Games marketing firm Livewire on the attention economy across generations

Livewire, a marketing company, recently put out its new study that examined how the next generation of consumers expect brands to market to them. This “Next-Gen Attention Study” revealed that Gens Z and Alpha expect entirely new strategies from brands: Namely, they expect to be advertised to in-game. And not just in-game, either — they expect brands to meet them in-game authentically, with experiences. Livewire’s own platform offers insights on this “attention economy” and how brands can effectively engage with a young audience with changing needs and wants.

The study, which includes data from 1,801 gamers across the UK, U.S. and Australia, shows that 76% of Gen Alpha gamers surveyed expressed enjoyment for branded moments in game — which can include things such as custom-built worlds and experiences or cosmetics such as character skins — as opposed to 49% of millennials (54% of Gen Z gamers expressed the same enjoyment). Elsewhere in the report, 73% of Gen Alpha gamers said they preferred playable experiences over video ads, and 58% said they found immersion to be part of the enjoyment of gaming and in-game advertising.

GamesBeat spoke with Tom Simpson, Livewire’s CEO, about the changes in marketing across generations — and the disruption that the gaming era has brought: “You’ve got to show up in these gaming environments, which is sort of table stakes, isn’t it? You’ve got to put your message where the audience is. But actually that fundamental kind of communication experience and expectation changes the way that the next gen expects brands to talk to them, to engage with them, to show up for them, It’s completely different to how it been before, and just bringing your video over is not enough.”

The next generation’s expectations

Livewire recently launched in the North American market, bringing its “next-gen attention platform” to the new audience alongside Australia. Simpson said in a statement at the time of the expansion, “As we build the next-gen attention platform, we’re focused on harnessing the power of gaming to connect with Gen Z and Alpha, who are fundamentally reshaping the advertising landscape. Our approach is to create immersive, interactive experiences that capture and sustain their attention, positioning brands at the forefront of this dynamic new era.”

The major difference that Gens Z and Alpha have over Millennials, says Simpson, is that they (and Alpha especially) expect brands to meet them where they are — and where they are is in games such as Fortnite and Roblox. Roblox recently opened its immersive ads experience to all brands, and Enrico D’Angelo, Roblox VP of economy told GamesBeat at the time that this was a great way for advertisers to connect with a “highly coveted audience like Gen Z.”

Simpson conceded that it may take some time for brands to fully understand the next-gen audience and how different they are. “Their heads are different because their heads were formed in this environment, and that because their heads were formed in this environment, the way that you got to talk to them is completely different to what to the way that you talked to them previously, and that that fundamental unit of marketing attention is being disrupted… It’s almost an expectation of the next-gen is that brands are there, and they see huge advantages in it, because brands often bring fun things for them to do.”

But while the audience is ready, Simpson notes that it’s also on games companies to work with advertisers. “Brands talk a particular language and have particular expectations. And those are things that the gaming industry, honestly, often just doesn’t understand and, historically, hasn’t cared about. But consumers are there and they want it, so you’ve got to evolve your offering… Expectations for quality of content are high. Consumers expect experiences that are amazing and inspirational and are as good as any other experience they might participate in. If you don’t make it as good as other games, they’ll go and play those other games.”