High Impact Creatives, User Acquisition
The latest installment of our Coffee + Creatives series, “Metaplay and Gamification in Mobile Ads,” is now live! This webinar covers the effectiveness of interactive ads on mobile app users, especially those that incorporate fun, novel experiences, and user motivations.
Hosted by AppLovin Senior Marketing Meghan McDonald and joined by Jessica Dolan, Mike Cruz, Jaden Cheng, and Justin Dong — some of the brilliant minds at SparkLabs, AppLovin’s in-house creative agency — they dive deep into how making mobile ads interactive, user motivation-centric, and rewarding engages more users.
Below are just some of the topics they cover. To hear all the details to help inform your next mobile ad strategy, watch the full webinar.
Jaden Cheng leads the discussion on a concept SparkLabs calls “genre-bending.” This trend, which has been growing over the past few years, incorporates creative elements from other genres — narratives, mechanics, and otherwise — to enhance appeal and tap into the motivations of different player segments, expanding user acquisition opportunities.
Live action vs. animated ads for Project Makeover.
Jessica Dolan tells us that casual games are innovating on ad creatives within their genre to attract even more players. Jaden expands on this by discussing how exploring new formats — such as live-action adaptations of animated ads — is helping casual games like Project Makeover and Merge Mansion reach and acquire new audiences.
These games are also leveraging celebrity endorsements — like Pedro Pascal for Merge Mansion! — to captivate users and drive engagement.
(Writer’s note: Meghan didn’t know who Pedro Pascal was. She was appropriately teased.)
Justin then moves us to the central topic of the webinar: Metaplay and gamification. SparkLabs explores how these strategies, originally rooted in gaming, are now being applied to non-gaming apps to enhance user interaction.
Metaplay refers to gameplay mechanics beyond core gameplay, such as mini versions of complex games designed to attract casual players. These mechanics may be features of the title, or only appear in ad creatives.
In the context of non-gaming, however, this same sort of strategy is rooted in gamification, which is the practice of adding game-like elements to an ad and/or app to create a more widely compelling and rewarding experience for new and potential users.
The team also delves into the psychological underpinnings of why metaplay and gamification are so effective. By tapping into basic user motivations (explained further in the webinar), these ad strategies engage users on a deeper level, triggering the brain’s reward system and encouraging continued interaction.
Jessica wraps up the session with actionable insights for advertisers looking to incorporate these strategies into their campaigns. She goes into detail about the importance of continuous testing, balancing, and refreshing ads over time to align with your full marketing strategy, improve user experience, and set appropriate expectations as you introduce gamification to your ads.
Trust us when we say this breakdown is only a small sample of the crucial information you’ll find in the webinar itself. You’ll see more examples and insights on why and how all of this works, and more by registering and watching today.
