Young Scots Targeted In-Game

The Scottish Government plans to target young gamers age 15 to 24 through in-game advertising, in an effort to reduce drunk driving. The buy concentrates on driving games “Need for Speed: Carbon,” “Need for Speed ProStreet,” “Project Gotham Racing 4,” “Pro Evolution Soccer 2008,” and “NBA Live” each on the Xbox platform. The campaign, featuring messages like “LOS 3RS, Drink Drive. Lose License. Don’t Risk it.” is valued at just under $20,000 (£10,00). The Scottish Government’s director of road safety, Michael McDonnell said in a statement the trial will initially carry the anti-drink drive messages, but may be used for other road safety messages in the future.

In-game advertising firms like Massive – the likely network in this deal – talk about the ability to do geotargeting on campaigns, but not many specific examples have been discussed. Clearly in this case, ads will target gamers within the governance of Scotland. The local government stated 73 percent of U.K. 15 to 24 year-olds have access to a gaming console, however the figure doesn’t specify which console.