AdExchanger Talks

Episode: It's Game Over For Outdated Gamer Stereotypes

Date: November 18, 2025
Host: Sarah Sluice (Editorial Director, AdExchanger)
Guest: Gabrielle “Gabby” Heyman (VP, Global Brand Sales & Partnerships, Zynga)

Overview

This episode tackles the persistent but misguided stereotypes around the gaming audience, challenges why brands are still hesitant to invest ad dollars in gaming, and reveals the true breadth, diversity, and potential of today’s gaming audience—particularly mobile—and what this means for marketers. Gabby Heyman of Zynga draws on her deep industry experience to demystify who gamers really are, how brands are (and aren’t) showing up in this space, and how gaming’s unique engagement and ad formats create compelling opportunities for advertisers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Background & Humanizing the Gamer (00:24–06:00)

• Gabby shares her diverse interests beyond gaming—including her eclectic reading tastes and her stint as a musician in an LA band called The Hussies.
• Both Gabby and Sarah identify as “gamers,” though with varied preferences—mobile, board, and social games, reinforcing the episode’s theme that “gamer” is a broad label.

  “I play all kinds of games...not only mobile or console games. Just...backgammon around the table with my family...I've been playing them since I was a kid.” – Gabby (04:01)

2. The Scale & Diversity of Zynga’s Gaming Universe (05:27–06:45)

• Zynga’s portfolio: 150+ titles, billions of downloads, presence in 175 countries. Titles range from Farmville and Words with Friends to licensed IPs and puzzle/casual games.
• Yet, advertisers continue to misunderstand or undervalue this reach, with the “year of gaming” moment never quite arriving.

3. Why Are Brands Still Hesitant? (06:45–09:20)

• Ad Spend Gap: Despite the sheer size of gaming audiences, ad budgets for gaming trail significantly behind time spent on the medium.
• For agencies and brand marketers, gaming is an unfamiliar hybrid—not as easy to reallocate budgets toward as TV-to-CTV, Radio-to-Audio, or OOH-to-DOOH.
• Gaming is at once its own channel and a composite of others, encompassing video, display, audio, commerce, and interactivity.

"They’re dipping their toes in, not diving in." – Gabby (07:38)

4. Who Are Gamers—Really? (09:21–12:20)

• Breaking the Basement-Boy Stereotype: The “teen boy in the basement” is outdated and persists only because he's harder to reach elsewhere.
• Reality: Average gamer age is mid–late 30s, and on mobile, up to 75% are women (Zynga’s user base is ~60% female). Games genres skew differently: e.g. puzzle games attract women, poker/racing attract men.

"The sweet spot is the millennial to Gen X woman...this powerhouse of the economy." – Gabby (12:20)

• Women drive 70–80% of purchasing decisions and are dominant in casual/mobile gaming.

5. Gaming and the Media Mix: Complement, Don’t Compete (14:02–14:37)

• Gaming is often consumed alongside other media (second-screening with TV).
• Effective brand strategies should embrace and complement this reality, not fight it.

"If you can’t beat them, join them...it’s both, really." – Gabby (14:14)

6. Changing Marketer Mindsets—What’s Working (15:05–18:59)

• Mobile gamers (especially adults) are tech-savvy, open to fintech, engaged, and accessible for many high-value categories.
• Brands still focus on reaching the youth for perceived long-term loyalty (e.g. Gucci in Roblox), but are missing out on the Gen X/millennial audience that’s actually spending.
• Gamified ad experiences (Studio E) drive engagement, favorability, and brand choice, leveraging interactivity native to gaming environments.

"It’s not just that people are playing games and they’re getting rewarded ads for Tide...it’s gamifying the brand itself." – Gabby (17:07)

7. Missed Opportunities: The Neglected Millennial/Gen X Woman (18:59–21:59)

• Marketers once obsessed over millennials, but have shifted focus toward Gen Z and Alpha—overlooking high-spending, engaged older cohorts.
• Games themselves don’t care about demos—just “are you a gamer?” And this lack of demographic bias is instructive.

8. Making Ad Experiences Work—Formats and Best Practices (22:27–26:16)

• Owning both game and ad creative allows Zynga to optimize ad experience to user and brand needs.
• Primary formats:
  • Rewarded Video / Playable: Opt-in, non-interruptive, most beloved by users.
  • Interstitials/Display/Banners: Also used, but less premium than rewarded.
  • Social video formats (e.g. TikTok-style) also port easily into games.
• Gaming busts the myth that "you can’t interrupt a gamer"—value exchange is key and accepted by players.

