When Worlds Collide

822 Digital is the first ad agency to focus solely on promoting the gaming industry

by David Radd

Almost every game publisher deals with an external agency to handle the majority of their advertising. Companies like McCann Erickson and TBWA may not be household names to gamers, but they're surely familiar with their work. These and many other similar companies form not just the backbone of ads for gaming, but a host of other products as well.

While most ad agencies divide themselves among many sorts of products, 822 Digital has taken a different approach. Focusing exclusively on gaming, the year-old agency is looking to cater itself exclusively to gaming clients. They're hoping their unique approach will appeal to members of the gaming industry and might even be the sign of a trend.

We talked at length with 822's President and Creative Director Steven J. Rosenbaum about everything inside and out about game ads and his company's particular approach.

The first and only

Considering how well established gaming is as an entertainment medium, it's surprising that 822, the first ad agency devoted solely to games, was only established just last year. Even 822 is made up of members that are veterans of film and TV. It's not too hard to imagine, though, that the company will be the first of many agencies that focus on games given the unique qualities of the interactive medium compared to TV and movies.

When asked why there's never been an agency devoted entirely to game marketing before 822, Rosenbaum responded, "It stems from a general lack of understanding. All the major ad agencies started with movie marketing and they've brought in separate teams to work on games. But what we have here is a passion for games. I'm from New York, went to film school and worked as an editor for 15 years, but I wanted to work with games ever since I had my Intellivision. We want to work towards creative customer service mixed with our passion for the games. Everyone here, from producers to the artists, are from the Hollywood world, but they all love games.

"[Games] are what we know, what we love and that's what we create for. We are 100% concentrating on games and we don't have a DVD department or something else to distract us from that. All of our employees are of the highest caliber in creative focusing on games. This allows us to give the publishers everything they've wanted and to guarantee that they're getting the best all around knowledge for gaming. We're a one-stop-shop covering everything from print to online. At other agencies, I always thought the game departments were looked at as just another resource. It can't be regarded that way; it's a driving force in entertainment."

"So yeah, [it stems from] a lack of understanding and a wariness of this new medium," he continued. "Consumers are savvy, and showing CGI doesn't cut it anymore. That's why we do what we do here at 822: showing off the game the way it is. With next-gen, you can use beautiful art to sell game product."

What you see is what you get

Rosenbaum's mention of CGI brought up a caveat still very present even today with many game ads: they often use more pre-rendered CGI than in-engine scenes. This is especially odd and puzzling when it happens with a next-gen game that is both beautiful and realistic. 822 creates ads using the in-game engine exclusively, which ultimately results in more accurate and realistic expectations and benefit both the publisher and consumer in the end.

"I think when PS1 and PS2 came out, the game usually wasn't finished by the time they needed the ad. They wanted to show what the game was about, no matter how it was done," explained Rosenbaum. "Now with PS3 and Xbox 360, it's more possible to create amazing ads using the original builds. Speaking personally, I was able to build my name on capturing game video for ads. Most video capture in games is very herky-jerky, so I think if [the game publisher] didn't have someone that could make their product look really good, they might pay a lot for some CGI. We're able to take what they have and make it look great, however."

"Consumers want to see the engine. They've been asking for this since 8 years ago. It might take 20 takes to get it the way I like, but when you have a car screeching around the corner... it blows them away because that's what they want to see," he added. "Also, once [publishers] see what we can do with an in-game engine, they might never go back to CGI."