- Viacom International’s MTV Networks has acquired “online youth community NeoPets,” says CNET News, going on:
“MTV, which also owns runs Nickelodeon and Nick.com, said the addition of NeoPets.com to its portfolio will boost its presence in the online entertainment segment for children and young adults.
“NeoPets is an online network that lets members create and care for ‘virtual pets’ that inhabit a mythical place dubbed Neopia. Nearly 25 million people globally have Neopets accounts, the company said.”
Advertisers spend about $15 billion a year, "targeting kids through sites like Neopets, which has ads embedded into games and links to websites operated by McDonald's, General Mills and Procter & Gamble," says Reuters, going on. "California-based Children Now has also listed food company sites like TooMunchFun, NabiscoWorld.com and Postopia as troubling advergames as kids increasingly battle the problem of obesity."
Other Neopets 'consumer' clients include Carl's Jr, Hasbro, Hershey, Kellogg's, Kraft Foods / Nabisco, LEGO, Mattel, Nestle, Pepperidge Farm, Thinkway Toys and Wrigley.
Entertainment industry clients include: 20th Century Fox, Atari, Corus Entertainment, Discovery Kids Channel, Disney, DreamWorks SKG, MGM, New Line Cinema, Nintendo, Paramount Pictures, PBS Kids, RCA Records, Sega, SONY, Turner Broadcasting, Universal Studios, Vivendi Universal and Warner Bros.
Neopets generates revenue from several sources, it says on its site.
"The first and most intriguing way is through the use of Immersive Advertising - a technique invented by Neopets. Similar to the concept of product placement, Immersive Advertising directly integrates a sponsor's product or service into the activities available within the site. This generates millions of impressions, which powerfully convey the sponsor's message effectively to its intended audience."
If you're a parent, think about that.
More than 40% of the NeoPets “audience” is under the age of 13.
See:- CNET News - MTV acquires virtual critter site NeoPets, June 20, 2005 Reuters - Back to School and Gaming, Kids, September 19, 2004 site - What is Neopets
