Hyzonia.com, a leading ‘adver-gaming’ portal, plans to enhance its Web platform aiming to attract the estimated 38 per cent of the world’s 1.6 billion Internet users who play online games.

A 2009 Entertainment Software Association report pegs the average age of the casual online gamer at 35 years, up from 33 in 2008 and representing a demographic with high spending power.

Hyzonia.com said that the global downturn has helped define online advertising and gaming as a more effective and cost-efficient solution to attract consumers.

It also pointed to recent brand-impact studies affirming the long-term potential of “adver-gaming” as a preferred advertising tool, explaining that associating a brand with the fun of gaming enhances brand metrics such as brand awareness, message association and purchase intent.

The game-based advertising sector was worth around $120 million in 2004 and is expected to surge to $1.8 billion by the end of 2010.

Maryam Alimardani, managing director of RENA, the Dubai-based creator of Hyzonia.com, said: “More advertisers are being drawn to online advertising's competitive rates and its ability to extensively reach target audiences, especially in light of the financial crisis.

“The generally mature captive audience of online gaming will transform internet advertising into an integral part of brand media advertising, especially in regions such as the Middle East where internet penetration rates are rising exponentially.”

“Numerous popular brands now offer dedicated sections in their web portals for adver-gaming. Hyzonia.com has accordingly made substantial investments to capitalise on this growing trend, boosting our capacity to provide more unique services to our clients," added Maryam.

"We are incorporating a wider range of value-added features for adver-gaming that will establish Hyzonia.com as a truly powerful integrated solution that satisfies the needs of advertisers and publishers."

Hyzonia web platform operates a “Cloud” system made up of thousands of individual applications distributed in the internet.  The company provides a next-generation online marketing solution that offers “Adver-gaming As A Service”, empowering users to create customisable adver-gaming networks that help them achieve their social, cultural, educational, marketing and advertising goals.

Built on top of Microsoft .NET technology, Hyzonia.com enjoys high reliability and security standards; if one of the applications fails, the problem remains isolated to that particular problem application. Moreover, Hyzonia.com does not require special platforms, high-end device, downloads or installation.

Brands, advertising agencies and publishers can create and customize their own adver-games by choosing from various templates prepared by Hyzonia.com or requesting for tailor-made ones.

They can create single or multi-player games incorporating their materials and avail of special services such as Ad Material Management, an audience targeting system and Real-Time Market Analysis reports.

Digital advertising has become one of the world's fastest-growing advertising platforms because of its ability to deliver brand messages to both targeted and general audiences. It also offers greater flexibility in tracking the effectiveness of ads, opening more opportunities for expansion, creativity and innovation compared with traditional media.

Adver-gaming in particular has evolved as a popular online advertising platform because of its ability to maximize brand equity and product purchasing prospects.

Studies have revealed that after playing a game and being immersed in an entertaining brand experience, consumers are more likely to remember not just the brand or product itself, but the associated positive attributes as well, said a report. – TradeArabia News Service