Entries from April 2010 ↓

MIT Tech Review has published its 2010 list of ten technologies that will change the world, and one of them is social television. Wonder why now; I first posted on the subject five years ago, and the research goes a lot further back. It seemed like a pretty cool idea back at the time — imagine connecting with those other wonderful people watching The Steve Wilkos Show! — but the more I keep thinking about it, the more it seems like a solution in search of a problem.  Besides, with a combination of Twitter on a smartphone, hashtags and a TV, this isn’t even the only solution.

That TV remote on the picture above looks pretty much like a new Dell smartphone with Twitter on it.

Anyway, the article highlights work by a Media Lab’s research group: “Marie-José Montpetit, an invited scientist at MIT’s Research Lab for Electronics, has been working for several years on social TV–a way to seamlessly combine the social networks that are boosting TV ratings with the more passive experience of traditional TV viewing. Her goal is to make watching television something that viewers in different places can share and discuss–and to make it easier to find something to watch.”

A few years ago, John Batelle had a pretty cool idea of using online conversations around TV programs to rank shows in importance, the idea that has later materialized as Twielsen.

Sometimes, it feels like the TR suffers from the availability bias: two other technologies on the list are real-time search and 3D (mobile) displays.

Last year, they put Siri on the list, the same company Apple just bought.

Advertising Balloons for Sales

Advertising balloons for sales is becoming quite the thing right now. Businesses everywhere are in need of some great marketing ideas and what other way to get that done by using advertising balloons to get that done. Advertising balloons offer some of the best buzz and creative appeal that you can find. Your business is sure to get tons of buzz generated. The balloons offer you the chance to use brightly colored ads to get and retain customers for your business.

Giant advertising balloons offer your business the chance to get the message you are trying to convey to your customers out there. Giant advertising balloons can be used for just about any business need. If you need to create a buzz to earn more customers or just to be reintroduced to a community, then you would be in luck when using a giant inflatable advertising balloon. These kinds of balloons will hang high in the air above your business allowing people from miles away to see the message you are wanting to get out there. This can generate a huge customer base for your business. Advertising balloons are an awesome way to get a new business out there to be seen by everyone in town.

Advertising balloons can be a very cost effective way to promote any kind of business. Opting to use inflatable advertising balloons is an awesome way to offer a promotion again at other times in years to come. The cost for securing these kinds of balloons can be cheaper than it does to run ads in newspapers and online.

It does not really matter what kind of business you have or are offering to a customer. Giant advertising balloons are great for just about any kind of businesses and they get the job done. Advertising balloons are sure to catch the eye of customers and put a smile on their face while shopping your store.

Advertising Balloons For Sales is a post from: Advertising Balloons

Related posts:

1. Balloon Advertising
2. Giant Advertising Blimps and Balloons Boost Sales
3. Big Advertising Balloons

This is a rerun of a series of blog posts I did back in April 2006 while researching things for my grad thesis (bonus: an unpublished chapter on history).  It documents the evolution of advertising in sports video games published by Electronic Arts between 1983 and 2006. Since many AdLab readers probably haven’t seen it, and the stuff is pretty fascinating, I thought I’d repost it. The original raw research notes follow.  Some links may since have expired. 


[Also see 19 Tips for In-Game Advertising, a case study on Burger King's games, the illustrated history with videos, and a lot of other good stuff posted here on AdLab about in-game advertising.]

I am writing the chapter on history of in-game advertising and decided to track down the evolution of sports games. I picked games made or published by Electronic Arts because the company has some of the most popular franchises, the games sold well, and also because these days the company seems to have a structured approach to selling ad space in their games. Below are screenshots from EA’s sports games made during the two decades between 1983-2006.

1983-1993

Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One, 1983, Electronic Arts. No ads.

World Tour Golf, 1985, Electronic Arts. No ads.

Earl Weaver Baseball, 1987, Electronic Arts. No ads.

Skate or Die, 1987, Electronic Arts. Ads for fictional products.

John Madden Football, 1988, Electronic Arts. No ads in this first installment in the long and lucrative Madden series.

Kings of the Beach, Electronic Arts, 1988. House ad for EA, Kool Cola (fictional), AVP (association of volleyball professionals), Clue (?), Juan Cuervo (?). The game was released for C64, NES and DOS. Same ads appear across platforms, but are unreadable on C64.

Indianapolis 500: The Simulation, 1989, Electronic Arts. No ads.

Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs, 1989, Electronic Arts. No ads besides the EA Sports banner at the judges’ table and NBA team names.

PGA Golf Tour, Electronic Arts, 1990. PGA Tour logo in the shop and on dialog screens. No other ads.

NHL Hockey, Electronic Arts, 1991. It is unlikely but chronologically possible that the “SHARK” board refers to the Shark energy drink. The other boards seem to be mere decorations or ads for fictional products. Two other notable 1991 sports games by EA are John Madden Football II, an upgrade of the 1988 game, and John Madden Football 92, the next installment in the franchise. Neither of them had third-party ads, judging by the screenshots.

NHLPA Hockey, Electronic Arts, 1993. House ad (EA Sports Network, EASN that reads like ESPN) on ice resurfacer. Other games that came out that year - John Madden Football 93 and two basketball games – feature house ads.


Screenshots from a few games by other publishers:

Championship Baseball, 1987, Activision/Gamestar. House ad for Gamestar.

