ARN has announced an exclusive, Australian-first partnership with UK company, AudioMob to launch the first-ever in-game audio adverts for mobile games. This product plays audio ads in place of visual ads that take over the screen during play, which is a major cause of annoyance for Australia’s 12.3 million mobile gamers. In fact, 86% of gamers report they don’t like ads that take over the screen while they’re playing.
Featuring market-leading tech, In-Game Audio adverts are served with an unobtrusive click-through banner, and only when a phone’s volume is turned on. If the gamer is streaming music or listening to a podcast simultaneously, In-Game Audio fades the stream before inserting the advert, then fades the stream back in after the advert has played.
It’s a win-win for brands and mobile gamers, who both benefit from an interaction that doesn’t interrupt gameplay. For brands, the benefit is three-fold; they can directly target consumers across a multitude of options, they have complete ‘share of ear’ with only one audio ad served per gaming session, and the ads are unskippable. The results speak for themselves, with in-game audio delivering measurable uplifts in click-through rates and campaign performance.
Adam Williams, ARN’s head of audio product and Innovation, said, “I fell in love with In-Game Audio the moment I saw it. Primarily, it solves a problem and major irritation for mobile gamers, and secondly, it serves ads in a high attention environment. It gives brands scale, addressability, measurability, and an environment where they can really get creative and show off their brand personality. Kudos to Christian and the AudioMob team; this is a beautifully innovative product, and we’re so excited to represent them exclusively in Australia.”
Christian Facey, the Co-founder and CEO of AudioMob said “The beauty of in-game audio ads is that messages can be delivered without interrupting the player. This gives brands a better way to communicate with their audience in a highly engaging environment. We felt ARN was a great partner in helping us expand into the Australian market.
Given the fast-growing and abundant gaming ecosystem in Australia and ARNs long-standing stature and expertise in the audio space, we’re excited about the partnership and to continue to thrive in the audio space together.”
In-Game Audio is the latest addition to ARN’s High Attention Audio suite, including Dynamic Audio and Interactive Audio, which can be used across broadcast radio and online platforms.