MAM
Gaming revenue surged 20% in 2020, audience more diverse: Essence report
MUMBAI: Last year, the world stayed at home. Outdoor divertissements like live sports and events, and catching a movie at the multiplex were off the table, owing to the Covid2019 pandemic. People had to find new ways to distract themselves from the grim reality; apart from online video streaming, gaming saw a marked uptick in adoption. In fact, 2020 was a breakthrough year for the gaming industry, with revenue spurt of 20 per cent over the previous year, according to a report published by global media agency Essence, a part of GroupM.
The 'Gaming in the 2020s: Reach, rewards and the new meditation' report is aimed at brands and will help marketing heads understand the full scale of the opportunity presented by this up and coming category, and what they can expect to gain from their efforts.
"In recent years, the gaming sector had been steadily growing in note amongst the marketing community but was yet to become a mainstream consideration. It had neither been seriously appraised for its reach potential nor wholeheartedly embraced as a lever for driving brand connection," wrote Essence in their study report.
The report stated that an enforced focus on home entertainment and folks spending more time with their children due to the shelter at home guidelines has played a crucial role in elevating the popularity of the gaming sector.
Contrary to the previous belief, the Essence report suggested that gaming is not just confined to young people – it is considerably more diverse, and 83 per cent of all women, and 85 per cent of all men can be classed as gamers. The study report also noted that a massive 71 per cent of 55-64 year-olds engage in the gaming space.
"Mobile gaming, in particular, has broad appeal across genders and age groups, and it’s here that older generations certainly feel most comfortable," the report claimed.
One of the many effects was a huge increase in exposure to and exploration of gaming, resulting in a greater understanding of its appeal amid widespread news coverage of family-friendly, stand-out titles such as Animal Crossing. All of a sudden, gaming exploded into the general consciousness of consumers and marketers alike.
Essence suggested two main reasons for brands to engage, which in turn determine how building gaming touchpoints into the communications plan should be approached.
· Incrementality for non-endemic brands — gaming touchpoints should be evaluated in line with any other video, display or out-of-home opportunity.
· Building equity in the service of growth — gaming touchpoints can be leveraged in the service of campaigns that are not specifically relevant to the genre, just like all kinds of campaigns can sit happily on the cinema screen, for example.
Key highlights of the report
The global gaming market was valued at $151.55 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach revenue of $256.97 billion by 2025. The pandemic helped spur a revenue surge of 20 per cent to $179.7 billion in 2020.
For marketers engaging with the gaming sector for the first time, there is an appreciation that gaming is not a ‘channel’ but a form of entertainment around which a unique set of consumer behaviours have been built. These behaviours are broad and exhibited across a hugely fragmented space, inclusive of vastly differing devices, platforms, locations and types of content.
NewZoo estimates that the global audience for esports – organised forms of competitive gaming using tournaments or leagues – totalled 495 million in 2020 and will rise to 646 million in 2023, with around 45 per cent watching at least once a month.
Beyond esports, streaming has been harnessed by individual players who also broadcast their gaming to live audiences. Users typically employ one of three major platforms, which vary in popularity around the globe. YouGov claims that 49 per cent of Indian gamers engage with YouTube Gaming.
When it comes to the choice of engaging with rewarded ads versus making an in-app payment, a vast majority of mobile gamers prefer consuming the ad. However, as per a proprietary Mobile Annoyance study conducted by Essence India, mid-game banner ads scored the highest on the Annoyance Index when compared to a range of other mobile ad formats (served both in-game and across other types of publisher content).
Buying family medical insurance online in India has become a common option for individuals who want to secure health coverage for multiple family members under a single policy. However, many buyers are unsure about the exact steps involved in selecting and purchasing the right plan online.
In this guide, you will know the step-by-step process of buying family medical insurance online in India, along with the key factors to review before purchasing a suitable policy.
Step 1: Assess Your Family’s Healthcare Needs
Before buying online health insurance, check the healthcare needs of all family members. Check age, existing illnesses, regular medicines, and the likely need for hospital care later. This helps in selecting a suitable sum insured, policy type, and level of cover. It also reduces the chance of buying a plan that appears suitable but does not meet actual medical needs.
Step 2: Visit the Insurance Company’s Official Website
After understanding the family’s needs, visit the insurer’s official website and read the plan details carefully. Use the official platform to review eligibility, policy wording, waiting periods, cover details, exclusions, and renewal terms.
This step gives a clearer understanding of how the policy works before payment is made. It also helps avoid confusion caused by incomplete summaries on other pages.
Step 3: Compare Available Family Health Insurance Plans
A family medical insurance policy should be compared on factors beyond the premium. Review the sum insured, hospital network, room rent limits, pre- and post-hospitalisation cover, daycare treatment coverage, and waiting periods. It is also important to check treatment sub-limits and specific policy conditions.
Careful comparison helps determine whether a plan provides balanced coverage and whether its terms are suitable for the healthcare needs of the entire family.
Step 4: Choose the Right Policy and Start the Online Purchase
Once the options have been compared, select the policy that best fits the family’s medical needs and budget. Before starting the application, review the covered members, policy term, benefits, and main conditions again. This is an important stage because errors here can lead to the wrong cover amount, an unsuitable variant, or missing details that create problems during policy use.
Step 5: Calculate the Premium Using an Online Calculator
Use the online premium calculator before making the final choice. Enter the correct details, including age, city, number of insured members, and selected cover amount. The result helps in understanding the expected premium and whether the policy fits the annual budget. This step is useful because it allows cost and coverage to be reviewed together, instead of choosing a plan only because the premium looks lower.
Step 6: Fill in Personal and Medical Details
When filling in the proposal form, provide accurate details for each insured member. This includes name, date of birth, contact details, medical history, ongoing treatment, and previous insurance information if required.
Every answer should be complete and truthful. Incorrect or missing details can create difficulty later. Before you submit the form, read every section again and correct any mistakes.
Step 7: Make Payment Through the Secure Payment Gateway
After checking the form, go to the payment page and complete the transaction through the secure payment gateway. Review the premium, policy term, and entered details once more before confirming payment.
After the transaction is completed, save the receipt, reference number, or confirmation message carefully. Keeping this record is useful if you need to track the purchase or follow up on policy issuance later.
Step 8: Download and Keep Your Policy Document Safely
Once the policy is issued, download the policy document, schedule, and any related papers without delay. Read them carefully to confirm member names, policy period, sum insured, and major terms. Save a digital copy in a secure folder and keep a printed copy if needed. Proper record keeping makes future renewals, document checks, and policy servicing easier and more organised when information is required quickly.
Conclusion
Buying health cover online becomes easier when you handle each step with attention. From checking your family’s needs to reading the final document, every stage helps you make an informed choice. A careful approach can reduce mistakes, improve your understanding of policy terms, and help you choose coverage that matches your household’s medical needs, financial capacity, and long-term healthcare planning in a reliable way for your family over the long term.