ABC Monday Night Football, 1989, Data East. No ads.

Super Real Basketball, 1990, Sega. House ads on the court.

1994-1998

FIFA International Soccer, 1994 (on most platforms), Electronic Arts. This is the first installment in the long series of FIFA-licensed games. It also seems to be the first to feature third-part brands on the field. Notice how the Adidas ad was replaced with a generic billboard on the Genesis version of the game. Compare all versions here.

Other games that came out in 1994 - NBA Showdown, NBA Live 95, PGA Tour Golf 3, NHL 95 had either no ads, house ads, or logos of the respective license holders.

FIFA Soccer 96, 1995, Electronic Arts. The game introduced a new level of realism into its class. The field adorned with billboards and looked especially realistic, although it is hard to tell whether there were any third-party ads (there is a billboard for “TADAL”, but I don’t know if it’s a real brand). No third-party ads inother titles that year.

Cricket 97, 1996, Electronic Arts. More house ads in this andother games released that year (Melbourne House and Beam are development studios).

NHL 97, 1996, Electronic Arts (image source: Gamespot). The Windows version of the game featured ads for Coolair and possibly others.

NCAA Football 98, 1997, Electronic Arts. Second NCAA game (first one by Mindscape came out in 1994). Features an ad for Nokia.

NHL 98, 1997, Electronic Arts. Multiple third-party brands, most notably by Mastercard, Coca-Cola and Easton (manufacturer of sports gear - see site).

FIFA: Road to the World Cup 98, 1997, Electronic Arts. In Windows version, ads for Gillette, Mastercard. Versions for other platforms don’t seem to have third-party ads.

X Games: Pro Boarder, 1998, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). Plenty of placeholders in this snowboarding game, and possibly third-party ads.

World Cup 98, 1998, Electronic Arts. Many third-party billboards, including ads by Opel, Mastercard, Snickers, McDonald’s, Philips, Casio and JVC. The same ads are also present in the PS and N64versions.

NHL 99, 1998, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). Cross-platform field ads for Wendy’s, Bauer.
Apparently, no ads on NCAA Football 99, NBA Live 99, Knockout Kings boxing title, or Tiger Woods 99.

1998-2000

NHL 2000, 1999, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). Ads for Dodge, Mastercard, skates maker CCM, and apparently Target.

Madden NFL 2000, 1999, Electronic Arts. Still no third-party ads in this installment.

FIFA 2000: Major League Soccer, 1999, Electronic Arts. Ads for music labels Skint and Apollo 440, Adidas, McDonald’s, Fuji, UNICEF, Eurosport. No ads in the GameBoy version. Still no ads in other franchises: Knockout Kings 2000, NBA Live 2000.

Superbike World Championship, 1999, Electronic Arts. Abundant logos of Champion (Aerospace?), bike maker logos, unidentified others.

FIFA 2001, 2000, Electronic Arts. Third-party ads as usual.

Knockout Kings 2001, 2000, Electronic Arts. No changes from the previous version.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001, 2000, Electronic Arts. The golfing franchise still has no apparent ads but lets you play different celebrities. Features branded courses (e.g. Buick PGA Tour Courses).

WCW Backstage Assault, 2000, Electronic Arts. This wrestling game for N64 has a fake soda machine.

Superbike 2001, 2000, Electronic Arts. Sponsor brands on bikes.


2001-2002

Madden NFL 2002, 2001, Electronic Arts (top image: Gamespot). Name of the helmet maker, Riddell, is now more legible. Ad for Upper Deck (probably the first for the franchise), a trading cards company. Ad for Riddell.com.

NCAA Football 2002, 2001, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). No apparent third-party ads.

Tiger Woords PGA Tour 2002, 2001, Electronic Arts (image:Gamespot). Nike’s branding that appears on the box art becomes distinguishable in-game.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, 2002, Electronic Arts (image:Gamespot). Nike’s branding becomes more prominent. Still no other brands and no ads in this virgin environment.

NHL 2003, 2002, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). Amazingly detailed graphics, but no obvious third-party ads.

FIFA Soccer 2003, 2002, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). Multi-level billboards with ads for Vodafone, McDonald’s, Fuji, Hyundai, Toshiba and others.

NCAA Football 2003, 2002, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). Compare the soccer stadium above with this ad-less football field.

2003-2006

NBA Live 2004, 2003, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot) . EA’s NBA series continue to show no ads in contrast to Sega’s ESPN franchise or Microsoft’s NBA Inside Drive game below:

ESPN NBA 2K5, 2004, Sega. Ads for Gatorade. Scrolling ad units.

NBA Inside Drive 2004, 2003, Microsoft. Ad for Air Canada. The ad unit is scrollable.

Madden NFL 2005, 2004, Electronic Arts. An unbranded PDA device (compare to the famously branded one in Splinter Cell).

Madden NFL 06, 2005, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot). Ad for Heinz (or not; it’s a replica of Heinz stadium). Again, compare to Sega’s ESPN NFL 2K5:

ESPN NFL 2K5, 2004, Sega. Billboards and product placement for Gatorade (image: Gamespot).




Both 2005 and 2006 versions of EA’s NHL are healthily full of ads:

NHL 2005, 2004, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot)

NHL 2006, 2005, Electronic Arts (image: Gamespot).