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