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Hershey Says “Game On!” As Intrinsic In-Game Ad Campaign Doubles Industry Standard for Mobile Ad Recall and Boosts Brand Likeness

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GumGum, a contextual-first, global digital advertising platform, with Frameplay, the global leader in enabling intrinsic in-game advertising, announced their partnership in June of this year to provide brands and agencies with scalable, creative advertising units that are privacy-forward, contextually relevant, brand safe, and non-disruptive. Today, the two platforms announced the successful results of their intrinsic in-game advertising campaign for Hershey’s OH HENRY! candy bar.

Hershey is an early adopter of the critical in-game environment to reach audiences and consumers across mobile with non-intrusive ads that blend seamlessly into a gamer’s experience. Together with GumGum, Frameplay served OH HENRY! ad creative within premium sports, simulation, racing, and casual games by targeting audiences over 18 in a six-week campaign and exceeded original goals set by Hershey. Hershey saw success across major categories like fit as a game sponsor (13.3 points), likeness of the brand’s sponsorship of games (+18 points) and mobile ad recall (+15.9 points) – twice as high as the industry average and standard.

“There are at least 2.5 billion gamers who are immersed in virtual worlds where no ads are present and at Hershey, we wanted to find a way to reach these consumers without disrupting the gaming experience,” said Susanne Hartkorn, Associate Marketing Manager, OH HENRY! at The Hershey Company. “By partnering with GumGum and Frameplay, we were able to test out intrinsic in-game advertising and found that the key to success is optimising the creative and making the ad as immersive as possible. This campaign unlocked a whole new segment of customers and based on the results, we see intrinsic in-game advertising as an important strategy to meet new audiences where they are as we enter 2023.”

GumGum and Frameplay utilised Comscore to measure overall campaign performance through a brand lift study. The results of the study not only show the efficacy of intrinsic in-game advertising from a brand awareness perspective, but also proved that ads that contextually align with their environments have a positive impact on the gamer, which results in an increase in purchase intent. This also further proves that aligning ads with the environment and meeting people when they are in the right frame of mind is key to garnering attention today and in the future.

Other notable results from the campaign include:

  • 21,870,161 delivered impressions
  • 6.9 point lift in “likely to purchase OH HENRY!” 
  • “Satisfies My Hunger” saw a 7.6 point lift after a user viewed a GumGum ad
  • “Provides a Boost of Energy” saw an 8.4 point lift as users directly correlated OH HENRY! with high energy

“In-game advertising is here and it’s here to stay, offering brands the opportunity to reach gamers during the 3 billion hours of gaming played across the world,” said GumGum CEO Phil Schraeder. “Our goal with Frameplay was to help Hershey start to understand how to deliver immersive and contextually relevant advertising that optimises creative in a non-disruptive way and the results prove what we’ve been saying for years. Context and creative must be an integral part to advertising strategies that will result in increased attention, boost brand favorability and ultimately change how people view digital advertising all together.”

“The gaming audience is larger than all of the top streaming sites combined, which underscores how critical in-game advertising is for brands. It’s clear that by combining Frameplay’s platform of engaged audiences with GumGum’s high-impact ad products, advertisers can be extremely successful in reaching consumers within cinematic and interactive video games,” said Jonathon Troughton, Chief Executive Officer at Frameplay. “The early success of this campaign is crucial because it shows how intrinsic in-game advertising paves the way for both time and attention without distracting the player from the environment itself.”

Both GumGum and Frameplay will continue to pilot intrinsic in-game advertising with brands to understand the power and impact of gaming on digital advertising throughout the rest of 2022 and will be publishing more insights and results in upcoming months. GumGum will be making contextually relevant, intrinsic in-game ad units widely available for brands and agencies globally in the first half of 2023. 

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BMM TESTLABS PROMOTES SACHA MCLAUGHLIN TO VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL QUALITY ASSURANCE

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BMM Testlabs, the world’s original gaming test lab renowned for exceptional product compliance and certification services, today announced the promotion of Sacha McLaughlin to Vice President of Global Quality Assurance.

BMM’s President of Land-Based Gaming & Inspections, Kirk White, said, “Sacha has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, operational excellence, and a customer-first attitude. Her experience and passion will be critical as we continue to grow our QA services to meet the always-evolving needs of the global gaming industry.”

With over 18 years of experience in software implementation and seven years in the gaming industry, McLaughlin brings extensive knowledge of both agile and waterfall development methodologies, test planning, project management, and cross-regional team leadership. She is recognized for her ability to build and scale QA organizations that deliver quality, speed, and value to customers.

McLaughlin joined BMM in 2018 and has held roles of increasing responsibility within the Company, most recently serving as Senior Director of Quality Assurance. Throughout her tenure, she has been instrumental in expanding BMM’s QA capabilities and helping customers launch products into the global gaming market more quickly, with a focus on regulatory compliance, functionality, fairness, and security.

The post BMM TESTLABS PROMOTES SACHA MCLAUGHLIN TO VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL QUALITY ASSURANCE appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating

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“We weren’t just present — we were participants of Runfest. And that’s one of the most important aspects,” said Artak Ashkhatoyan, Deputy CEO of Totogaming.

On July 6, Totogaming joined the Cernica Pantelimon Runfest in Romania, once again emphasizing the importance of promoting amateur sports and a healthy lifestyle.

