EIPlatform — Audience Data Is Key For Esports Marketing
There has never been a better time for brands to get involved in esports. So far, in 2018, there has been a 50% increase on brand spending on esports compared to 2017. Computing brands were the early adopters of esports advertising and traditional sponsorship, but now more mainstream brands are getting involved. In the last couple of years, big brands like Mercedes, DHL and Vodafone have made significant investments in the world of esports.
Esports still offers a lot of opportunities for non-endemic brands. Unlike with traditional sports, the esports industry is still new enough that brands can be the first to enter and actually interact with, help shape and be part of the esports community.
Esports is an increasingly dynamic world, with a very committed and passionate audience. The key for brands to succeed in the world of esports is authenticity. For brands that are authentic, there is a massive opportunity to engage with the audience. Brands are becoming increasingly creative in their advertising in order to connect to the esports community.
The opening ceremony for ESL Katowice Dota 2 Major 2018 featured characters from Dota 2 stealing the tournament trophy and escaping in a Mercedes Benz. The trophy was then delivered in the same car for the tournament to start. At ESL Birmingham 2018, esports influencer SirActionSlacks dressed as a DHL worker delivered sweets to players and fans in a storyline set before and during the event.
It should be remembered that esports is not just a single community. A good analogy is motorsports. All motorsports — Formula 1, Rallying, Motocross — have motors and wheels, but the communities are different. Likewise, esports are played via computers and screens, but different communities of fans follow different esports. Fans of Dota 2 can be very different to PUBG fans in terms of demographics, preferences, viewing and spending habits. It is important for brands to understand this and choose the right communities who represent their target market.
EIPlatform’s advanced data management will allow brands to understand and target their desired audience segment more effectively. Brands will be able to understand which communities and geos are best suited to their product and get valuable data to measure the success of their campaigns.
Brands entering the esports sector need to recognise the close relationship between fans and pro esports players. Esports players came from the fan community and this has developed a very high level of engagement. It is a very rich world with a lot of personalities, stories and culture. Brands need to be aware of these and use them to their advantage. Brands who are not authentic in this will be quickly called out by the fanbase.
The esports industry is a very fast-changing ecosystem. Fortnite was launched late last year and already has 125 million players worldwide and is offering the biggest prize pool in the whole of esports. New games like Fortnite are bringing in a lot of new players and fans and a different audience to the sector. There is a great opportunity for brands to associate themselves with new games in a creative way.
As esports grows it is becoming more important to understand the changing esports audience and the communities within it. Audience data is key to this understanding and will become ever more important as new and more diverse groups of viewers get into esports.
EIPlatform’s global decentralized network is data driven and will allow direct interaction between participants at all levels of the esports ecosystem. Built on blockchain, EIPlatform will give brands access to complex data and enable them to make smart decisions with their advertising choices.
For more information on EIPlatform and the EMI Token Sale please visit the official site.
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