Tag: esports

Bud Light Brings Back All-Star Team Campaign To Reach eSports Fans

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Bud Light is bringing back its eSports promotion this summer, as the beer brand aims to remedy the missteps it made in execution last year and puts a greater focus on engaging fans across digital platforms. It plans to announce an all-star roster in late June, with each sponsored all-star player hosting a weekly stream from the brand’s Twitch channel through the end of the year.

Voting for the 2017 Bud Light All-Star nominees has started, covering four uber-popular video games including Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone, and Street Fighter V. The company is also planning to create a documentary-style film on each of the all-stars exploring their journey.

What Brands Need To Do
In recent years, eSports has grown from a niche media platform into a massive global phenomenon that brands are starting to tap into to reach the tens of millions of fans around the world. As VC and analyst Mary Meeker pointed out in her 2017 Internet Trends deck, interactive gaming has gone mainstream worldwide, with 2.6 billion gamers in 2017 versus a mere 100 million in 1995. For brands looking for new ways to reach younger audiences across the global markets, eSports provide a fertile platform to explore.

For more in-depth analysis how brands can leverage global mega-channels and niche micro-channels to effectively reach key audiences, check out the Global Culture section of our Outlook 2017.

 

Source: Forbes

Burger King Recruits Top Gamers To Sell Burgers Via Video Games

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following its controversial Google Home-triggering TV ads, Burger King turns its attention to eSports for its next stunt marketing campaign. As Mashable reports:

Over the next few weekends, Burger King will be operating a “command center” (a.k.a. a restaurant) as it injects itself into your online matches with PlayStation’s permission, according to the company’s press release sent via email. If you sign up with Burger Clan online, someone who works for Burger King will try to play with you and be ready to put in your Whopper order while somehow being an asset to your team.

This campaign is limited to the Spain market and the recruited players will be playing and taking orders out of a Burger King restaurant in Madrid. The company is supposedly hiring “nine professional gamers, champions of the most popular [PlayStation] games,” according to a press release.

What Brands Need To Do
This is an interesting way to leverage eSports influencers to reach the millions of video game enthusiasts, as it mobilizes the online gaming platforms as a new, temporary sales channel. While hiring social influencers to hawk products is nothing new, to do so within online video games is quite an novel idea. For brands looking for new ways to reach younger audiences across the global markets, eSports provide a fertile platform to explore.

For more in-depth analysis how brands can leverage global mega-channels and niche micro-channels to effectively reach key audiences, check out the Global Culture section of our Outlook 2017.

 

Source: Mashable

NBA Jumps Into eSports With A Professional Gaming League

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has become the first major U.S. sports league to operate an eSports league by launching “NBA 2K eLeague” in partnership with video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. NBA franchises will be able to form and manage teams that will compete against each other, just as the real teams do, in Take-Two’s popular “NBA 2K” video game starting next year. NBA says all 30 NBA franchises “have expressed interest” in forming teams for the league.

What Brands Need To Do
While professional sports teams and athletes have independently invested in or get involved with eSports teams before, this new league marks the biggest tie-up yet between traditional and digital sports. Over the past few years, eSports has rapidly grown into a significant media segment that is drawing attentions from brands such as Gillette and Audi. Earlier this week, E3, the world’s biggest video game trade convention, announced it will be open to the public for the first time this year, a move that signifies the mainstream status of the industry. And this new NBA-sanctioned league should provide a new channel for brands looking to capture the overlap between video game enthusiasts and basketball fans at a global scale via team sponsorships or, presumably, in-stream ads.

 

Source: Wall Street Journal

ESPN To Air FIFA eSports Championship Ahead Of Super Bowl

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Earlier today, ESPN announced that it will broadcast the Paris Regional Finals for FIFA’s Ultimate Team Championship Series this Saturday, marking the first time the network has aired an eSports event on its flagship channel in the U.S. Previous eSports telecasts, such as the 2016 Street Fighter World Championship, were aired on ESPN2. In addition, the Championship Series will be available via live streams on Facebook, Twitch and YouTube Gaming.

