3208: How Zynga Is Redefining Mobile Gaming for Brands and Advertisers

[00:00:03] Be honest, do you think gaming is just for teenage boys in dark basements? Well, think again. One of the things I try and do every day on this podcast is bust lazy myths and misconceptions like that. And today I want to explore the world of mobile gaming and how it's actually dominated by millennial and Gen X women. Yep, your mum, your gran probably plays more than you do.

[00:00:28] And my guest today is Cerise Velasco from Zynga. She's going to break down how gaming is changing the advertising game, quite literally. And today we'll dive into how brands are tapping into gaming to reach unexpected audiences. Explore why mobile games are becoming the ultimate shopping cart inside your pocket and how interactive reward based ads are already shaping the future of digital marketing.

[00:00:58] And yes, the real housewives just got involved too. So if you love gaming, digital marketing, or just smart business moves, you're not going to want to miss this one. Enough from me. Let's get today's guest on. So thank you for joining me on the podcast today, Cerise. Can you tell everyone listening a little about who you are and what you do?

[00:01:19] Well, my name is Cerise Velasco. I am the director of brand partnerships with Zynga for the Midwest, as well as our retail media network partnerships that we have. And a little bit about myself as I've been with Zynga for about 11 years in the mobile gaming space, specifically selling within our direct ad sales team, where I've been fortunate enough to live from different coasts, as well as work with clients internationally on helping them develop engaging programs to reach our players at scale.

[00:01:48] And a fun environment place. Zynga's audience skews heavily towards millennial and Gen X women. I've got to ask, what misconceptions still exist about mobile game audiences? And how is Zynga changing that narrative too? You're absolutely right. When you think of gaming as a whole, most people don't view casual gaming as part of that. But it really is a majority of what the gaming ecosphere is.

[00:02:13] You think really, when you think of gaming, you think of kids and teens playing on their mobile devices. But in reality, according to Comscore, most gamers are 35 plus, and even that time rate, more than actually that 18 to 34 range of people. And a lot of those actually happen to be women. That is a sweet spot. And that aligns with what Zynga's audience is.

[00:02:34] When you also look at, according to Deloitte's Media Trends Survey, women make up about 50% of the U.S. gaming population. And of that, 70% of them are casual gamers. So that really lends nicely to the Zynga audience. With over 150 games, we have something for everyone. But every publisher has a sweet spot, and women happen to be ours. Primarily that millennial and Gen Z women.

[00:02:59] And part of the reason why is some of the stats that I provided to you too, but I think it's the quality of the games that we have. They really allow women, people in general, just to escape from reality and have some me time for them. And I think advertisers like working with us because they know they're in a safe space where their products are not going to have to be worried about being around questionable content.

[00:03:20] And our players are very leaned in, which allows them to have a messaging platform that they can actually tell their product why somebody should buy them and even give more education to that consumer. Which we actually do find that our players, not only do they like to learn about new products, but they also purchase products from our ads. So I think overall it's a win-win for that mobile gaming space and for that female audience.

[00:03:45] And it's interesting that you say that because before you came on the podcast today, I was reading that mobile gaming is becoming an increasingly important part of the digital marketing mix. So how are brands leveraging interactive entertainment to try and break through to these unexpected customer segments? It feels like there's a real movement here. Most definitely. I think one of the reasons why is everyone's got a mobile device in their hand, which allows them to have basically a shopping cart in their hand.

[00:04:14] So when you're in that space, when you're actually in mobile gaming, you're relaxed, you're engaged. And when you see a product, you find, oh, this could actually be a good form to message to my consumers. In fact, we find that females as alone are responsible for 75% of the global purchases that are going to be made up in the next five years on their mobile devices. So what better place to reach somebody who's going to actually buy something than on their favorite mobile games?

[00:04:40] A couple of ways that our advertisers like to work with us is in some of our creative executions that they can actually reach these consumers. If it's a rewarded video or rewarded ads that give players some kind of currency within the game in exchange for their time, which allows them to really have a one-to-one relationship with that advertiser.

[00:05:02] Or through some of our custom playables that we built, which are basically mini games that we developed for our advertisers that allow them to highlight their product, teach the consumer on how to use their product, or even just have a fun engagement with their product. So that the player themselves gets to really know the brand without having to just watch, let's say, a standard video or something. They actually have that emotional connection with them.

[00:05:24] But I think the best way that we find that our advertisers can break through in that entertainment space within the gaming environment is through hard-coded integrations in the games. And you're probably familiar with these, Neil's, where you have a really beloved title that someone is playing. Let's say, like, Wars with Friends, for example, one of Zynga's games. And we incorporate an advertiser into that game.

