Roblox enlists Dentsu and Vayner3 to help scale its ad business

Roblox is launching a partners program in an effort to scale its advertising business, and has tapped Dentsu and Vayner3, the Web3 consulting arm of VaynerMedia, as two of the seven founding partners. The program deputizes other organizations, which have committed to building on Roblox, to work with brands in bringing their ads and experiences to its virtual ecosystem. These partners will provide education, as well as research and measurement on how to most successfully appear on Roblox. At the core of the program is Roblox’s immersive ads offering, which enables brands to reach users within experiences. Roblox launched the feature last fall and is now trying to court more brands. Partners can also assist in marketing that does not have to do with immersive ads, such as branded experiences or virtual wearables—both of which have become popular methods for brands to experiment with a proto-metaverse. Cannes Lions coverage Follow our live blog here Sign up here for email updates See all of the Grand Prix winners here Dentsu and Vayner3 are both experienced players in the world of gaming marketing. In 2019, the Electronic Gaming Federation chose Dentsu Aegis Network’s Gravity as its agency of record. Dentsu Japan also has a pre-existing partnership with Roblox. Vayner3 is a relative newcomer to the ad world but has led the charge in bringing Web2 brands into Web3 for activations around virtual worlds, NFTs and cryptocurrency. Another notable aspect of the program is that it includes Roblox developers as partners. These are Century Games, Dubit and The Gang Group. “Our developers are on the same playing field as big ad agencies,” Ashley McCollum, Roblox’s head of immersive media solutions, told Ad Age. Each of these developers has worked with brands in bringing marketing to Roblox, and their inclusion in the program seeks to extend their services to more brands. The remaining two founding partners are Playwire, an ad agency, and Sawhorse, a creative studio. All seven partners have received a special rate for Roblox’s immersive ads, and in exchange have made a minimum media spend commitment to Roblox for the next 12 months. The new program comes as Roblox has sought to clarify its advertising policies after FTC and TINA last year accused it of allowing ads to be served to children below the age of 13. Updates to its rules have so far mollified critics. Roblox is also exploring ways in which generative AI can improve game development. Its ads business, however, does not currently incorporate the technology, McCollum said.

Roblox enlists Dentsu and Vayner3 to help scale its ad business

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