Nintendo rockets to first place in July for gaming industry ad spend on TV
It’s a Nintendo TV world, and Sony’s just living in it, dropping out of the top 5 for gaming ad spend in July.
GamesBeat has partnered with iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention and conversion analytics from more than eight million smart TVs, to bring you a monthly report on how gaming brands are spending. The results below are for the top five gaming industry brands in July, ranked by estimated national TV ad spend.
Notable for the period measured is the absence of PlayStation, a brand that has been an industry frontrunner in TV ad spend, often dominating budgets, since the beginning of this year. In fact, since January 1, PlayStation has accounted for almost half (44.7 percent) of industry spend. But it seems the company stepped away from TV in July, leaving Nintendo to reclaim the crown (it was No. 1 in industry spend for the month of May).
Overall, gaming industry spend dipped from June’s estimated $27.7 million to $18.3 million in July, with 32 brands airing 66 commercials over 13,100 times, resulting in almost 1.9 billion TV ad impressions
Nintendo had an estimated spend of $5.8 million on 14 spots that ran over 3,100 times, generating 399.7 million impressions. “Mario Tennis Aces: Swing Into Action” had the biggest budget (est. $1.2 million). As usual, Nintendo prioritized reaching a family-friendly audience with top spend across networks such as Nick Toons, Nick, and Cartoon Network, and during shows including The Loud House, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Bunsen Is a Beast!.
At No. 2: FoxNext Games, which spent about $3.9 million on a single ad, “Assemble Your Squad,” that aired over 3,000 times and resulted in 367.8 million impressions — a big increase from June’s 109.8 million impressions of the same ad, which only aired 529 times that month. The company spent heavily across Fox, NBA TV, and NFL Network, and during programming such as NFL, NBA Summer League, and Bob’s Burgers.
InnoGames snags third place with an estimated spend of $1.6 million on four ads that ran over 1,100 times, generating 207.2 million impressions. The company put its biggest push (est. $768,454) behind “Develop Your City,” advertising Forge Of Empires. Some of the key networks InnoGames spent across included History Channel, FX, and Syfy, while some of the top shows were NBA Summer League, American Pickers, and Impractical Jokers.
Fourth place goes to King, which put a budget of about $1.6 million behind four ads, all for Candy Crush, that aired over 2,300 times, resulting in 365.7 million impressions. “Candy Crush Saga: Raining Rewards” had the most spend (est. $788,910). ABC, CBS, and TNT were some of the networks King prioritized, while The Chew, The View, and General Hospital were some of the programs getting the highest spend.
MovieStarPlanet.com takes fifth place with an estimated spend of $1.1 million on five spots that ran 597 times and generated 86.7 million impressions. The commercial with the biggest placement budget (est. $421,477) was “Joint Brand.” Like Nintendo, MovieStarPlanet focused on reaching a younger audience — specifically fans of shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, and Double Dare on networks including Nick, Cartoon Network and Nick Toons.