[00:05:46] That allows them to have a limited experience with our players at a one-to-one relationship with them when there's going to be no other advertisers in there. So they're really going to resonate with what they're seeing and who they're interacting with from a brand perspective. And before you came on the podcast, I was doing a little research on those kind of areas. And I was reading that Zynga had recently partnered with the Real Housewives franchise. Not a show that I watch, but I'm very aware of it. But I've got to ask, what was it that made that collaboration such a good fit?

[00:06:16] And what did it reveal about the evolution of gaming as an advertising platform? I think, first and foremost, authenticity is a big part here. Making sure that when determining who they're going to be partnering, such as the Real Housewives here, we wanted to make sure that our audience were in perfect alignment. And so that it didn't feel forced when we created this partnership together. So if you look at who the Real Housewives audience was, our main audience is, you're looking at millennials and Gen Z females.

[00:06:45] And that actually falls perfectly in alignment with Zynga. So I think making sure that when you are incorporating and developing partnerships, that you're really finding that right audience and making sure that they work well together. And not only does that bring value to the player, but it also brings value to the viewers of the Real Housewives. Because you want to have that synergy.

[00:07:07] So when you see on the commercials that we did, or you saw the press when we did together, you may have players that be like, you know what, this aligns with who I am as a person. And in turn, I should track out this game. And we definitely saw a lift in userships. So these programs do work. So I think making sure that the evolution of gaming and how it relates to advertising is really focusing on making sure that your audience aligns with who you're partnering with and who's going to resonate the most with your players.

[00:07:36] Yeah, I completely agree with you on that. And technology also seems to be shifting in-game advertising beyond some of the traditional formats that we've seen in recent years. So I'm curious, what new and emerging experiences are proving to be the most engaging for brands right now? And indeed, consumers alike, of course. So as I mentioned prior to this, I'm currently at the Ad Age Next Gen Conference.

[00:08:06] And being authentic, authentic was important to them. There's also trust in the brand. And those are all things that were really important. So when we decided to go out and develop new ad products, we wanted to make sure not only that we were being true to us and having a playful experience with our new products, but also able to solve problems for advertisers. Really is how do I get in front of my audience with new ad products, new ways of messaging to them?

[00:08:34] And so Zynga came up with several new ones that are doing extremely well right now. One that I love the most is probably our interactive video units, which there's three different types. We have an instant tap, which basically allows you to have a video that's running so you can run your normal teen 30-second spot. And then while the video is running, you can have images that show up and you can actually have call to actions to allow them to buy at that specific moment. So you have that from a video perspective.

[00:09:03] And then we have our shoppable units, which are really more turnkey based units that allow us to identify trends within products for an advertiser and have a more interactive way to drive conversions. Or we have our focus feature, which really highlights and brings out the right elements within an ad and say, hey, click on this button to learn more about it. So there's fun, interactive ways that we're able to do that, all with the mindset of driving conversions.

[00:09:30] And one thing when I was talking to a major box store retailer that was sitting right next to me, she said, I want my ads not only to be an awareness play, but also drive sales at the same time. And so I showed her what we had and she was thrilled about it. So I know that not only did we hopefully come up with the right products, but that in the marketplace, it actually is resonate. So those are some of the new units that we have. But I also have to go back to our in-game integrations.

[00:10:00] When we create these, they're always bespoke to the specific advertiser. So we have to make sure that each game aligns perfectly with that audience, similar to how we do with the housewives when we incorporate some kind of advertising into it or partnerships. We want to make sure that the advertiser feels that there's a perfect alignment with the game and also the game team feels that it's perfect for their players. Because to us, our players are the most important thing to Zynga.

[00:10:28] So making sure that whatever we create for them in any kind of banner unit or playable or shoppable or an active video or even our in-game integrations, that everything is authentic to our players and that they're going to resonate with it. And I was also reading before you came on the podcast today that you have over 150 games in your portfolio.

[00:10:53] So Zynga must have an incredibly massive reach there, a big social reach. So how does the platform ensure that some of these brand partnerships that we're talking about feel organic and add value rather than disrupting the player experience? Because that's something that you don't want to do either. Oh, most definitely. Neil, you hit it spot on. We have so many different games that we own and operate ourselves. So I like to say that we always have the scale of an ad network, but we are owned and operated.

[00:11:23] So it's a very trusted place. And in order to maintain that sustainable growth that we have, we have to make sure that our players come first. And that's first and foremost with Zynga. So inundating them with ads is not the right mix at all. There has to be that fine balance between incorporating advertising to enhance someone's gameplay versus Zynga just making a dollar on somebody. That is not our goal at all.

