Great ads tell a story,
and so do great advergames.

… But most advergames are not great. Instead, they are just games with ads stuck onto the side. Most people play them, become engrossed with the gameplay, and then can’t even remember who the sponsor was or what he does. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

We’ve long known that great ads tell a story. In my research, I was a little surprised that so few advergames do. Instead, they focus only on the gameplay.

Of course, the best advergames do far more than give engaging gameplay. To play one of these is to experience the joy of the product or service being offered. These are great advergames. They tell a story. As a writer and software developer myself, I realized that it’s possible to do this with just about any advergame, advertising just about any product.

There’s no black magic involved. Using time-tested techniques of storytelling and game design, almost any advergame can be a great advergame. But most game designers don’t know how.

So I’ve written a short guide called How To Tell a Story With Advergaming: Designing On-line Games That Actually Communicate Your Brand Message. This guide draws on the secrets of fiction writers, the history of story-based video games, and sound marketing principles. It brings them all together into a process that can write any advertising message into a compelling game.

In this guide, you’ll discover:

• What’s wrong with advergaming, and how to fix it,
• How stories work and what it means for advertising,
• How to turn a value proposition into gameplay,
• What makes gameplay engaging,
• Two levels on which to integrate your value proposition into your gameplay,
• … and more.

You can get this guide as a bonus for signing up for my free e-newsletter, Infogames. Just enter your name and email address in the form below.

Sincerely,