Bidstack Group PLC (AIM:BIDS, OTC:FTBGF) announced a new partnership with Xaxis, GroupM’s outcome media specialist.
GroupM is a media investment company made up of several agencies.
As part of the agreement, Xaxis will gain access to the London-listed company’s portfolio of “seamless in-game ad formats and branded experiences.”
It will also gain to access its “global supply of programmatic inventory,” which includes titles such as Football Manager 2022 and Top Eleven.
According to a statement, Xaxis expanded its portfolio of media channel solutions in 2021 to include a “full suite of gaming products,” with Bidstack confident the partnership bolsters Xaxis’s ability to engage the worldwide gaming audience.
The company believes that 2022 will build on what was a “break-out year for in-game advertising” in 2021, with average playing time increasing globally by 14% according to research.
It adds that in-game advertising is gaining traction from advertising industry bodies, such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Updated measurement standards are also set to be introduced, which should make campaign success easier to measure for advertisers.
“We are looking forward to scaling brand investment into a number of markets in the next few years and to work alongside Xaxis to deliver immersive branded experiences in-game for their clients,” said Lewis Sherlock, senior vice president programmatic at Bidstack.