eSports iQ Podcast: Recent Episodes
Esports Group
The Gucci Gaming Academy launch included a marketing short that illustrates three must-haves for effective marketing stories designed for esports fans:
- Design the story like a puzzle
- Show instead of telling
- Hide influences in plain sight
This episode of the eSports iQ podcast series discusses why emotional connection is the missing piece for crypto companies' esports marketing. Including how to become emotionally relevant through:
- Promoting shared meaning
- Tapping into the pleasure principle
- Empowering creative experiences
This episode of the eSports iQ podcast series explores how to fix brand building in esports. Including:
- Why dilution in competitive video games hurts branding
- How mascots help brand building
- The benefits of differentiation
This installment takes a look at three issues that hinder widespread audience growth for competitive video games. Including:
- Building mainstream entertainment appeal
- The lack of player marketing
- Emergence of different forms of gaming
The episode was inspired by the Sports Business Journal's article "Authenticity at the core of Riot’s entertainment offerings" - https://sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2021/11/22/In-Depth/Riot-entertainment.aspx
A close look at FTX's $210 million, 10-year naming-rights deal with TSM. Specifically, how FTX utilized brand storytelling in the announcement. Other topics, include:
- How marketers can use storytelling to reach esports audiences
- Understanding the esports worldview
- Why conflict is so important in marketing stories
BMW's Heroes of Rivalry manga series is a compelling example of brand storytelling in esports. A close look at the nature of competitive video games reveals:
- How BMW weaves its brand into esports outside the direct context of video games
- Why manga is a perfect storytelling format
- What partners like Cloud9, Fnatic, and G2 Esports can learn from the automotive brand
Check out the series here - https://www.bmw.com/en/events/manga/index.html
Digital sport sponsorship borrows a number of elements from its physical sport counterpart. However, some elements are different. To explore how this affects marketing communications, it's key to understand:
- Why location is important to the sponsorship ROI equation
- How regional interest affects competitive video game fandom
- How digital marketing techniques are key to brand communication in esports
Professional esports teams face a number of challenges related to growing their brands. Simultaneously, growth of competitive video game collegiate programs across the USA offers a number of opportunities to overcome these obstacles. Including:
- Integration into local communities
- Access to new audiences
- Innovative fan acquisition models
- Influencers and creators give brands a human voice in the world of online gaming
- Traditional sponsorship within/outside of esports is surprisingly different
- Brands can connect to audiences through the storytelling potential offered by gaming creators
- Video game play and athletics are different mediums
- Ball-based games attract casual audiences to traditional sports media
- The presentation value of esports is based on the visual appeal of video game imagery
- Brand marketing can add value by filling the gaps in storytelling
- Brand association is more contextual in esports
- The characteristics of influencer marketing in esports
- How to discover top influencers
- The best way to identify relevant audiences
- How marketers can navigate challenges
Click to read the original written report (PDF download)