Technology plays a central role in the life of today’s teenagers and young adults. It’s a crucial element for marketers to recognise in their attempts to attract the attention of young consumers.

Multiple marketing solutions are required, with engaging and relevant content. Content that can be interacted with, customised and shared. Casual online games provide the perfect combination of these factors.

The tech-savvy teen consumer

Teens are influenced by peers, enjoy absurdity and odd humour and speak their own language. Of course these generational traits are not new and could be said of any of the previous generations of teens. But what distinguishes this generation is the digital nature of their activities.

Teenagers are always connected. They spend 60% less time watching TV and 600% more time on the Internet than their parents – almost 17 hours a week. They text over 50 messages a week. As a result of digital media, they skim text and information quickly, get bored easily and are digitally expressive and creative.

The digital interactivity challenge for marketers

In order to successfully connect with teens, marketers need to find common ground with them – not only by using digital methods, but also by incorporating the characteristics of digital interaction in their marketing approaches.

Marketing material needs to be digital, and allow teens to customise content to suit their preferences. Everything needs to be shareable, downloadable, playable.

Casual online games – a perfect marketing medium

Worldwide, 217 million people play casual online games. Their attractions are myriad: stress release, boredom relief, relaxation, challenge and recognition, social interaction, and self-development. Online games are fun, easy to learn and addictive. Gamers show high levels of loyalty and commitment – not only to the games, but to the game providers. Not surprisingly, a significant proportion of gamers are teens. More surprising, but no less true, is that female players make up a higher percentage than males.

Gaming is also not a solitary activity. Online games provide plenty of opportunities for social interaction and community building. This is a big reason why casual gaming sites have found such popularity amongst teens. They are able to create their own identities using avatars and profiles, and use message boards and chat facilities. Tournaments add a competitive edge, with trophies, badges, power-ups and rankings adding a further aspirational component.

Online games marketing success stories

Neopets is the original and largest global, youth-focused, online virtual world, launched in 1999, with over 40 million registered users. It averages nearly 12 million unique visitors a month and 30 000 new accounts created daily. Daily content is published simultaneously in 11 languages. The salient point is that 80% of the audience are children and young teens, attracted by Neopets’ rich activities and depth of characters, stories, online games, quests, creativity and economy. The key to Neopets’ success has been listening and responding to its loyal audience.

Closer to home, the very successful KTV Games website reached 9 500 online users within the first two weeks of launch and has since increased to more than 100 000 game loads per month. KTV Games aligns MNet TV themes with over 600 online games and tournaments.

The marketing benefits of online games

Online games offer plenty of branding and advertising opportunities and benefits. Traditional banner advertising on websites and game pre-loaders are used as games advertising mediums. Companies can brand online games or have custom online games developed. Gaming offers new promotional opportunities such as links to special events and product promotions. Cross media promotion opportunities are also opened up.

Gaming enables cost-effective and measurable community building. They are a proven user retention and acquisition method, with a 70% average daily return rate. There are limited barriers to entry and games can be made available in multiple formats: instant online play, mobile games and downloadable.

With multiple marketing and advertising avenues, up-to-date technology, social media functionality and community-building capabilities, casual online games are the perfect marketing vehicle to cost-effectively connect with the modern teen and young adult audience.

Games.co.za has only been around for a year, but the new website has already worked its way up to hosting almost 3.000 online games. The games offered by this South African games portal are free and can be played directly in your internet browser without needing to be downloaded to your computer. Many of these games are what are known as casual games, small games of skill and engaging puzzles, and these are exactly the type of games children and adults most like to play online. However, there are also more extensive games on offer which take longer to complete, such as various role-playing and tower defense games.

Games for Everyone

Games.co.za does not focus on any particular type of game, but aims to be as inclusive as possible. With games in over 300 different categories there is enough to play for every visitor; you name your hobbies and your interests, and games.co.za is sure to have a game about them. In the last couple of months more and more people have discovered Games.co.za. Over the last month the site received well over 14.600 visitors, which is a 30% increase over the month before, and with an estimated 300 games being added to the site every month this number is sure to keep growing. Games.co.za is very much open to suggestions from its visitors. “We’re interested in creating a dialogue with our guests,” says Rogier van Willigen, founder of Games.co.za. “By encouraging visitors to rate our games and share their thoughts with us, we hope to develop the best online gaming website for South African players.”

