David Kaplan<\/a>. \u201cThe first is providing incremental reach plus depth reach because it enables us to reach many individuals who we might not be able to get to as easily with linear CTV or some other digital media channels.\u201d<\/p>\nThe depth, Hovaness said, comes from capturing audiences \u201cin a very high attention state.\u201d Just as important, the logged-in nature of gaming platforms creates a strong data signal.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the data flowing out of their sessions is consented,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we can use that to drive both targeting and measurement.\u201d<\/p>\n
That shift, he noted, means gaming is \u201cno longer something that\u2019s relegated to test budgets. We think of it as a primary channel alongside larger ones such as CTV, linear, social [and] search.\u201d<\/p>\n
As different platforms continue to converge, Hovaness sees \u201ca few very exciting opportunities for advertisers.\u201d Chief among them is value exchange at scale, where players receive rewards for viewing ads.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a new concept,\u201d he said. \u201cValue exchange ads have been around for many years. But what\u2019s new is the scaling potential that\u2019s enabled by platform convergence and growing user counts that turn it into a much more viable format.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another area of enthusiasm is creator-to-commerce linkage: connecting the work of gaming creators to measurable purchase outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreators in the gaming space are not a new phenomenon,\u201d Hovaness said, \u201cbut the ability to link creator activity to commerce flowing out of it is new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked how brands should balance scale, branding and performance when investing in interactive environments, Hovaness outlined a strategic framework:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recommend a 60-30-10 split: 60% proven native integrations that we already know generate results, 30% creator-led integrations and 10% frontier experimental budgets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That final slice, he added, ensures that \u201cthe next time we\u2019re going through the allocation process, we can do it a little bit more intelligently than we did this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Navigating measurement and attribution in a post-cookie world<\/h3>\n
Gaming, unlike web-based environments, presents a new set of measurement challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cGaming is not a cookie-enabled space,\u201d Hovaness said. \u201cCookies are a browser technology, and most of this gaming activity is happening in apps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advertisers also need to adapt to new metrics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe metrics flowing out of these environments are dissimilar to what they\u2019re used to,\u201d he said. \u201cFor example, attention is often a more useful metric coming out of gaming environments than it is in other channels, and certainly more useful in a gaming context than viewability.\u201d<\/p>\n
OMD helps clients reconcile these differing metrics \u201cas part of a broader media view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Standardization and safety improvements<\/h3>\n
Looking toward 2026, Hovaness said OMD is watching two major trends: the standardization of value exchange ads and improved safety standards.<\/p>\n
He expects further growth in ad formats that reward engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think they can be scaled up still further by standardizing the format, transaction model, and so on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, advancements in platform transparency will allow for better brand alignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs platforms start broadcasting age ranges and content standards more consistently, we can use that to guide advertiser budgets in a way that aligns with their brand standards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nYou\u2019re watching \u201cGet in the Game: Why Interactive Entertainment Is the Next Big Play for Performance and Engagement\u201d, a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by Zynga Ads. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.beet.tv \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interactive entertainment has become a cornerstone of omnichannel media strategy, said Ben Hovaness, chief media officer at OMD Worldwide. \u201cWe see interactive entertainment playing two key roles,\u201d he said in this interview with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan. \u201cThe first is providing incremental reach plus depth reach because it enables us to reach many individuals who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2109098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2109097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Interactive-Entertainment-Emerges-as-Core-Media-Channel-Says-OMDs-Ben.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2109097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2109099,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109097\/revisions\/2109099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2109098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2109097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2109097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2109097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}