As audiences become ever more fickle, innovative advertisers need to find new ways to reach them. The average click-through rate for banner ads in a 2008 study by MarketingSherpa was 0.21 percent. As a result of the failure of banner ads to deliver conversions, advertisers in the United States have drawn inspiration from one of the fastest-growing online segments: gaming – and South African advertising agencies are following suit.

It’s easy to see why. Social networks have helped to spur on game adoption, with Insider Network reporting that 90 percent of Facebook gamers surveyed return daily to play games. The online games market was worth $15 billion in 2009, and will grow by a third in 2010.