UpTrend Media, a Toronto-based online ad representation network, has snagged exclusive rights to hook up Canadian marketers with London, UK-HQ’d Miniclip.com. Credited by Google with being the world’s largest games website, it claims 34 million unique users worldwide per month, aged 13-80.
Miniclip currently attracts 3.2 million unique Canadian visitors per month and a total of 76 million page views from Canada. Launched in 2001, the website attributes its global success to the fact that its games are free, high quality and easy to use. They range from one-person games to massive multiplayer versions.
Additionally, Miniclip has launched what it’s calling the first online ‘in-game’ advertising network. ‘With the in-game model, advertisers are able to buy targeted branding and extended interaction time for their brand or product directly with game players on Miniclip.com and now across other game network sites,’ said its CEO, Robert Small, in a statement.
For advertisers, Miniclip offers a range of formats, including rich media overlays, pre-roll video, home page takeovers and advergame buzz campaigns. Small says the in-game advertising is more advanced than other current offerings of basic, static billboards in that Miniclip ads are interactive and totally integrated, including integrated aspects such as movie trailers and the capability of direct purchases, all in-game. So advertisers can now choose to display their games on Miniclip.com and also extend them across the Miniclip network to reach even more game players.
Marketers currently using in-game ads include Coca Cola, Disney, Warner Bros, Starburst, BP and Gillette. Miniclip offers packages that guarantee 30 million or more game plays for an advertiser.
