Xperiel Opens the Door for Brands Interested in eSports

By: Alex Hertel, CEO of Xperiel

The stadium lights dim and all eyes are on the two competing teams. The teams have been training for months, putting in grueling 12–14-hour days to prepare for this moment. The match starts and the crowd is silent for the next eight minutes, everyone on edge. The drama builds and as the victorious team pulls narrowly ahead, the crowd erupts! The roar is deafening, the excitement — palpable. This scene has played out hundreds, if not thousands of times at football and basketball games but increasingly it is also the scene at professional competitions of video games like Fortnite, Overwatch, Counterstrike, League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Starcraft 2.

This is eSports — a digital entertainment market that industry analysts are expecting to reach one billion dollars in revenue within the next year. With hundreds of thousands of fans flocking to the biggest championships, eSports provides an immense opportunity for lifestyle brands who want to reach these consumers in the locations where they feel most energized — while watching their favorite competitors and games. For companies that want new ways of connecting with gamers, Xperiel provides unique and impactful ways of making brand products relevant by providing interactive experiences through four experiential advertising formats.

• Predictive gaming: Xperiel’s platform provides new opportunities for gamers to interact with their favorite streamers and eSports teams by creating a gamified way to predict match outcomes and win in-game rewards.
• Twitch streamer sponsorships: Interacting more closely with the most popular Twitch.tv streamers and influencers, Xperiel allows brands to directly support and sponsor viewer initiatives during certain video streams.
• Enhanced brand interactions: Digital brand interactions have always included simple pop-up ads and banners. However, using Xperiel’s new experiential approach, connecting with sponsors now provides consumers with in-game digital goods and currency — a mutually-beneficial partnership that trades brand awareness for an edge in some of today’s most popular games.
• Direct sponsorship of games: For brands that want to directly sponsor major eSports games, Xperiel provides new, gamified ways for consumers to earn physical prizes for in-game achievements. Anyone physically present in the stadium at eSports events, or watching at home, all have opportunities to interact with sponsoring brands.

With tens of thousands of attendees packing arenas, and millions more streaming their favorite games on Twitch.tv, eSports popularity shows no signs of slowing down. For commercial real estate owners, eSports can also give new life to existing infrastructure — so much so that even resorts have even gotten into the eSports game.

However, brands that want to reach this growing demographic must be aware that these gaming consumers are naturally sensitive to perceptions of companies taking advantage of them — their time is valuable and they will want value in return. Xperiel’s platform creates easily customizable, authentic experiences for gamers and fosters equitable partnerships between brands, streamers, eSports athletes and their audience.

For more information about the way Xperiel can help your brand interact in a more authentic, gamified, way with the eSports audience, check out our one-pager or contact our team here: https://xperiel.com/contact-us