Product Placement in Video Games as a Marketing Strategy: An Attempt to Analysis in Disney Company

Abstract

What is the best marketing strategy in video games? The literature is not unanimous in upholding the best strategy. Researchers investigating advertising effectiveness disagree on the value of product placement in video games and the methods firms should use with product placement strategies. The state of the question now must figure out the dichotomy between two perspectives: to identify the differences in the effectiveness of product placement in video games when using “traditional placement approaches” compared to the “branded entertainment approach”. The “traditional approach” to product placement in video games involves the product appearing as a visual object that is passive, used by characters and players or mentioned in the audio, which functions as an advertisement for the product (Shrum, 2004). The “branded entertainment approach” to product placement in video games involves integrating a proprietary character into the theme or plot, with the branded product anthropomorphised (Winkler and Buckner, 2006). “Branded entertainment” differs from the “traditional approach” because the plot of the entertainment is fully focused on the branded product.