Reward Ads: Infiltrating Student Life Between Classes and Games

We live in a flood of advertisements. In an era where even our subconscious minds are accustomed to advertisements, advertising has now set out to find a new battleground: university campuses. AI full-funnel marketing company Buzzvil and university life platform Everytime have partnered to launch 'Point Campus'. This is a strategic repackaging that removes the direct name 'reward advertisement' from the existing 'BuzzBenefit' solution and puts the attractive word 'point' front and center. Promoting 'points' instead of 'advertisements' is a powerful example of a linguistic frame shift. Users perceive it not as the act of 'watching an advertisement' but as the active experience of 'collecting points'. The hybrid structure, spanning web and app, reflects the digital lifestyle of contemporary university students. It provides the same experience on Android and iOS operating systems and offers the flexibility of real-time content changes. Buzzvil's core, in particular, is the 'multi-mission' approach. Through gamified elements such as mini-games, quizzes, and quests, it blurs the lines between advertising and entertainment, encouraging participation from Generation Z. This is a new form of communication perceived not as 'advertising' but as 'play'. In the process of solving quizzes, playing games, and collecting points during free time, brand images are naturally imprinted. Within this clever strategy, advertisers gain brand recognition, platforms earn revenue, and users receive small rewards and entertainment. While it might seem like a 'win-win for everyone' at first glance, it is essentially a corporate move to expand a sophisticated big-data-based advertising ecosystem by targeting 2.9 million university students monthly. As Jang Se-gon, Buzzvil's Head of Partnerships, stated, this is the first step towards building a Gen Z-centric digital advertising ecosystem, going beyond just 'expanding the target audience for reward ad participants'. Just as Buzzvil has already achieved 100 billion won in sales, evolved advertising proves its immense market value. Now, the daily lives of university students will become more deeply intertwined with advertising through 'Point Campus'. The act of waking up in the morning, checking timetables with Everytime, and solving quizzes and playing games to collect points during free time between classes will no longer be 'watching an advertisement' but will become 'a part of daily life'. This signifies the successful establishment of the ultimate evolved form of advertising: 'advertising that doesn't feel like advertising'. Disguised as a choice rather than a compulsion, advertising that naturally permeates daily life is dominating 21st-century university campuses.