[00:11:48] Our goal is really to bring joy to our players and allow them to have a safe space to play and know that they're not going to be monetized, if that makes sense. Benefits for advertisers is that knowing that Zynga really limits the number of ads that we have allows when an advertiser is in game to actually stand out. That's the most important thing, right? You don't want to be cluttered in a space where you're overwhelmed.

[00:12:14] And so making sure that when we incorporate ads, let's say our non-skip video, we limit the number of actual forced video views that we do. So the players don't feel like they're forced to do something that they don't want. And also too, we do value exchange. So for those players that want to get an extra turn or more coins or more gas within their gameplay, they have and they know where within our games to get a rewarded inventory.

[00:12:43] So that they can get an ad by an advertiser who we pre-qualified that is a qualified consumer for that specific game player in that game. And then at that time allows the advertiser to have a one-on-one conversation with the player, educates them on their brand. And in exchange for spending their quality time or their limited time that these players have with the ad, then we give them something in exchange such as gas.

[00:13:11] And mobile gaming is often seen as a more passive entertainment medium, especially when compared to PC gaming or console gaming, for example. So how do you at Zynga use engagement data to demonstrate the real impact of in-game advertising on consumer behavior? I would imagine technology has made that much easier now. But can you share how you do that or if you do that? Yeah, we definitely do that.

[00:13:37] And first and foremost, mobile gaming is where majority of all gameplay is taking place. And according to a recent disco study earlier, mobile gaming makes up 69% of all devices that players are engaging with, which basically means there's a scale there, right? And when scale comes there, that means that lots of people are playing.

[00:13:58] And so we find that every generation of players across the board, anywhere from the gen alphas, when I let my kids play my games, and I know Zynga has brand-safe games, that's totally fine, to boomers. So we know that gaming is important. And we know that it may not be as intense as the casual or the PC gamers or the console gamers, but they're still playing plenty of games.

[00:14:25] And I think from an advertising perspective, we know that advertisers are investing in that in-app space, but they tend to boom and prioritize more social or audio or CTV. But I think when you're looking at how advertisers should actually be looking at the gaming space, it's really using mobile gaming as part of their media mix as more of a complement to it.

[00:14:46] So when you look at social, which is more of a passive scrolling experience, or TV and music, which is more of a background noise experience, at least I know with me, that's kind of how it is. Usually I'm playing games while I'm listening to TV or the music in the background. Gaming is more of that leaned-in experience, which in turn drives attention and engagement.

[00:15:08] But from an advertising perspective, I would say, the environment is not only in-reinforced our brand messaging. So kind of through some of the rise of this up together, gaming is a crucial component to a finely defined media mix modeling, which overall just kind of helps somebody with their omni-channel approach.

[00:15:31] And one thing we should highlight here, especially as privacy regulations increasingly tighten, and we are heading to a future where third-party cookies will slowly begin to disappear. How does mobile gaming offer brands a unique advantage in reaching audiences while respecting user data? Because it can be quite a fine, delicate balance. Most definitely.

[00:15:54] You know, we see it even on our side, making sure that our consumers' data privacy is the most important thing to us because we want them to continue to come back. And if they can't trust that we are responsibly taking care of their data, they're not going to come back and play our games. So we find that there are consumers that do opt in and allow us to do that. So we will help them with that and serve them ads that are relevant to who they are and what they're looking for.

[00:16:23] And we do use third-party providers to help us do that. So anywhere from an Experian to a Samba TV or Comscore, those are just examples of privacy-compliant companies that Zynga works with. For everyone else that chooses to maybe not be targeted or tracked with cookies, we always have a solution for our advertisers when it comes to that place. So there's a couple of ways that we do that.

[00:16:46] One, we utilize Comscore to find games and apps that index high against those people's behaviors. And we curate a custom list that's contextually relevant to those specific segments. From there, we identify the games that everyone wants. And then we dig in a little bit deeper to figure out who those audiences are so we can find patterns and behaviors and create personas. And I think that's the most important thing, right?

[00:17:15] Defining who that person is and making sure that we can figure out which games align the best with a specific person. So, for example, if you're going after a Gen Z or Gen X female audience, I would highly be recommending a Brain and Puzzles. That's really kind of somebody who's that primary household shopper mom who are buying for everyone in their household. They may be tech savvy and love streaming services.

[00:17:39] And the games that I would suggest for them would be a Harry Potter Puzzles and Spells or something along the lines of our famous Words with Friends. And if you're going after that Gen Z, Gen Y audience, a little bit younger skewing, our Hypo Casual games are the perfect place. Not only do they have a sense of social activation online, but they also love to do real life engagements.

