3bn Global Players: Is Gaming 2023’s Biggest Opportunity For Brands To Get 1UP?

09 Dec, 2022

Spark Foundry Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Marcos Angelides says the relatively untapped gaming market is a huge opportunity for brands to add a new dimension to their advertising in the latest of our Mince Pies + Marketing Predictions series.

1. Describe 2022 in three words… 

For Spark Foundry the words would be; Pitching. Winning. Accelerating. 

2. Plug those words in What3Words for your 2023 Holiday destination. Where are you going and what’s the vibe?

I’m swimming off the coast of Brazil, right on the equator. The sun’s setting. It’s very nice. 

Publicis has a programme called 'Work Your World', where you can work anywhere you like for 6 weeks. I think I’ve found the perfect spot.  

3. Asda, ALDI, John Lewis, Boots or someone else? Which Christmas ad won your heart and mind in 2022?

I’m a little biased as we work with Asda, but the campaign is incredible. Who doesn’t love Elf? And the measurement scores have been off the charts.  

4. What’s your favourite ad/campaign of 2022?

The best campaign by far was Made by Dyslexia. The campaign looks to celebrate dyslexia, rather than demonise it. To help, LinkedIn added it to their ‘vital skills’, and a campaign by famous faces encouraged dyslexics to proudly add the skill to their profiles. 

As someone who is dyslexic, I can’t tell you how profound this is. Dyslexia has always been a condition that, at best, was seen as a made-up term and at worst, seen as a disability to be avoided. To see dyslexia being positioned as a desirable skill is a phenomenal step change. 

5. Mark Zuckerberg has asked to create your perfect Christmas in the metaverse. Where are you, who is cooking and what entertainment have you got lined-up?

As the metaverse is designed to bring people together, I’ll be celebrating with family members from Greece, Italy, Korea, and Australia. 

Mark Zuckerberg will be cooking (why not), and we’re about to watch a 3D version of Elf. OK, I may have an unhealthy obsession with that movie. 

6. What do you want in your Christmas stocking in the old fashioned real world?

Nothing for me, just toys for my 4-year-old twins. And maybe some earplugs. 

7. Elon Musk has gifted you a place on twitter’s board for Christmas. What would you do to turn it around?

I’d focus on a 5 year plan. Companies that have a clear long-term vision outperform the market, they’re also better at raising money and maintaining staff. These are things that twitter needs right now. Elon Musk is very capable of doing this, just look at the visions he created for Tesla and SpaceX. 

8. What’s going to be hot in marketing in 2023?

Augmented reality. Smartphones will make it simple to scan, layer and play with the environments around us. 

Digital product placement. Amazon and Disney are going to launch some exciting opportunities within this space, with the ability to measure short and long term sales.

Live commerce. We need to stop looking towards the US for tech trends, and start to recognise the cultural power China will have in our futures. 

9. How can marketers and brands ride the storm in 2023?

Remember that marketing is an essential part of justifying price. The cost of living crisis is going to squeeze people’s finances, which means they’re going to look for cheaper products. If you’re not the cheapest in the category, then the only way you can justify the additional cost is through marketing. Otherwise, you’re going to lose share to competitors.

Note, even if you are the cheapest in the market, you need to tell people that. So either way, brands need to maintain their faith in marketing. 

10. 2023 is the Chinese year of the water rabbit, which symbolises longevity, peace and prosperity. What are you hoping for in the year ahead in the world of marketing and advertising?

A greater understanding of business measures. If marketers, and their agencies, are to be taken seriously they can’t simply talk about engagement, reach and awareness. They need to translate that into metrics that the CEO and CFO care about. Profit, growth, share, lifetime value. 

11. Top tip for 2023: What brand or platform should we all be looking out for next year?

This should be the year that gaming is taken seriously. There are over 3 billion gamers in the world, and yet there are very few brands advertising within the space. Compare that to social media, which only reached 3 billion global users in 2018. In other words, imagine it’s 2018 and almost none of your competitors were advertising on social media, that’s the opportunity that gaming offers.

Businesses like Activision will be very interesting as the tipping point comes. Their growth and creativity are hard to beat, and the acquisition by Microsoft/Xbox puts them in a very powerful position. 

And finally…

12. Mince Pies - Christmas food heaven or hell?

Does anyone genuinely like mince pies? You have to drown them in custard to avoid suffering from dehydration. They literally suck the moisture out of your soul.

Saying that, I’m not a fan of Christmas pudding or Christmas cake either. So maybe it’s me. 

 Marcos Angelides is Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Spark Foundry.