Growth in Games for Turner Broadcasting and Cartoon Network

[This is an exerpt of a story first published on ClickZ.Asia. Read the whole thing there.]

Turner Broadcasting is best known for TV programming, but the media company has also had success aligning brands with a slew of online games its interactive unit pumps out weekly.

According to Benjamin Grubbs, Asia Pacific executive director of interactive media at Turner Broadcasting, the company's Cartoon Network website generated 2 billion ad impressions this year. The traffic came mainly from South Asia, with users engaging for an average of 20 to 25 minutes per visit. More importantly, digital activity is now a revenue driver for the company.

The growth didn't happen overnight. When Turner first built its site, it featured programming schedules that turned out to look more like a marketing brochure than a destination visitors would connect and engage with emotionally.

Grubbs, a former eBay and Yahoo marketing executive, was hired in 2008 to shape how Turner's interactive arm operates. As executive director based in Hong Kong, he works closely with the internal development and web teams to manage the games and mobile businesses.

Producing games comprises a large chunk of what the company does. Turner's interactive media unit releases a new casual game every week and multi-player games every two to three weeks. In addition, it plans longer-term social and mobile game projects designed to bear fruit in nine to 12 months.

Prudential Reaches Kids With Edutainment Site

In one example of Turner's advertiser integration with games, Cartoon Network partnered with Prudential to create an animated edutainment series that rolled out regionally in September.

Focused on financial literacy, the campaign is targeted at children aged seven to 12. Its presence on Turner's site for Cartoon Network showcases a series of animated musical cartoons and games that encourage entrepreneurialism and good saving habits. The videos are also broadcast on the Cartoon Network in seven Asian markets (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).

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