Five Key Elements of Successful Mobile Game Brand Partnerships

Mobile gaming is a hundred billion dollar industry, and yet it continually struggles to be perceived as a serious collaborator by brands, even in comparison to PC and console games. This is a challenge for the industry but not an insurmountable one, and it can be fixed by mobile game companies approaching these partnerships in smarter, more creative, more committed ways.

Mobile game brand partnerships are not like product placements in movies. But, actually, they should be. Product placements are perceived as a branding exercise worthy of the brand investing resources. The products can become a part of the story and integrate into the experience. This approach could work with mobile games. Millions, if not billions of players spend hours daily on games, during their commutes, in waiting rooms or on a rainy day at home. Instead, it’s a licensing process, one in which the mobile game company pays a fee to include the logo and specially branded products of a non-gaming company within the game. The brands can only be used in very limited ways. Standard advertisements in mobile games interrupt gameplay, lack an inherently interactive element, or are relegated to the top and bottom of the screen.

Brand partnerships are a serious expenditure for mobile game companies—albeit one with enormous profit-making potential—and require serious effort. Beginning with careful audience alignment, the best partnerships can extend well beyond the game and into the real world. This is only, however, possible, when both parties are willing to truly invest in the collaboration’s development and when mobile game companies in particular are extremely deliberate about how they choose and design these integrations. Whatever the exact nature of the collaboration, these strategies are good places to start.

The right fit at the right time

Audience alignment for brand partnerships is absolutely essential. Nothing succeeds without significant demographic overlap; no collaboration will resonate naturally without it. But shared audiences is not enough for a collaboration to succeed on its own. The theme, tone, and mechanics of the game must complement the brand’s identity, avoiding any jarring or forced integrations. This can be obvious, like a mobile basketball game partnering with DraftKings or Adidas, but it also happens on more subtle levels. A serious Civilization-style game about building and leading an empire from ancient times to modernity probably isn’t a good fit for Pringles, but Pringles could be a good fit for any number of restaurant games.

Making the metrics work

Mobile game companies often seek to legitimize themselves through major partnerships before they’re totally ready to do so. Games need to shore up high player engagement metrics that reflect high daily active user (DAU) and retention rate before they even consider approaching a brand. A game’s base needs to benefit from and engage with the brand’s presence for the collaboration to work for both parties.

Once a mobile game is in a position to approach and work with a brand, that collaboration will live or die based on how well and early they establish clear objectives. This begins with defining the basic purpose of the collaboration, which can be increased brand awareness, engagement, lead generation, direct sales, or some combination therein. Measurable key performance indicators around in-game interactions, social media shares, and brand recall rates need to go hand-in-hand with designing what exactly the collaboration will look like in the game.

Good collaboration demands creativity

Successful collaborations depend on creative integration. Intrusive pop-up ads that disrupt the player experience, repeated often enough in hopes of browbeating players into purchasing, are no longer a particularly attractive marketing strategy. Brand integrations bring a truly organic feel to in-game marketing, but not simply by existing. The integration must be deliberate and considered: co-branded locations, in-game assets like unique skins, exclusive challenges, or immersive storylines are all viable options, although none are a one-size-fits-all solution. Added-on exclusive challenges can feel force on an arcade-style game in a way unique skins don’t. A/B testing with different types of integrations can be helpful. Use player feedback to determine the best possible way forward.

Incentives drive engagement

Besides consistently demonstrating and measuring a collaboration’s value to the brand involved, creative integrations must provide tangible value to players. No integration should disrupt gameplay. Directly gamifying brand engagement is the natural way of avoiding this pitfall and providing seamless integration and incentives players want to engage with.

There’s more than a few ways to go about this: exclusive power-ups, collectors’ edition in-game rewards, virtual currency, and limited-time premium content. Time-sensitive competitions, leaderboard challenges, and unlockables not only drive initial engagement but encourage repeat engagement and boost time spent, all while keeping the brand at the forefront of the gameplay experience. Personalizing rewards based on player preferences further strengthens brand affinity.

From gameplay to IRL success

Mobile gaming partnerships need not end when the player closes the app. These types of partnerships are well-positioned to translate into the real world—in fact, the very nature of the mobile experience lends itself far better to this possibility than console- or PC-based partnerships.

It works like a feedback loop. The non-gaming brand’s cross-promotional efforts through social media, email marketing, and influencer collaborations maximize visibility and attract new players to the game. Brands can make secret menus or exclusive discounts available only through a given game, and develop real-world activations such as merchandise, live events, or exclusive experiences to create a deeper connection with their crossover in-game audience.

If this sounds more involved than a typical advertising campaign, that’s because it is. The very nature of gameplay means the audience is engaged more seriously and for far longer than a standard mobile ad audience, and an ecosystem needs to be in place to support and capitalize on that. Long-term partnerships pack more punch and drive brand recognition far better than one-off campaigns, allowing both brands and games to build sustained relationships with players and customers alike.

A well-executed brand partnership in mobile gaming goes beyond advertising. It creates culture-defining moments that players remember. The collaborations that succeed will be the ones in which both parties are willing to go the distance in terms of length, value creation, highly unique and meaningful integration choices.