What Brands Need To Do
In recent years, eSports has grown from a niche media platform into a massive global phenomenon that brands are starting to tap into to reach the tens of millions of fans around the world. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a sports channel like ESPN is starting to incorporate eSports into its programming, despite the wide availability of live streams. Nevertheless, as media companies rush into the eSports space, brands gain new channels to reach the young, male-skewing eSports audience, brands, especially those seeking global recognition, need to start leveraging the massive reach of eSports events and platforms via sponsorships and ads.

 

Source: VentureBeat

Gillette Enters eSports With League of Legends IEM Championship Sponsorship

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Gillette becomes the latest CPG brand to tap into the increasingly popular eSports by announcing a global partnership with ESL, the world’s largest eSports company. As part of the partnership, the leading men’s grooming brand will serve as an official sponsor of the League of Legends IEM World Championship in Katowice, Poland later this month.

To offer eSports fans attending the championship, Gillette will set up an on-site design studio where they will have the opportunity to customize Gillette razor handles using 3D printing technology. Moreover, the brand will offer grooming services to all competitors throughout the opening weekend. The company will also host autograph session featuring xPeke, an eSports star player and Gillette’s newest Global Ambassador, who will also be featured in Gillette’s “Pursuit of Precision” content series.

What Brands Need To Do
By adding an eSports player to its roster of brand ambassadors typically filled by celebrity  athletes, Gillette joins a growing number of brands, including Audi, Snickers, and Coca-Cola, in recognizing the popularity and cultural legitimacy of eSports. As companies race to capture the young, male-skewing eSports audience, brands, especially those seeking global recognition, need to start leveraging the massive reach of eSports events and platforms via sponsorships and ads.

 

Source: Yahoo Finance

Audi Ventures Into eSports With ELEAGUE Team Sponsorship

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Audi has signed on as an official sponsor to Astralis, an award-winning Danish eSports team that specializes in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The team is set to compete next in the upcoming ELEAGUE Major in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the biggest eSports tournaments of the year, ELEAGUE attracted record high volume of live viewers last year.

What Brands Need To Do
Audi’s sponsorship marks a significant entry into the eSports arena from auto brands, which has previously been mostly sponsored by CPG, consumer tech, and telecom brands. Last October, Snickers announced it has signed on as a sponsor of ELEAGUE tournament’s broadcast on TBS. Previously, early-adopting brands, such as Coca-Cola and Geico, have sponsored eSports events to reach its young-skewing Millennial audience. As competitive gaming continuously beat out viewership expectations and saw consistent growth over the past few years, brands, especially those seeking global recognition, need to start leveraging the massive reach of eSports events and platforms via sponsorships and ads.

 

Source: Mashable

Genvid Technologies’ SDK Brings Interactivity To eSports Broadcasts

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Genvid Technologies has released an SDK that aims to add some interactivity to eSports broadcasts. According to the New York City-based startup, once its SDK is integrated into any multiplayer game, which includes popular esports titles and virtual reality games, viewers will be able to interact with the live stream in a number of interesting ways, such as changing the camera angle to any angle that they like, choosing a particular player to follow, or even interacting with advertisements embedded in the broadcast.

What Brands Need To Do
If this SDK from Genvid gains traction and is integrated into eSports streaming platforms, it would open new doors for brands to reach the hundreds of millions of addressable eSports audience. With media companies like Lionsgate and Turner Media, as well as sports company such as Miami Heat, rushing into the space with investments, the global revenue that eSports generates is estimated to exceed $1 billion by 2019, partly due to recent success in attracting female gamers, as New York Times reports.

Some early-adopting brands, such as Coca-Cola and Snickers, have sponsored eSports events to reach its young, male-skewing audience. As media companies race to capture the vast eSports audience, brands, especially those seeking global recognition, need to start leveraging the massive reach of eSports events and platforms via sponsorships and ads.