A Games Site for South Africa

There are many international games websites, and the games market is already in full bloom in America and Europe, but with 5 million internet users it is time for South Africa to step in and get involved. Of course, Games.co.za now includes a great many international products, but the team is constantly on the lookout for games that speak especially to South African users, such as locally developed games and games about South African events, such as the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Up to 10 New Games Every Day

Games.co.za aims to add up to 10 games to the website every day. “Currently visitors spend an average of 4 minutes and 35 seconds per visit playing our games,” says Jonathan Todd, one of the people responsible for adding new games. “By offering a broader assortment of games we hope to increase that amount of time and welcome more visitors.” Head over to Games.co.za right away and take a look at their growing assortment of games.

Visit at : http://www.game.co.za

As an e-business, focusing on online games, such as aion kinah, items and powerleveling, the working environment is of great importance for e-business development.

A business should take the responsible for creating a working environment where people are happy within. A comfortable working environment will work far more effectively than those who are uncomfortable. Therefore, a business, aionkinahsale.com, should consider certain aspects of your employees working environment carefully.

Aionkinahsale.com is considering the following aspects of workspace.

Quiet working atmosphere

Noise can cause irreversible hearing damage and also lead to extra stress. Moving to an office building which is still under construction is the bad thing to do, since surrounding environment is full of noise caused by loud machines. In the case you have no choice to move in advance, business have to provide your employees with hearing protecting, rotating the staff who work close to noisy machinery to decrease their exposure times.

Ventilation

Fresh air is of importance for a good working environment. Fresh air can dilute various airborne impurities, a mixture of dust, fumes, tobacco smoke, and body odor. Considering its importance, aionkinahsale.com  simply gets adequate ventilation by allowing windows to be opened. Air conditioning system can not replace fresh air systems, as the air is re-circulated and therefore it is not effective.

Temperature

The minimum temperature for comfortable working environment is 20 degrees Celsius. Working environment below the number is permitting will harm workers health. Working in the cold atmosphere involves physical effort, therefore in winter, business should provide its staff with the correct clothing and extra work pauses.

Aionkinahsale.com is always putting its staff on the priority, so their staffs all have a sense of belong. Company love its staff, its staff love their company back.

Playedonline promises a journey filled with excitement and enjoyment through its online games and gaming zone. This website is embedded with a wide array of interesting online games of different genres and different kinds. Different games belonging to different genres like action, arcade, puzzle, shooting, towerdefense, sports, board, adventure and many more can be found on this website. And above all, these online games are absolutely free and anyone can have a joyride while playing these free interesting, thrilling and exciting games.

Playedonline is the ultimate source of online gaming and games. There are more than two thousand (2,000) games belonging to different genres being listed over this website. Playedonline assures the large number of its members and all those who visit this website in order to have a blast while playing online games that they will be welcomed with all sorts of interesting games. This tends to be ahead of other websites when it comes to offer latest games. This is one such big factor that really distinguishes Playedonline from the other existing online gaming websites.

Playedonline aims at providing the best to its members and visitors when it comes to offer challenging and thrilling online games. These games can be downloaded as well. The visitors or members are allowed to play then free for one hour and then if that game manages to trigger their interest, then they can buy them as well. There are so many websites that offer different online games but Playedonline offers a very distinguished and varied variety of online games.

It has a large community consisted of the top users and members of this website who come and visit this website to play online games. After becoming the member of this community, the members can chat with each discussing different levels and different things related to scoring and game playing. Playedonline assures that all those be they of any age, ranging from a young kid to an elderly person, will not regret coming, visiting and joining this gaming zone where they can play online games of their interest. It is guaranteed that they will have the best time while enjoying playing these online games being offered by Playedonline.

New Insights into Women Gamers at Live Focus Group in Front of the Casual Games Industry:

• online games are now sexy
• competition and charity are key
• looks do matter
• women spend up to 8 hours a day and $300 per month

CASUAL CONNECT, Seattle, July 22, 2009 – Today King.com (www.king.com), the world’s leading online skill games company, brought together women gamers – ages 24 to 61 – to speak directly to the casual games industry and reveal what it is about gaming that motivates them. King.com organized a live focus group of 6 women to give women gamers their voice, and to help the industry learn more about their motivations for playing games and what makes the best games.

Key questions posed to the gamers included: Have you been playing more games during the recession vs. earlier? What else is competing for your leisure time, i.e. TV, movies, books, newspapers, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, your partner etc. What do you get out of online games that you don’t get from other forms of entertainment or diversion? How many hours a day or how many hours a week do you play? What do you think your choice of games says about you? Do you think you become a different person online than offline when playing games?

