EA-Intersport partnership highlights growing appeal of in-game advertising

The new ad campaign is Intersport’s latest effort to reach younger audiences, who spend more of their time in virtual and online environments, according to Andy Hogg, the brand’s general manager for global brand and marketing.

“We need to keep finding ways to bring our brand closer to a digitally native and growing Gen Z audience, which is engaging with brands in a very different way to the generations before it,” Hogg tells The Drum. “Partnering with EA Sports FC 25 is an ideal way to connect with this digitally savvy demographic that values both sport and the digital experiences that accompany it.”

Once a fringe channel for advertisers, gaming has recently attracted an influx of demand from marketers seeking new avenues for engaging younger consumers. Today, 96% of Gen Alpha and 92% of Gen Z actively play video games (as opposed to just watching them), compared with 88% of millennials, 72% of Gen Xers and 53% of baby boomers, according to recent data from gaming market research firm Newzoo. In short: direct engagement with video games appears to go up as ages go down.

"Traditional [video] games have become hubs where brands can connect with their core audience, from Gen Z to millennials, who spend more time gaming than watching TV," says Emma Thompson, head of UK-based marketing agency Golley Slater. "Here, ads can feel like part of the landscape, especially when they're seamlessly integrated into the environment, like billboards in Grand Theft Auto or cars in Fortnite."

After a short-lived burst of commercial interest in virtual reality (VR) following Facebook’s rebrand to Meta almost three years ago, many brands keen on establishing a future-facing digital presence have since turned their attention to more traditional gaming environments. Online and open-world games such as Fortnite and Roblox, for example, boast huge and predominantly young userbases, while VR platforms such as Meta’s Horizon Worlds have struggled to gain mainstream traction.

Marketers are also drawn to video games for the simple reason that viewer attention is baked into the format. Whereas social media ads can be quickly scrolled through and banner ads and OOH placements come with no guarantee of engagement, most gamers’ eyes are glued to the screen while they’re playing, all but ensuring at least some passive ingestion of in-game ads.

“While maintaining a physical presence at sports events remains incredibly valuable, especially for brand visibility, virtual advertising offers distinct advantages in terms of scale and targeted engagement,” Hogg says.

The real test, of course, will be whether or not virtual ads translate into direct sales and foot traffic in the brand’s stores, of which it operates more than 5,300 across 43 countries.

On this front, Intersport’s chances for success could be bolstered by what EA head of creative Ciaran McCarthy describes as a tendency for sports-themed video games to cultivate in players a motivation to get outside and participate in real-life sports. Intersport seems, at least in part, to be betting that this will be the case and that when they do get out to play soccer, gamers will remember the ads they saw while playing FC 25.

While the frontier of in-game advertising expands, buzzy technologies such as AR and AI are likely to present new opportunities for brands to connect with audiences in virtual spaces, according to Hogg. Yesterday, Meta announced new upgrades to its AR-powered smart glasses, along with a yet-to-be-released Orion model, all of which could soon attract mainstream appeal thanks to their practical use cases and sleek appearance. It may not be long until we see new ad formats through our smart glasses.

As such, partnerships such as the one between Intersport and EA Sports FC 25 “will only become more integral to brand marketing in the coming years,” Hogg predicts. “As companies recognize the opportunity to integrate their brands into dynamic, immersive digital environments … the competition for presence in these spaces will intensify.”

For the time being, Hogg says that Intersport is “excited to now be part of this growing segment of brand marketing, leveraging it as a key part of our broader brand strategy.”

EA Sports FC 25 launches worldwide tomorrow, September 27.

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