MRY, a branding and creative technology company which works with Coca Cola, Visa and Microsoft, says that there are huge misconceptions about the market which has led to many groups missing out on key advertising demographics. (Photo: MRY)
MRY, a branding and creative technology company which works with Coca Cola, Visa and Microsoft, says that there are huge misconceptions about the market which has led to many groups missing out on key advertising demographics. (Photo: MRY)

The mobile gaming sector is booming but advertising spend on the sector is still tiny compared to companies' overall budgets.

Speaking to IBTimes TV at the Game On event in London, MRY's managing director for EMEA told us how firms need to part with more cash in the sector to tap into the lucrative women's market.

"The sector has certainly boomed in size but in terms of advertising spend, its still a tiny proportion," said Nadya Powell, managing director for EMEA at MRY.

"In the UK, companies have spent £5.4bn (€6.4bn, $8.7bn) in advertising but in-game advertising only accounts for 0.5% of that spend.

"The challenge for companies is that they still view online or mobile gaming as a high risk and innovative spend and rather than a core one."

Nadya Powell, MD EMEA, MRY says more advertising spend needs to be allocated to mobile gaming (Photo: IBTimes UK)
Nadya Powell, MD EMEA, MRY says more advertising spend needs to be allocated to mobile gaming (Photo: IBTimes UK)

Analysts estimate that the global online and mobile gaming market will grow to $46bn by 2016, from last year's $29bn.

MRY, a branding and creative technology company which works with Coca Cola, Visa and Microsoft, says that there are huge misconceptions about the market which has led to many groups missing out on key advertising demographics.

"I think there are huge misconceptions around gaming, such as sweaty teenagers, as women are actually now the biggest gamers in the space," said Powell.

"Women in the home make the biggest purchasing decisions and are now the biggest gamers meaning that many companies' key advertising demographics are all found on mobile gaming.

"We are now in the strange situation that there is this huge opportunity to reach the targeted audience but only a tiny proportion of spend and effort is going into this sector."

For the full video interview, check out IBTimes TV or the video on the top right hand side of this page.

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