling technologies and media companies, MMA members come from every corner of the mobile media ecosystem. Its mission is to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile, driving business growth with closer and stronger consumer engagement.
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