On the latest episode of Campaign Middle East’s On The Record podcast, Brent Koning, the Executive Vice President and Global Gaming Lead at dentsu, discusses how an integrated gaming strategy has become critical in 2025, why it should become an expected element in the media and marketing mix, and the benefits of incorporating it into existing consumer segmentation.
Through this conversation with Campaign Middle East, Koning shares his top 5 expert predictions for gaming in 2025, divulges the best outcome-based work he’s witnessed within the space, and delves into dentsu Gaming’s plans for 2025.
“It comes down to one thing, and that’s friction,” Koning says. “What’s the best work happening? It’s the frictionless work. So, when you look at Roblox, they’re working with Shopify to make it extremely frictionless to go and get the things that you love.”
“Cutting gaming from the marketing mix is not an option”
Discussing the focal points for the year ahead, Koning explains, “When you look at budgets, and if I could draw a diagram to illustrate, you often have two circles: the media and marketing mix budget, and the innovation budget. There’s a very little intersection between those two circles. At the moment, gaming either sits within the innovation budget circle or in that little intersection. This needs to change.”
Taking the example of social media, Koning shares how social media was in a similar spot 15 years ago, because it was de-risked. However, social media has now well and truly moved into the media and marketing mix, and people who attempts to de-risk it by moving it into the innovation circle are likely to raise eyebrows for doing so.
Gaming is undergoing a similar transition. The second edition of dentsu’s comprehensive ‘State of Gaming Report’ clearly explains why this is no longer a side quest for marketers and agency leaders.
“We need to take gaming into the main media and marketing mix. This means that we take a decision not to cut gaming from the mix; it’s not an option. Every single marketer needs to have an integrated gaming strategy – even if that strategy is ‘not to have a gaming strategy’. Also, this strategy needs to be assessed based on the right metrics,” Koning adds.
For more insights – including a dive into consumer segmentation – during a very intriguing conversation, watch the full video above.
CREDITS:
Guest: Brent Koning, Executive Vice President and Global Gaming Lead at dentsu
Host: Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East
Videography: Mark Mathew, Creative Content Producer, Motivate Create
Edits: John Melencion, Content Producer, Motivate Media Group
Studio and production: Ahmed Abdelwahab, Studio Manager, Motivate Media Group
