How Live Service Gaming is Taking Brand Marketing to New Heights!

In the realm of video games, live service gaming is one of the best ways to accomplish brand marketing. Brand marketing is now reaching new heights. One example is the cohesively developed strategy game “Star Trek Fleet Command” for PC and mobile devices by Paramount and Scopely. This December marks the fifth anniversary of “Star Trek Fleet Command”. In order to accomplish objectives and gather resources, players can interact with other players while exploring the virtual “Star Trek” universe in the game. Every month on the first Tuesday, the game receives a fresh batch of ships, characters, and other content. The majority of the game’s revenue comes from in-game sales, and it is available for free to play.

What is live service gaming?

The term “live service gaming” describes techniques used to continually provide players with events, updates, and new content over a prolonged period of time. It seeks to hold players’ attention and keep them playing longer. Through its immersion of players in the Star Trek universe and encouragement to discover other related content, including TV series, Star Trek Fleet Command acts as a kind of brand marketing. It seeks to pique the curiosity of current franchise fans while drawing in prospective new ones.

Star Trek Fleet Command – Prime example of a live service game

Even though in-game purchases allow “Star Trek Fleet Command” to make money, its main function is as an engaging means of brand promotion. Its main objective is to keep the interest of long-time Star Trek fans while also attracting new ones. Doug Rosen, Senior Vice President of Games and Emerging Media at Paramount, stressed the value of creating a passionate fan base that goes beyond the actual game. The game serves as a spark, enticing players to check out more “Star Trek” media, like the recently released series on Paramount+.

Not a revenue stream

Star Trek Fleet Command, however, is not a straight revenue play for Paramount. Rather, it is an especially captivating kind of brand marketing meant to pique the interest of ardent “Star Trek” fans as well as win over new ones. As evidenced by the fact that “Star Trek Fleet Command” has no in-game advertisements, any money made from the game is of secondary importance.

Image credit- Star Trek Fleet Command

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Fan base

“Star Trek Fleet Command” has a devoted and active fan base, which is proof of its success. There are hundreds of thousands of daily logins and close to 20 million downloads. This indicates a large number of active players. With over 98% of players regularly logging in, the games have an impressive retention rate. 90 percent of players are in it for the long run, with the majority participating for at least a year.

Significant investment in live service gaming

The user base of “Star Trek Fleet Command” has increased, and it now encompasses more of the Star Trek universe. Scopely has made a substantial investment in growing the Star Trek Fleet Command team. It did so to maintain this kind of long-term involvement. The development team consisted of about fifty individuals when the game was released five years ago. Since then, the group has expanded to about 250 members.

Scopely’s commitment to live service gaming

The expansion of Scopely’s “Star Trek Fleet Command” team is indicative of the significant financial outlay required for live service games to maintain long-term user engagement. It’s difficult to replicate the feat of creating a live service game that can entice players to return for five years. Creating and managing live service games can require a significant financial commitment. Brands who are prepared to put in the work can reap great rewards. Moreover, not all brands opt for this strategy due to the associated costs and lengthy lead times. However, live service gaming has shown itself to be an effective brand marketing tool. This is particularly true for long-lasting and devoted fan bases of franchises like “Star Trek.”

Final words

Summing it up, live service gaming offers a revolutionary chance for brand promotion. One such game that captivates millions of players and fosters a strong bond with the Star Trek franchise is Star Trek Fleet Command. Brands can expand their reach, inspire fan loyalty, and open up new growth prospects by cultivating a devoted and active fan base.

Read More: Paramount Launches Conduit that Directly Integrates Major Programmatic Platforms

Paramount Launches Conduit that Directly Integrates Major Programmatic Platforms

Paramount developed an additional layer to its connected TV ad tech to control where advertisements appear for its streaming apps across various distribution channels. Conduit is a new product from Paramount Advertising that seamlessly integrates with CTV programmatic platforms to promote scalability and interoperability for advertisers. The platform is made to address a few challenging issues in the fragmented CTV market, such as tracking ad frequency and preserving rival brand separation in ad blocks. It is the programmatic ecosystem’s first worldwide direct integration layer in the industry.

Conduit – Helping connect the dots

Broadcast partners have been under pressure from advertisers to provide more interoperability. However, in the past year, marketers have increased their pressure on programmers to enable ad buying from a variety of SSPs. The company has been working on Conduit since the launch of EyeQ in 2020—Paramount’s CTV ad-selling platform that combines Paramount+ and Pluto TV inventory. Conduit is referred to by Paramount as the best global direct integration layer for the programmatic ecosystem. This includes vital demand solutions from Amazon Publisher Services as well as Magnite, Google Ad Manager, and all other significant SSPs. Conduit’s goal is to standardize everything related to connected television, including ad choices and operations. The system is already live, in-market, and fulfilling more than 600 million bid requests per day. Furthermore, it serves more than 50,000 unique bids.