 

Source: VentureBeat

MLB & Disney Acquired Streaming Rights For Leagues Of Legends Tournaments

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
BAMTech, a streaming tech company co-owned by Disney and the Major League Baseball, has picked up streaming rights to League of Legends tournaments, one of the biggest eSports franchises in the world. The company reportedly signed a deal north of $300 million with Riot Games for the exclusive rights to “stream and monetize” the massively popular video game tournament. In addition to taking over the tournaments’ distribution on existing streaming channels such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming, BAMTech plans to launch a dedicated streaming service for the LoL tournaments across various platforms.

What Brands Should Do
The massive acquisition underscores what a massive force of nature eSports live streaming has grown into in the media landscape. It easily commands millions of global viewers, a number that dwarfs most network TV programming today. In October, more than 43 million viewers worldwide watched online a League of Legends esports championship held at the Staples Center in LA. Some early-adopting brands, such as Coca-Cola and Geico, have been sponsoring eSports events to reach its young, male-skewing audience. More brands should consider leveraging the massive reach of eSports events to reach consumers via sponsorships or ads.

 

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Amazon Launches eSports Tournament For Casual Mobile Gaming

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon Appstore launching a new eSports tournament named Champions of Fire International for casual mobile gamers, as the ecommerce giant aims to bring eSports into mainstream consumer consciousness. The one-day tournament is scheduled for December 2 in Las and will feature sixteen gaming celebrities to battle over five popular casual mobile games such as Disney Crossy Road, Pac-Man 256, and Fruit Ninja. The event will be streamed live via Twitch, a popular eSports streaming site Amazon acquired in 2015. In addition, a two-hour special of the tournament will be broadcast nationwide by the CBS Sports Network on December 12.

What Brands Should Do
By extending eSports from desktop PC games to casual mobile games, Amazon is introducing the the world of competitive gaming to a wider audience, which should help Amazon drive more viewers to Twitch. The eSports industry has enjoyed rapid growth in the past few years, transforming from a nerdy niche into a legitimate new media segment that commands millions of eyeballs and drawing considerable attention from media companies and marketers.

Previously, Turner Media added eSports programming to primetime on TBS in an attempt to broaden its reach. Some early-adopting brands, such as Coca-Cola and Geico, have sponsored eSports events to reach its young, male-skewing audience. As media companies race to capture the vast eSports audience, brands, especially those seeking global recognition, should consider leveraging the massive reach of eSports events via sponsorships and ads.

 

Source: VentureBeat

Vice Broadcasts 72-Hour Twitch Livestream With Live Ads From Carl’s Jr.

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
To promote the launch of its video gaming-focused channel Waypoint, Vice Media hosted a 72-hour gaming marathon on Twitch over this past weekend. Starting Friday at noon, the Waypoint live stream ran on Twitch’s front page and featured gamers, musicians, and other guests playing 72 games over three straight days. Notably, the live stream also included live sketches sponsored by Carl’s Jr. as its brand mascot “Happy Star” interacted with the guests, handed out burgers, and performed funny stunts during breaks.

Although this marks the first time Vice Media tried live advertising on Twitch, Carl’s Jr is no stranger when it comes to sponsoring live broadcasts on Twitch. The quick-service restaurant chain hosted a 2-hour event on Twitch as part of its #UltimateCarePackage campaign, where guests played Call of Duty Black Ops III with in-game brand integrations and ate some Carl’s Jr burgers.

What Brands Should Do
Such experiments show how brands can leverage this type of in-stream branded content to reach the growing number of viewers on eSports streaming sites. In recent years, the competitive gaming industry has grown into a media opportunity that brands should not ignore. Some early-adopting brands, such as Coca-Cola and Geico, have been sponsoring eSports events to reach its young, male-skewing audience. More brands should consider leveraging the massive reach of eSports events to reach consumers via sponsorships or, as in Carl’s Jr.’s case, in-stream content integration.

 

Source: Variety

Header image is a screen capture from Waypoint’s Twitch Livestream