“Supporting such initiatives is a priority for TotoGaming. First, 50% of the proceeds from RunFest will be donated to the CLOVES Romania Foundation, supporting children affected by CLOVES Syndrome. And second, we’ve always believed in showing our passion for sports through actions, not just words. Have you noticed how we’re constantly rushing through life, yet when we look back, it often feels like we haven’t moved at all? It’s important for us to lead by example and show the importance of participation. This is exactly the message we’re promoting through our team’s active involvement in the marathon. After all, there can never be too much sport in our lives,” said TotoGaming’s Deputy CEO, Artak Ashkhatoyan.

A Simple Concept, a Powerful Impact

The concept of this sports event is straightforward: choose a distance between 1 to 21 kilometers and run. The goal? Make sport an integral part of everyday life. The crowd certainly embraced that, gathering as early as 8:30 a.m. — on a Sunday morning.

Totogaming contributed in two distinct capacities: as an official sponsor and as an active participant. A dedicated team of 13 employees represented the company at the Cernica Pantelimon RunFest, with 7 of them proudly taking part as runners.

More Than Just a Run

It wasn’t an easy challenge — especially because among Totogaming’s runners were people for whom running isn’t a daily habit, or even part of their life at all. Yet they couldn’t miss the opportunity, not least from the perspective of corporate responsibility.

“We just finished the 7.5-kilometer race!” shared Petrut-Adrian Toea from the Totogaming team.

“It was amazing, honestly. Around the 2-kilometer mark, I had this little battle with myself — I told myself I had to finish the race, no matter what. And I did it! I came in around 60th place out of over 100 runners, which for me is a really good result.”

“I see my participation as a small contribution toward promoting a healthy lifestyle. In my close circle, everyone knows I’m not exactly the sporty type. I’m not athletic, and I usually prefer having fun in other ways. But showing up here, early in the morning, in this intense heat, and completing almost 8 kilometers with just one short break — I think it set a good example.”

“I hope seeing someone like me finish this challenge motivates my friends to try something similar for their own health. I believe that’s a meaningful contribution”, – added Petrut-Andrea.

Totogaming also made it possible for every attendee to bring sport into their lives — quite literally. At the Totogaming tent, participants could ride stationary bikes and receive prizes based on the number of points they earned through their efforts.

Whether they were running, cycling, or simply cheering for friends, the goal for everyone was the same: to reach the destination of champions — by bringing sport into everyday life.

The post Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Liftoff’s 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index Reveals UGC Is a Key Differentiator for Top Apps

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Major findings from the newly launched report include playable ads having the potential to deliver impression-to-install rates 16 times that of non-playable formats for emerging gaming apps and a 20% increase in spending on interactive ads year over year.

Liftoff, a leading AI-enabled growth platform for the mobile app economy, has published its seventh annual Mobile Ad Creative Index. The report explores top creative trends that are attracting and scaling in ad spend across consumer apps and games. It also highlights the expanding role of AI in creative production, testing, and optimization.

This year’s Mobile Ad Creative Index specifically analyzes creative concepts that have excelled in scale for Liftoff’s highest-spending advertisers over the past 12 to 48 months. It is based on findings from over 4.7 trillion impressions, 263 billion clicks, and 1.1 billion installs between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2025.

 

Highlights from the report include:

Top consumer apps are investing in interactive ads to compete for engagement

In 2024, the share of spend on interactive ads for top apps increased by 20% year over year. The share of spend increased by 2% for spenders outside the top tier. Top-spending apps differentiate their campaigns by adding innovations to evergreen concepts such as social scrollers, carousels, and scratch-offs.

Playable ads deliver returns across ad budgets for mobile game advertisers

In 2024, the share of spend on playable ads for top games averaged 35% higher than other games. Across all ad budgets, however, playable ads delivered higher conversion rates. Impression-to-install rates were 8 times that of non-playable formats for top spenders and 16 times that of non-playable formats for other game advertisers.

Tailoring “metaplay” elements to motivations can improve performance

“Metaplay” elements—gameplay that diverges from an app’s core design to appeal to a broader audience—are widespread, but top games gain an edge by tailoring their metaplay ads to the publisher audience. The report found that aligning “metaplay” creative with publisher audiences resulted in a 93% increase in installs-per-mille.

UGC is becoming a key differentiator in driving scale for consumer apps

The share of spend on user-generated content (UGC) increased 11% for top-spending apps, with social and utility apps seeing the most significant jump of nearly 30% between 2023 and 2024.

Widespread adoption of Gen AI leads to more customized ad experiences

Creative teams increasingly leverage AI to enhance top-performing assets with 3D and motion and to create and test variations. Top advertisers also use AI to recombine their assets in customized ad experiences that break away from standard video to playable formats.

Yann Zeller, Chief of Staff, Creative at Liftoff, said: “Today’s creative landscape is shaped by a single, powerful truth: attention is the commodity, and brands, games, and influencers are all vying for it. Great mobile ad experiences can earn attention by aligning context with behavior. As ad formats become richer and AI expands our ability to personalize and adapt creatives at scale, we’re able to unlock new insights into user behavior and motivation. We see users spend meaningful stretches with the right content, sometimes 60 to 90 seconds when the ad feels personal or prompts meaningful participation. This isn’t just a better way to advertise—it’s a better way to tell stories and the most exciting brief we’ve had in years.”

Soren Steelquist, Director of Creative Production, said: “The proof is in the data—more and more consumer apps are incorporating UGC into every stage of their marketing, and programmatic is no different. UGC works because it’s authentic and relatable, and users are more likely to be influenced by ad when it’s coming from a trustworthy source. To see higher impact from UGC creatives, work with a partner that can match the right creator with your brand and develop winning concepts that resonate with audiences.”

The post Liftoff’s 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index Reveals UGC Is a Key Differentiator for Top Apps appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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