Advertising on hit games like Angry Birds could give you a better return than traditional media like TV, according to Angry Birds’ creator Peter Vesterbacka.

Speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival on Tuesday (22 June), Peter explained how he and his team at Rovio Mobile came up with the cult game that is appealing to non-gamers. “A lot of people don’t play games – but they play Angry Birds, so we are widening the market.”

To prove his point, Peter asked the audience to raise their hands if they had ever played the game and almost everyone put their hands up. He explained that the game targets a broad group, from three year olds to 90 year olds and everyone in-between. The game has already had 250 million downloads and is set to have a billion fans in the next two years.

Rovio CEO Mikael Hed added. “When a person is playing the game they are much more involved with the content. When you display an ad it’s much more likely to be taken notice of than something on TV which is a passive experience. Plus you’re much closer to the point of purchase.”

Posted by Neil Turner