“Rewarded video is the gold standard...it's completely opt-in.” – Gabby (24:06)

9. The Zynga / Take-Two Deal: Integration and Culture (32:46–35:19)

• Since Take-Two’s $12.7B acquisition, Zynga’s studio autonomy and "teen spirit" have largely been maintained.
• Centralized support and shared learning enable game diversity and success; culture remains meritocracy-based, dynamic.

10. Rewarded Video: Benefits & Limitations (35:19–42:16)

• Challenges: Repetitive/annoying ads, potential for gaming the system (users opting in only for rewards), risk of cannibalizing in-app purchases.
• Balance: Product managers continually optimize ad economy vs. player experience.
• Ad fatigue is an industry-wide, not just gaming, problem.
• Goal: Elevate ad creative to make it as desirable as content itself (e.g. “Vogue ads as editorial”).
• Gamifying ad experiences "brings games to ads" for better engagement and brand recall.

11. Zynga's Ad Tech Ambitions & Programmatic (42:30–48:15)

• Historical Moves: Zynga acquired (and later sold) Chartboost; also acquired Store Maven (app store optimization/growth).
• Current Approach: Build/adapt in-house tools (e.g. “Zaid” internal ad server) to support wide array of studios and game types.
• Focus on maximizing revenue and user experience; rapid response to ad quality issues is a priority.

12. Measurement & Demonstrating ROI (48:15–51:02)

• Zynga works with various third-party measurement partners (e.g. FourSquare for footfall; Samba for tune-in; DISCO for brand lift).
• Measurement is tailored by client objective and vertical: proving gaming’s unique ability to move mid-funnel (favorability, intent, attention) and even conversion metrics.

13. The Forecast—Will Outdated Stereotypes Still Dominate? (51:02–53:33)

• Short term: No seismic change; ad spend remains 3x lower than time spent in gaming.
• However: The trend toward gamified ads is expanding far beyond games, including into CTV and other digital domains.

"You're going to see a trend of bringing games to ads even outside of gaming platforms...that is growing." – Gabby (52:32)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Gaming’s Ubiquity and Ad Opportunity:

  “3.2 billion gamers worldwide...the audience is there.” – Gabby (06:45)

• On the Female Gamer Reality:

  "Millennial Gen X women...they make 70-80% of purchasing decisions.” – Gabby (12:20)

• On Rewarded Ads:

  “Rewarded video is the gold standard...it's completely opt-in.” – Gabby (24:06) "Bringing games to ads instead of bringing ads to games." – Sarah referencing Gabby (42:16)

• On Industry Change:

  "I'm an optimist and a realist...I don't see it's going to be seismically different [next year]." – Gabby (51:57)

• On the Persistence of Stereotypes:

  "The media plan in gaming looks like reaching the teen boy in the basement.” – Gabby (10:30)

• On Internal Company Culture:

  "Be your own CEO...make decisions at Zynga speed." – Gabby (34:23)

Timestamps: Important Segments

• 00:24–02:33: Intro & Gabby’s eclectic background
• 05:27–06:45: Zynga’s scale and the gulf in ad attention
• 06:45–09:20: Why brands remain hesitant toward gaming
• 09:21–12:20: Who gamers REALLY are; female dominance on mobile
• 12:20–14:37: Marketer myths and the power of women in gaming
• 15:05–18:59: Changing brand mindsets, engagement advantages, gamified branding
• 22:27–26:16: Deep dive on ad formats and the reality of ad interruption
• 32:46–35:19: Take-Two acquisition’s impact on Zynga’s operations
• 35:19–42:16: Rewarded video nuances, maintaining positive ad experiences
• 42:30–48:15: Zynga’s ad tech journey and programmatic rationale
• 48:15–51:02: Measurement practices and demonstrating gaming's impact
• 51:02–53:33: The near-future forecast for gaming and brand buy-in

Tone & Takeaways

• The conversation is candid, wry, and pragmatic, matching industry frustration with optimism and actionable strategy.
• Both Gabby and Sarah emphasize authenticity—about what works, what doesn’t, and what the real gaming audience looks like in 2025.
• The gaming landscape is vast, evolving, and brimming with opportunity for marketers ready to challenge outdated assumptions, especially regarding gender and age.

In short:
Gaming is not a niche; it’s mainstream, female-powered, and still wildly undervalued by brands clinging to outdated stereotypes. The smart money—and creative—will go where the actual engagement resides: in games, and in gamified ad experiences everywhere.