Zynga, SessionM Out To Give Gaming A Real-World Payoff

Steve Anderson : End Game
Steve Anderson
The Video Store Guy
| The video game industry has gone from a mole hill to a mountain in no time flat, Chris DiMarco is your Sherpa as you endeavor to scale Mount “Everquest”

Zynga, SessionM Out To Give Gaming A Real-World Payoff

Anyone who's been to a casino lately knows that games can pay off. Indeed, whether straight luck or skill is involved, playing a game can come with a big payday. But many have likely looked at the piles of video game treasure sitting around and bemoaned the fact that it's nowhere near as easy to make money in real-time. A new partnership between Zynga and SessionM, meanwhile, is out to change that and bring real-world awards to video games.

We all know Zynga, the beleaguered social gaming publisher. But SessionM has a mobile loyalty platform, as well as advertising platform, that when combined with social gaming offers an interesting prospect. Starting this month, the game “Scramble With Friends” will offer a new icon that in turn leads to a new option, the option to play for achievements and loyalty points. Those who get achievements and loyalty points in turn will be able to redeem the points won for gift cards from places like Amazon and iTunes, and advertisers will get access to a whole new pool of gamers who have specifically opted in to receive video-based advertising that's especially valuable as it's also based on engagement.

Given that, on average, about 70 percent of apps are dropped after just one use, using a loyalty platform to keep gamers in and playing isn't a bad idea at all. After all, if gamers are encouraged to stick around and play—whether by the quality of the game itself or by the promise of free swag—the end result remains the same. The gamers stay, the gamers play, and the gamers can be more effectively reached via advertising. Advertisers involved with SessionM, meanwhile, include names like Universal Studios, American Express, Old Navy, and several more.

Such a good idea, of course, has competitors like Kiip and PocketChange, and generally when there are competing firms in place in a market, it's a good sign that the market itself has sufficient validity—and sufficient action contained therein—to make it a worthwhile effort to compete. After all, if no one in a market is seeing success, most firms would exit that market. Why pan for gold in a bottled water plant?

I have long been of the mind that in-game advertising is just fine—if anything, it's underused—but at the same time, it must have clear benefit for the gamers. Sure, go ahead! I'll drive a Ford around the neighborhood and get my power-ups from a can of Pepsi and a Slim Jim. I'll drop my excess loot at Bank of America, and I'll fast travel with Southwest Airlines. But by like token, when you're putting all those brand names in my face, you'd better not charge $60 for that game. Advertise to me, sure. Please do! But there had better be something in it for me. If this free downloadable content is sponsored by Wendy's, I'm fine with that. If this $40 copy of a game as big as Skyrim (no cheesy "Sneak King" games need apply) is partially mine thanks to a generous endowment from Jack Daniels, that's great. But the game companies must realize that advertising must come with a benefit.

For television, there's free or low-cost shows. For streaming video, there's all you can watch for one low price per month. For SessionM to offer goodies for play, well, that's just fine by me. Keep the goodies coming and I'll live with some ads.
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