MARKETING TO GEN ALPHA: HOW BRANDS CAN WIN OVER THE NEXT GENERATION

29. 7. 2025 | 7 min read The cohort represents a major opportunity for advertisers, keying them into future trends in areas like gaming, according to research from Horizon Media.

STARRING A BANDICOOT, A PLUMBER, A DECEASED FOOTBALLER OR AN ANONYMOUS HERO. VIDEO GAMES AND TELEVISION ADVERTISING HAVE EXISTED HAND IN HAND FOR YEARS

7. 9. 2023 | 17 min read It’s time to flip the calendar to September. This means both the children returning to school and settling into a standard work setup after a perhaps more relaxed holiday regime. But at the same time, the main video game season traditionally kicks off - and 2023 promises to be the most packed since the pre-covid years. That means we will be seeing a hefty dose of marketing presentation, too. When video games are concerned, it goes without saying that originality, freshness, and creativity are what matters most in related campaigns and ads. This is not just theory but practice, which many studies have confirmed for decades. What games have been preceded by a launch of such magnitude that brands in other industries can only quietly envy them? Take a look at a selection of the top TV ads from this specific industry. MORTAL KOMBAT – MORTAL MONDAY (1992) Talking about video game history in the context of games does not make much sense in the age of remasters and remakes. On 14 September (a date specially chosen to reflect the release date of the original MK), we will see the remake of Mortal Kombat, the game that helped define the popular fighting arcade genre in the 1990s and gave birth to a franchise that, alongside Tekken, which was based on similar principles, continues to set the course for this type of games. No one doubts that the anticipated remake will be as fatal as the original 1992 game. The original marketing is to some extent followed by the one from 2023, but back then the developers from Midway Games did without the star cast of Dave Bautista in the lead role. The original ad depicts a battle frenzy in the streets on a normal Monday. Thanks to this presentation, the Mortal Kombat battle cry has caught on and was enshrined forever in the video game hall of fame. But what is important is that the entire presentation feels triumphant - even though at the time, no one yet knew how substantial and influential MK would become. But this lack of self-awareness also reflects to some extent the identity of the game itself, including many of its protagonists. And it is a foundation from which the series has not budged an inch to date.