Marketers comparing in-game advertising to Connected TV are asking the wrong question.
The real question isn't whether in-game advertising will replace CTV.
It's whether adding gaming environments changes the performance of your entire commercial system.
Too often, new media channels are evaluated as stand-alone investments. They compete for budget with existing channels based on historical ROI, CPM, or reach. That's linear thinking.
Growth rarely works that way.
A new channel can amplify, complement, or cannibalize the performance of everything else in the marketing mix. The value isn't just in the impressions it delivers. It's in the interactions it creates.
That's the foundation of systems thinking.
As Electronic Arts talks openly about the long-term revenue potential of in-game advertising, marketers have an opportunity to move beyond the "CTV versus gaming" debate.
The more useful question is:
What combination of investments produces the greatest incremental business outcome?
At Provalytics, we're building Agile Insights Modeling (AIM) around this principle. Rather than optimizing channels independently, AIM helps organizations understand how multiple investments interact to influence multiple customer responses and multiple business outcomes.
Sometimes the biggest opportunity isn't finding a better channel.
It's understanding how the channels work together.
That's systems thinking. And increasingly, that's where competitive advantage will come from.
Cheers
Todd