E3: Engage, Greystripe Partner For Mobile Ad Deal

Engage In-Game Advertising, an in-game media company providing strategic planning and placement services targeted specifically for video game advertising, and Greystripe, the world's first mobile advertising network for games and applications, have announced a strategic partnership. Through the agreement, Engage In-Game Advertising will be incorporating the use of Greystripe's AdWRAP, the first mobile in-game advertising network in North America, to help with the implementation and management of mobile in-game advertising campaigns for its clients. The partnership comes at a time when key market segments are increasingly turning from traditional media to new forms of electronic entertainment, such as mobile games. According to Nielson Entertainment, there are approximately 144 million mobile cell phone users ages 13-54 in the United States -- 22 percent of whom pay to download games to their phone. According to IDC, mobile game sales are expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2008. "As an exclusive in-game media company, we are thrilled that our relationship with Greystripe will allow us to add mobile in-game advertising solutions to our range of offerings," said David Smith, Vice President of Business Development for Engage. "Our objective is to help brands connect with consumers who are spending time with new forms of digital entertainment. Mobile gaming is growing exponentially and as video game marketers, we see mobile in-game ads as a powerful channel to connect with consumers on the run." The first initiative resulting from the partnership is the launch of a mobile in-game advertising campaign for SpeeDee Oil Change & Tune-Up, the latest company to join Engage In-Game Advertising's growing client roster. SpeeDee Oil Change & Tune-Up -- which operates more than 150 full-service automobile service centers in the United States and Mexico -- will today begin offering a free branded mobile game on its corporate Web site. The company will also run in-game ads across a network of mobile games aimed at adults 25-54.