How Brands Can Tap Facebook and Twitter on Xbox and PS3

There are more than 350 million gamers in the world. The average gamer is 35, male, with a household income of $78,000. However, CMOs and media planners often overlook or underutilize opportunities to connect with this segment of the entertainment industry.

A billboard in a racing video game, while still fulfilling millions of impressions, is extremely dated and difficult to tie directly to sales. It’s the equivalent of creating a digital strategy for your client and only limiting it to an online banner campaign.

In this video, I explain how brands can take advantage of the social networks built into the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

The central theme of this video is to give gamers what they want with an incentive program for products they already need. This formula works extremely well for consumer packaged goods (CPG) and quick service restaurants (QSR) industries especially. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 come with Twitter and Facebook built in, right out of the box. This integration allows for unique experiences for gamers and brands alike.

Run 90 yards and complete a touchdown in EA’s Madden Football, and your console is smart enough to tweet or send a Facebook update alerting your friends to your prowess on the gridiron.

However, so far this experience has been a one-way street. That’s because when my friends read this tweet/update and want to congratulate my accolades, their response will never be read until I leave the game and open Twitter or Facebook on my console. This will change.

Imagine if my social network could generate in-game content for me to interact with. Brands could then create deeply immersive campaigns that target social media and video games while simultaneously creating an incentive program for both. This is an incredibly powerful way to engage gamers while connecting with their entire social network. There are many opportunities surrounding video games. You just have to ask yourself: Are you game?