Can Automotive Brands Afford Not To Gamify?

The computer and video games industry is currently one of the fastest growing sectors in popular history.

No longer the preserve of unkempt teenagers from across the world, keen on wasting away a few hours in the company of present or indeed virtual friends, it is now a multi-billion pound Industry.

Giving the traditional entertainment establishments such as Hollywood, a jolly good run for their money!

Recent figures released by the Entertainment Software Association reveal that in 2012 the total consumer spend on games industry alone, was a staggering $20.77 Billion Dollars.

With such vast sums of money being spent, it’s little wonder how this has swiftly become a new medium to be taken very seriously indeed. The profile of the average gamer might also surprise you. Figures from the same ESA report detail that the average age of game players is now 30. 32% are under 18 years old, 32% are 18-35 years old and 36% are 36+ years.

The gender split is also less unbalanced as one might have imagined, with 55% of gamers being male versus 45% female.

The average age of the most frequent game purchaser was also announced to be 35 with the gender split again not markedly dissimilar in 54% being male versus 46% who are female.

But most interestingly almost half, 43% of game players surveyed, believe that computer and video games give them the most value for their money, compared with DVDs, music or going out to the cinema.

This identifies to me quite a remarkable trend shift in how we are starting to value games and how we are consuming our entertainment.

In light of this information, it is little wonder that household Hollywood names have already lent their voices to some well-known games such as:

MARK HAMIL (BATMAN ARKHAM ASLYUM)

WILLEM DAFOE (BEYOND: TWO SOULS)

SAMUEL L. JACKSON (GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS)

KIEFER SUTHERLAND (CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR)

KRISTEN BELL (ASSASSIN’S CREED SERIES)

Now unless you have been living in a cave, or indeed a lesser known commune, which frowns upon all kinds of news and items from modernity, the very recent launches of both Microsoft and Sony’s ultra-connected next gen, entertainment enabled, do everything, wonder- boxes, the XBOX One and PS4 cannot have failed to register on your radar.

One of the largest USPs these new machines are being marketed on is their über-connectivity and how gamers can share the latest happenings in-game at the touch of a button from the controller.

Therefore the question that must be posed is:

In the ever-advancing technological landscape of today’s world, can automotive brands afford to ignore the exposure that being immortalised in pixels offers them?

For my money, manufacturers who ignore this prime cyber car showrooms do so at their own peril!

It strikes me as more than reasonable to speculate, that as we know that games such as Gran Turismo pride themselves on getting the response and drive as realistically close to that of the vehicle portrayed as possible. Why would potential buyers of said vehicles not try them out virtually first?

Now I’m not suggesting that all of the button bashers out there will resort to this method, rather than in fact going down to their local dealerships.

The point I’m stressing is that there has to be some correlation between the time-strapped 30 year old we now know to be the average aged gamer, and their first encounter with a potential new vehicle of interest to them.

Naturally these driving titles will always carry a fair degree of supercar curiosity cure, as they allow for you to own and drive some of the most precious metal – albeit virtual metal – from around the globe. But for those who are actually in market, does it not present a very interesting opportunity, if that is, they can find the car that interests them?

Fairly often things of course work the other way and an automotive brand harnesses a game to build their brand and create concept excitement. Excellent examples of this can be seen by both Mercedes-Benz and Citroën. Not, of course, forgetting the quite mind-boggling work that Nissan GT Academy in turning competent arm chair gamers into bona fide contracted international racing drivers!

This is the reason that I refer to these next-gen driving titles as prime cyber car showrooms, as I don’t believe I can be certified as crazy for believing they really are exactly that, if properly harnessed.

In my humble, the new wave of next gen consoles offer manufactures some hugely exciting opportunities to connect with and showcase their respective brand values directly to potential fans / customers of today and tomorrow at the flick of a switch.

It strikes me that to be a part of this booming revolution will only serve to add an extra air of desirability to the brave marques.

So why not embrace developers, gamification and the new tech before all and sundry decide to jump on the bandwagon.

Now for that Lamborghini test, I can of course neither confirm nor deny whether I’ll be picking up the controller or heading straight to the showroom!

Greg