Well this is an interesting move by the gaming player zapak. I was just browsing the site as i read this release about them launching and exclusive F1 zone for Formula 1 fanatics when I saw this game.

It said "An exam stress buster game by IMS". For all those who dont know IMS is a B School coaching institute for CAT/XAT/MAT etc aspirants who dream of going to B-Schools like IIM Ahmedabad. So here is a very interesting way in which IMS is using the zapak game platform to connect with its audience on the exam perspective.

Also this isn’t the first time that zapak has introduced in game branding.. even earlier with the Aakhri thumsup campaign a game was introduced which can still be played here.

A fellow WATconsultant informed me taht this form of in game branding was first introduced by Contests2win.com almost 4 years ago which also had games which later came to be known as games2win.

But i feel Zapak with the amount of advertising its doing (both for its mail services now and its gaming services earlier) and the amount of traction its getting this form on in game branding is an innovative way to provide advertsing solutions to clients. One would never know what the actual deal would be between IMS and Zapak or Thums up and Zapak but it sure does look like a much better way to be leveraging online gaming to bring value to advertisers.

Another important issue with regards to online gaming would be its social acceptance among traditional indian families. On the same issue in this article Sanjay Trehan of NDTV Convergence feels " As the Indian middle class expands, home PCs and cafes are proliferating and millions of people, especially the younger lot, have a lot more disposable time and income to spend on games."

While the Zapak COO Rohit Sharma feels "Online games provide children to network with like-minded gamers, peers in the virtual space and help each other understand the new games and make new game plans. Most of the kids are online today and they get to know about a lot of stuff through the internet medium rather than their very own text books and newspapers and magazines."

I dont know about the kids learning anything else from these games but the in game barnding would surely make them learn more about the brands!
 

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