On the upper left of Zeitlin's computer screen is a cartoon version of an airship with the Farmers logo on it. "But I was very happy to start playing it because of the excitement of putting the Farmer's airship into the game." "It's very hard on a marriage and other relationships," he says. He had never played FarmVille before deciding it could be a great marketing tool for an insurance company not known for hipness. Marc Zeitlin, the vice president of e-business, says the company now has a "kick-ass farm." About two years ago, the company started an e-business department. 3 home and auto insurance company in the U.S., has been around since 1928. Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance Group, the No. Social gaming - by providing more crops or more fish or more virtual poker chips for the poker game - it encourages people to interact with advertisers, and they do take notice." "Most people can't stand advertising," he says. Rampell says basically anything you want to advertise will work with the theme of a social game that's out there. Some of the most popular games include CityVille, FarmVille, Texas HoldEm Poker, Pet Society, Mafia Wars and Car Town. He says a wide range of companies have advertised in social games, including fast food, beverage, financial services and entertainment companies.Īlex Rampell, the CEO of TrialPay, which matches advertisers with social game companies, says that list goes on and on because the social game world is so diverse. ![]() ![]() But he predicts in-game ad revenue will more than double between 20. While overall revenue is soaring, he says, that percentage won't change much for the next couple of years. He says social game publishers take in most of their revenue - 60 percent - from the sale of virtual goods: crops, fish food and other miscellaneous items. Paul Verna analyzes the business of social games for eMarketer. Then, they invite Facebook friends to join in the fun of collecting rent and building businesses, as well as growing and harvesting crops. Players start with an empty plot of land and build a city on it. On Facebook, 97 million users play the free game CityVille. Five million users downloaded the ad, which gave them a brief respite from farming.Īdvertisers are always looking for a new, more engaged audience.Īnd they've found one in the online world of social gaming, where more ads are becoming embedded in the game itself. There are currently no plans to bring CityVille Hometown to Android.Farmers Insurance Group ran an advertisement in FarmVille that appeared on an airship. The game will be available as a free download from the App Store on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, or at the iTunes App Store. Friends that play and connect on CityVille Hometown can swap resources and energy and send and receive special limited edition items. Just like in Cityville, there will be quests and goals to complete in Cityvilel Hometown.ĬityVille Hometown allows access to Facebook friends who play CityVille. There’s also a character named Kate, the resident community manager who will help players navigate through the game. The game will use the characters Bert and his mother Gilda to teach players how to play the game. ![]() The game is offered in French, Italian, German and Spanish. Just like the Facebook version of the game, players can invite friends to be neighbors.ĬityVille Hometown will be available in English in Canada via the Apple App Store on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch and will be available globally in five languages in the coming weeks. Think of CityVille on your phone but instead of creating a city, you create a town. Zynga recently launched the CityVille Hometown mobile game.
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