- The New York Times (NYT) on Wednesday (July 5) announced new ad formats for its popular word game Wordle, per details shared with Marketing Dive. They include interstitial video and display ads that appear within the mobile web version after a user presses “play.”
- DoorDash is the primary to benefit from the new placements for a campaign that may run through Aug. 16. The delivery service each Wednesday can even allow Wordle players to make use of the word of the day as a reduction code for 75% off their first DashPass order.
- The new ads will only appear for non-subscribers to NYT’s Games division. The move joins other efforts by NYT centered around boosting its digital promoting offerings.
NYT is attempting to appeal to potential advertisers with new ad formats for its popular each day word game Wordle, which it acquired last January for over $1 billion. The game, which is free to play, has proven to be a powerful engagement tool, having been played over 2 billion times in 2022, in response to statements from DoorDash made to AdExchanger regarding the newest news. The new ads will only be served to mobile web players and won’t be seen on desktops or tablets, or throughout the New York Times news and Wordle apps.
DoorDash, the primary to run mobile ads on the sport, is benefiting from the online placements to drive traffic to its DashPass subscription tier, offering to just accept the word of the day each Wednesday as a reduction code in a move that would help it accurately measure the payoff of the new bets. In addition to DoorDash, smart ring maker Ōura also signed on as an early advertiser.
NYT first began making efforts to monetize Wordle last September, when it introduced ads for the primary time on its desktop versions with pilot advertiser Rimowa, a luggage brand. The company has also played off the hype surrounding the sport, having introduced the Wordle Flex Frame placement last August to permit advertisers to create five-letter puzzles, much like the format of Wordle, that may exist across The Times’ various divisions, per AdExchanger.
The new ad placements inside Wordle come at an opportune time as the recognition of mobile gaming grows, potentially driving advertiser interest. At the identical time, NYT has also focused on growing its ad offerings more widely, including across its News and Cooking divisions and subsidiaries Wirecutter and The Athletic, a sports news site it acquired last 12 months.
Along with an advertiser focus for Wordle, NYT Games has also made a stronger bid to players through recent marketing efforts, including a campaign with comedian Keegan-Michael Key in June that offered those that shared their game rating on social media the possibility to win a wide range of prizes, including the chance to have Key join a user’s Wordle group chat. The Games division has also marketed its other titles, including Spelling Bee, which it promoted last 12 months through New York subway ads.
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