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CTV Solution for Programmatic Scalability and Efficacy

Currently operating on the market, the system processes over 600 million bid requests daily. Additionally, it handles over 50,000 distinct bids. Conduit is just Paramount’s most recent announcement of an advertising solution. The product is an intelligent, real-time, neutral integration layer for EyeQ. It offers exposure data, clean, actionable planning, and ad frequency management. Conduit, according to the company, is based on a unified instance of FreeWheel, which enables Paramount to swiftly and effectively adjust to partner needs. A buyer using an SSP that wasn’t linked to FreeWheel can still access CTV inventory directly from Paramount via Conduit.

Here’s what they said

The company in its statement said,

At Paramount, we take this problem seriously. We have dedicated enormous resources to find a way to solve this problem. With all systems connected, every deal type is eligible on every ad break and key data is known to eliminate repetition and coordinate a TV-quality ad experience. Conduit allows Paramount to finally delivers the true promise of addressable advertising in CTV: the right ad, to the right person at the right time.

FreeWheel general manager Mark McKee added,

Our unified ad-decisioning platform was designed to allow clients, like Paramount, to build upon our capabilities to meet their specific programmatic needs. In this case, Conduit utilizes the FreeWheel platform to make a unified decision on Paramount’s behalf, enabling advertisers to tap into the scale of Paramount’s global portfolio in a way that optimizes ad spend and maintains a premium advertising experience for consumers.

Magnite senior VP, of platform revenue Mike Laband stated,

We’re excited to expand our partnership with Paramount to include integration with its Conduit solution. Magnite’s ad server, SpringServe, is integrated with Conduit to enable monetization across Paramount EyeQ and its other properties through Magnite Streaming.

Read More: Paramount to Utilize iSpot As Currency Measurements for TV Ads

Paramount Elevates CTV Advertising with Interactive Product Suite Expansion

With three interactive CTV ad experiences, Paramount ANZ is extending its premium advertising alternatives offering. The goal is to create an environment where viewers interact with advertising in addition to simply watching it. On the big screen, Paramount ANZ hopes to provide a portal into the future of interactive advertising.

The approach builds on AdSelector’s, powered by Innovid, success. The program is one of the premium advertising options available from Paramount Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). They aim to encourage users to interact directly with video material using their remote controls. To do so, the platform accentuates already-present video content and displays a full-screen video gallery. Around a typical TVC, a CTA overlay emerges, urging viewers to participate using their remote. The viewer is then presented with content selections and ad experiences to choose from and play via AdSelector expanding to full-screen.

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The Three Interactive CTV ad experiences

Canvas Gallery

A TVC features an interactive scrollable gallery called Canvas Gallery displaying several products. It effectively highlights several products at once in a high-end, interactive setting. Additionally, it is beneficial to display a variety of products in a high-end interactive setting. The solution is ideal for campaigns with several touchpoints or for launching a wide range of products. Additionally, it is perfect for retail occasions like Christmas, Black Friday, or the launch of new products. A typical advertisement will be scaled down to fit a branded skin so that users of the remote may navigate through up to five panels of message in a single break.

Interactive overlay

Interactive Overlay’s click-to-reveal feature adds a call to action to an already-existing TVC. With a dynamic layer to a typical brand TVC, it provides a complementing interactive overlay that strengthens already strong brand creativity. Additionally, a lower-frame interactive overlay smoothly integrates promotional messaging, codewords, and limited-time offers into existing advertisements. As the usual brand advertisement plays, it will appear over top of it so that viewers may interact with the overlay using their remote.

Expander

Through an interactive full-screen ad experience, Expander immerses viewers while surfacing a variety of brand material. It seeks to deepen and broaden a brand’s exposure and accumulated time. To immerse consumers in a brand realm like never before is the aim. It combines several material pieces, including movies and photos, to enhance the value of a typical TVC. Additionally, a conventional advertisement is surrounded by a CTA overlay. With just three to five films or images, a full-screen video gallery carousel can be launched by viewers using their remote controls. The standard video resumes after viewers close the extended advertisement.

Here’s what they said

Head of commercial innovation at Paramount ANZ Zoe Kostos expressed her excitement to introduce these new advertising options, which reflect the company’s belief in the potential of interaction on a large screen. As reported by AdNews, she went on to say,

Each product offers a unique experience, allowing our advertisers to engage audiences in new and meaningful ways. Through creative flexibility and personalised engagement, we’re taking advertising beyond a completed view and transforming it into an immersive journey that resonates with viewers.

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