What do Cooking Shows and Esports have in Common?

It might sound like a bad joke, but the facts are undeniable. Cooking shows and esports both have a passionate fanbase, each of which can be very attractive to marketers. However, despite esports’ massive growth of the past few years, there are still some people who cannot understand the appeal of esports. Like watching other people cook, it may seem strange for people to spend their time watching other people play video games. But they do.

The esports audience is:

• Young: In the U.S., 75% are between the ages of 18 to 34 — with an average age of 25 (Source: Nielsen Esports Fan Insights)
• Diverse: 16% are female, 15% are Hispanic, and 9% are African American (Source: Interpret’s New Media Measure Survey, Q2 2015 to Q2 2017)
• Affluent: 43% of esports enthusiasts have an annual household income of $75,000 per year or higher (Source: Mindshare, Esports Fans: What Marketers Should Know, June 2016)
• Passionate: 49% of esports enthusiasts spend most of their free time around esports. (Source: Mindshare, Esports Fans: What Marketers Should Know, June 2016)

Esports is mainly distributed digitally, which provides a way for brands to reach an audience of “cord-cutters” and “cord-nevers”. 38% of esports fans in the US do not have a standard TV package. (Source: Nielsen Esports Fan Insights). Not only is this audience attractive because of their level of education and income, they are hard for brands to reach by traditional methods.

Although the esports audience is tech savvy and thought to be sceptical of advertising (63% use ad-blockers, for example), they are open to brand involvement in the sector. If brands can be authentic, esports represents a fantastic opportunity for brands to create a long term relationship with a passionate, diverse and affluent audience.

So, why are both cooking shows and esports popular?

1. People enjoy watching experts doing something they excel at.

2. Audiences like to learn tips and tricks from those experts that they can then apply themselves.

Which brings us to the role of the esports influencer.

In the esports ecosystem, streaming influencers play an integral part in connecting brands and consumers. The popularity of platforms like Twitch and YouTube Gaming, which allow players (pro and amateur) to stream their gameplay live, is exploding. Fans can watch and interact with streamers and each other, learn new tips and be entertained. Streaming has become the social media of esports.

Streaming influencers may not be as highly ranked as professional players, but they do have much larger followings. Streamers can make money directly from streaming sites, via integrated ads, donations and paid subscriptions.

One of the best-known streamers is Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, who famously broke records for concurrent viewers during his live stream with Drake in March. It is reported that he earns $560,000 per month from subscriptions alone. This doesn’t include sponsorship or donations, so the real amount could be much more.

Currently, brands can find it difficult to enter the streaming influencer market. Streamers are more likely to be self sufficient and picky about who they work with. Brands have no single point of entry to the streamer market, so a significant amount of work and expense is required to find and negotiate with streamers that match their values and goals. Similarly, streamers with lower audiences can also have difficulty finding sponsors or advertisers interested in them.

EIPlatform presents a solution to these issues by allowing direct interaction between brands of all sizes and streamers to all parties’ mutual benefit. Advertisers will be able to achieve more efficient adspend, while streamers will be able to monetize their channels more effectively to aid in the development of their streaming careers.

The EIP team is currently in the final stages of development for the EIPlatform MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and expect it to be launched very soon. Please visit eiplatform.io for more information.

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