Key findings included:

• Women are just as competitive as anybody, competition is really important and they really want to win. Kimberly Carney, 24, of Spanaway, WA, confided: “Anytime a girl can win anything, a girl’s going to want it!”
• Women want games to look good and be visually captivating. Vivid colors and animation are big motivators for women to play with a game. Dull colors and flat graphics are a turn-off.
• Women wanted to be able to play games and donate their prizes, points or cash to charity. They felt that, during the recession, there should be a demonstration of compassion from the gaming community.
• Women felt that playing games online was now sexy, and no longer geeky. Rather than feeling like a “loser,” it was felt that gaming had become mainstream and socially acceptable among their friends.
• Women use games as a form of mental exercise, using their progression through different levels to evaluate their progress and stimulate their brains.
• Women play games to get better at playing games. They actively hunt out games that help them improve their gameplay; even playing games they aren’t attracted to if it helps them master their favorite ones.
• Women like to spend money on online games. Most spent between $30-$50 per month on online games. One panelist, however, spends up to $300 per month regularly.
• Women play up to 8 hours every day, breaking up their gameplay to accommodate their professional and domestic schedules.

“We continue to gain insight into our users through dialog, surveys and ongoing interaction. This panel provides a useful snapshot of new interests and trends within the casual games industry,” said Riccardo Zacconi, CEO, King.com.

About King.com

Launched in 2004, King.com offers more than 150 different skill and social games, with its premier gaming destinations King.com (www.King.com) and MyGame.com (www.mygame.com). The site is available in nine languages and promoted in 10 countries.

King.com is the exclusive provider of skill games for leading portals and websites such as Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Real Networks, Orange, NBC, freenet.de, RTL, Sat 1, Endemol, MTV3, Libero, Web.de and other leading media companies. The company is known for extending the brand of popular TV properties such as “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and “The Biggest Loser.”

King.com has offices in London, Hamburg, Stockholm, Rome and Los Angeles.

King.com’s digital press kit, including gamer profiles, photos and screenshots, is available at: http://consortpartners.com/clients/king.php.

Media Enquiries
Dominic Johnson
Consort Partners
[email protected]
Tel: +1 415 306 2996

Online Entertainment is a broader term devised to describe a wide array of online frolics that hold your attention and offer a world of recreation at your desktop in today’s busy world. There are various categories that are imputed to online entertainment such as online games, online music, online TV, online movies, online books and magazines, chat rooms and forums and online communities that not only amuse you but also provide a great learning experience.
Combing entertainment and education is not a recent phenomenon; the term ‘edutainment’ is derived from these two modes of learning. In the recent times the issue is of more importance when both the necessities compete for the scare time you have after fulfilling your obligations. Let us have a look at how online entertainment renders an exploring and learning experience:
1. Cognitive Learning: Online games are the most dominant source of fun and amusement online. These are hugely popular amongst the teenagers. It is a proven fact that children grasp things rapidly if it involves some excitement and amusement and that is the idea behind lots of online games. Online games not only keep children engage for most of their free time but also nourish their cognitive abilities. These games include board games like monopoly and chess, outdoor games like cricket and soccer and also many action and adventure games.

2. Socializing Skills: Chat rooms, forums and online communities are not only a source of enjoyment but also enhance your socializing and networking skills. They are the best platform where you can share your ideas and get to know each other. Making friends across different corners of the world not only provide an opportunity to learn about different cultures but also can prove very beneficial in practical life.

3. Information:  Internet is considered to be the biggest storehouse of information. You can read books and get news and updates online on almost every topic to quest your thirst of knowledge. A lot of magazines are offering their online editions that are available before their publication and are absolutely free of cost challenging your desire to read and learn new things.

4. Linguistic & Technical Skills: You can learn new languages by making friends from different regions of the world or you can increase your vocabulary and grammar by playing different games like scrabble and crosswords. Also you can enhance your typing skills by online games that are designed for the very purpose in attractive interfaces to indulge you at an addiction level. Similarly taking online quizzes is not only fun but also a great learning opportunity that helps you groom your personality and enhance knowledge base.

5. Learning life: Dramas and movies are the biggest source of learning; you can learn something without experiencing it in real. They teach us the way we live and hold a high position in devising our opinions about a certain idea and matter. Online TV and movies are some of the popular most entertaining options that decipher a world of entertainment and education before you at the same time.