[00:18:05] And that's one thing I did learn at that Ad Age Summit that I'm currently at right now is that you went through a whole generation of people who literally were stuck at home when they were in their prime moments. And so they now want to go out and have experiences. So with Zynga's games, when we develop these types of Hypo Casual games, it's really like finding trends and looking at what that consumer is doing and building games towards those people.

[00:18:29] And then if you're a couple of games that you would look at, that would be maybe like our High Hill games or Fill the Fridge or some things along those lines. And if you're going after that Gen Z, Gen Y male audience, sports. Sports is the place we'd love to send those advertisers to. So within the Zynga portfolio, we have CSR2, we have Golf Rivals, we have NBA 2K. There's a bunch of different titles that we have that can really hit that male audience for them.

[00:18:57] But overall, what we do really is making sure that we're matching the right name with the right persona to making sure that we are driving advertisers and giving them the most highest engaged audience as possible that will resonate with their brand. And so there's a couple of ways that we do it.

[00:19:13] And in addition to that, we also love to incorporate Brand Lift studies with our partners, making sure that we're using Brand Lift to help them measure and understand how each of the ad products that we are offering them resonate with the different audiences. So a couple of examples of our ad products based on the research that we've done through Brand Lift studies. We find that our first impression takeovers, which basically is the very first impression somebody will see across all our titles.

[00:19:40] We find that that increases awareness and also allows an advertiser to have a big splash and mass reach to everyone across the network. And then another one is that let's say an advertiser comes to us and they say ad recall is really important to us. If that's the case, I would highly be recommending our rewarded video and our playable units, primarily because of that action to reward factor that comes into play.

[00:20:03] And when you do that, we find that the outcomes of advertisers see not only recall, but they also drives perception change and drives purchase intent. And so when you're looking for somebody who's looking for that more mid-funnel awareness play or mid-funnel purchase intent or action taking place, those rewarded video and playables are key. Those are just a couple of ways that we do that. And looking ahead, what role do you see mobile gaming playing in the future of digital advertising?

[00:20:31] And how do you think brands should be thinking differently about their strategies for this space? A reward-based engagement, I think, is key. Making sure that whatever you're doing, you're providing value to the player or to the audience as a whole. So I think gaming lends itself really nicely to that. And also to gamifying the shopper experience.

[00:20:55] I kind of mentioned this before, but making sure that when you're creating ads, that they have some kind of fun aspect to them. So making sure that gaming is incorporated into that, especially in a space like mobile games is really important. But gamifying your brand is important. And then leveraging the games, which I think is part of an area that I work on now, is the retail media network space. And that is just really important for the industry as a whole.

[00:21:23] A lot of dollars are being shifted that way. But how do you gamify that? So we're working with retail media networks to amplify and grow the offerings that they have, which is basically taking ads that Zynga's been doing for a while, such as our playables, and bringing them to that space, allowing retailers to be able to go to their supplier partners and say, listen, you can do all the videos you want and you can do all the banners you want with us. That's fab.

[00:21:48] But now we have a more fun, engaging way to interact with your brand and still later on our targeting. So I think those are three ways that the future of advertising is going to evolve in the gaming space. Fantastic. And for anybody listening that wants to dig a little bit deep on anything we talked about today, we've covered a lot around Zynga games, the amount of games. You've got millions and millions of players out there and so many opportunities around technology and advertising, et cetera.

[00:22:16] Where should anybody listening go to to find out more information? Anywhere you'd like to point them? Absolutely. Zyngaads.com. That is where you can go and get an idea of the type of titles we have to some case studies, even view our ad products. It's a good one-stop shop to learn about Zynga and Zynga ads specifically. Well, as someone that has lost many hours of my life playing words with friends and Game of Thrones games and so many other titles that you've got there,

[00:22:44] it was great having a peek behind the curtain. Some of the opportunities are there for businesses and brands and understanding how it all works. But more than anything, thank you for sitting down with me and sharing your story. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you, Neil. I really appreciate your time and wanted to learn more about Zynga. There you go. Mobile gaming isn't just entertainment. It could also be the future of digital entertainment. Because gaming isn't just for gamers. Brands are catching on to this and the smart ones are getting in early.

[00:23:14] I mean, yes, ad fatigue is real, but the right formats, reward-based and interactive, these are the methods that are enhancing experiences. And it is women leading the charge. Mobile gaming's biggest audience is indeed millennials and Gen X females. So if today's chat got you thinking differently about how your brand could collide with gaming, check out Zynga and their latest partnerships.

[00:23:42] And if you thought we missed anything today, please let me know. Slide into the DMs on LinkedIn X and Instagram. Just at Neil C. Hughes. Other than that, we're going to be moving away from gaming and going into a different topic tomorrow. Hopefully you will join me again then. Bye for now.