Versace. L’Oréal. Disney. The NFL.
As of mid-2024, 865 brands have ventured into gaming and virtual worlds. But the brands that have truly succeeded are those that used data to craft their virtual strategies and select the right platform for their brand.
To genuinely connect with your target audience or Gen Z on these platforms, brands must recognize that this is no longer a PR play—gaming and virtual worlds have become a full-funnel marketing channel.
This article is designed to guide marketers or innovation teams through the process of choosing the best gaming platform or virtual world for their brand.
Let’s get started.👇
Why are brands entering virtual worlds and gaming platforms?
Brands are increasingly investing in gaming platforms and virtual worlds because these platforms offer a powerful, immersive way to engage with audiences, particularly Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who spend more time gaming than on social media. GEEIQ’s 2023 report found that under-25s typically spend 180 minutes on Roblox, compared to 107 minutes on TikTok.
There are also more options than ever for how brands can appear in these virtual environments. User-generated content (UGC) platforms like Roblox are lowering traditional entry barriers, making it easier for brands to enter the space, create immersive worlds, and stay competitive. Other platforms allow brands to innovate and leverage cutting-edge tech, for example, VR-compatible platforms like Emperia or Obsess.
Virtual environments can deepen brand loyalty, open new revenue streams, and provide valuable data on consumer preferences – if approached correctly and with data.
So, how do you choose which gaming platform or virtual world is best for your brand?
How to choose the best gaming platform for your brand
1. Consider the size of each platform’s community
Choosing a platform with a substantial audience may seem obvious, but it’s a factor that’s often overlooked.
Charles Hambro, who has worked with brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton on their virtual activations, emphasizes the importance of community size:
“Brands need to remember: location, location, location. When opening a shop, one would think ‘I need to go to Oxford Street, where it’s really busy.’ Building a Roblox experience is like setting up your flagship store on a high street with 300 million monthly active users. Other platforms are more like setting up your flagship store in the middle of the countryside. You need to be where the eyeballs are.”
However, there are instances where a smaller audience size might be more suitable. For example, if you’re a luxury brand targeting a niche, affluent audience, VR-compatible platforms like Emperia or Obsess could be a better fit. That’s why you’ll see brands like L’Occitane or Bloomingdales working with those platforms.
2. Prioritize where your key markets and target audiences are
Who is your target audience? Do the demographics of the game align with your target demographics?
Just as you would align your social media strategy with your target audience, it’s vital to consider the demographics of each virtual world when choosing a platform.
Let’s look at BBC Earth’s activation on Minecraft, for instance. As a nature-focused brand, its goal was likely to educate a younger audience, an audience that watches TV increasingly less, about nature. Minecraft, with its balanced gender split and younger player base, aligned well with their objectives – unlike, for example, Fortnite, which has an 89% male audience.
If you don’t analyze the audience demographics of each virtual world you’re considering, how do you know you’re targeting your audience?
3. Assess what level of brand safety each virtual world or gaming platform offers
What level of brand safety is your brand willing to be associated with? How do you categorize different virtual platforms by the level of brand safety they offer?
Brand safety is a critical consideration for any brand entering virtual worlds. Some gaming platforms provide content that does not always align with the target audience or wider values of a brand. A platform that showcases Triple-A content is not a logical fit for a brand with a predominantly under-18 audience.
Take H&M, for instance. Looking to engage both younger and older audiences, it wouldn’t make sense for them to partner with a game like Borderlands, a first-person shooter rated M for mature or 18+ audiences. Even a UGC-driven platform like Fortnite might pose brand safety risks due to the prevalence of weaponry in its Battle Royale mode.
Instead, H&M worked with GEEIQ to launch H&M Loooptopia on Roblox, a platform that gave them full control over their experience. With updates boosting engagement by 180% per release, Loooptopia surpassed 10 million visits within its first year.
Platforms like Roblox allow brands to ensure safety while driving creative, data-driven strategies that keep audiences coming back.
For brands seeking more control over brand safety, UGC platforms like Roblox may be the better choice. Sam Harvey, who has built virtual strategies for brands including Ralph Lauren, LEGO, Porsche, and Sam’s Club:
“With UGC platforms, brands can craft a custom environment where they design the rules, aesthetic, and interactions. This level of control ensures that brands aren’t limited by pre-existing game modes that might not align with their values. Instead, they can build tailored experiences that resonate with their audience while adhering to their brand safety guidelines, offering a more secure and brand-friendly way to engage.”
4. Consider your KPIs and specific campaign goals
What KPIs has your brand set? Does the environment you choose have the capability to track that KPI? How do you define those KPIs in virtual worlds?
Traditional gaming collabs are focused on top-of-funnel branding and awareness, with a heavy reliance on press coverage and little-to-no in-game data collection capabilities.
Blockchain-based platforms, like Decentraland, provide data collection capabilities for brand activations. But they have smaller communities in comparison to gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite.
UGC platforms, like Roblox, offer more data collection capabilities as brands have more control over which developer they work with. You can then measure visits, item sales performance, engagements, ROI, and more.
To ensure you achieve your brand’s KPIs, you must have access to tools that measure your success. Without this, internal buy-in can be difficult to attain and investment hard to justify.
Consider when Dettol created an experience on Roblox. The brand’s goal was to educate its audience on good hygiene. Hence, success was measured by the number of players who completed the hygiene-based game loop at least once. The initiative was a success for the brand as it achieved a 19.7% knowledge boost among players based on feedback from over 10,000 respondents who completed the game loop.
With more brands entering the virtual world space, marketing teams need to be able to track what benefits or returns they are getting from their investment. Otherwise, they cannot incorporate the ‘test and learn’ strategies needed to assess what works and hit their team’s KPIs.
5. Ensure the gaming platform or virtual world aligns with your brand’s values and aesthetic
For a virtual activation to succeed, it must feel native, authentic, and entertaining, all while aligning with your brand’s values.
Take GEEIQ partner Walmart’s Roblox experience, Walmart Discovered. It’s one of the most successful branded experiences on the platform because it mirrors what Walmart does in the real world – the experience helps users discover UGC items from over 350 content creators.
Another consideration is whether the aesthetic of the game suits your brand’s needs. For example, if you’re a luxury brand looking to sell virtual items that are highly detailed, you might not opt for a gaming platform like Minecraft which has visuals based on blocks. Instead, you might go for a virtual shopping platform like Emperia or Obsess which offers incredibly high-resolution videos and full control over a virtual world.
Carolina Nasr, who has worked with brands like Coach and Louis Vuitton on their virtual strategies, expanded on this key point:
“Virtual environments are an opportunity for brands to tell their story in a never-been-done-before way that perhaps wouldn’t even be possible IRL. A brand who slaps their logo in-game might get lots of impressions, but they wouldn’t get that deep, meaningful engagement everyone else is striving for.”
Key takeaways
The virtual landscape is vast, but success depends on making data-driven decisions. Choose virtual worlds and gaming platforms based on audience size, alignment with your values, brand safety, and KPIs. The right platform will elevate your brand – not just place it in a virtual space.
To learn more about virtual strategies and the trends brands are currently following as they invest in this space, take a look at our latest report, The State of Virtual Brand Experiences III.
Check it out 👇
