Key Approach in Digital Brand Marketing Strategy for the Gaming Industry

 

Traditional stereotypes of gamers used to be nerdy boys who were anti-social but these days, gamers are everyone from women to professional athletes and famous musicians such as Drake.

The gaming world rapidly evolving with AI and AR technologies and that has spurred tremendous growth in the mobile marketing space. Rightly so, the gaming industry is projected to be worth upwards of $200 billion in 2021. According to Nielsen, 64% of Americans aged 13+ play video games on a device therefore target marketing withing the gaming industry seems like a no-brainer.

So how are marketers taking advantage of this growing gaming marketplace to push brand awareness and capture market share? Well the key lies in gaming influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing has already been a strategy that major brands have been utilizing for years, and with gaming, it is the same approach where partnering up with a personality such as Ninja, brands like Adidas, can trigger a massive acceleration of product adoption and brand awareness.

However, the true secret to this strategy is inclusivity. Fortnite was a global breakout hit because not only is it available on all platforms. They took the age-old formula of the traditional combat games filled with stereotypical testosterone-filled action heroes and instead choose to create diverse, relatable characters. Women are also in love with games and because of these changes led by Fortnite in their games and having with plenty of strong female gaming influencers to be inspired by.

Marketers are traditionally trained to go niche, but marketing in the gaming industry involves everyone. By crafting a more inclusive, welcoming brand identity, businesses will be able to attract more attention and foster greater trust and loyalty with their customers. Also, who better to help businesses do exactly that than gaming influencers? If brands can partner with the right influencer, businesses can likely capture some bonus points when it comes to market share!

 

What will 2021 look like with Influencer Marketing?

Based on marketing industry data, influencer marketing is on track to become a $15 billion dollar industry by 2022 and it shows no sign of slowing down.  Most brands who have continued to double down on their social media marketing strategies intend to increase their marketing budgets for influencer marketing in 2021.

Some influencer marketing trends that are suspected to be drivers of social media marketing strategy  are the following:

• Video Content Will Remain King
• A Focus on Diversity and Inclusion
• The “No-Edit Edit” Will Evolve
• Value Driven Content
• More Ongoing Partnerships
• A Focus on Micro and Nano Influencers
• New Social Platforms and Creator Tools
• New Forms of Influencer Media

With social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok continuing to focus on delivering content through video and continued popularity among these active users, it is no surprise that video content will remain king. Furthermore, we have seen how social activism through various moments in 2020 have shown a spotlight on the need for diversity and inclusion of LGBTQ. As more brands are put under the microscope by their customers, their choice in who they partner with for their influencer marketing campaigns will be central to their strategy.

I believe the most important trends will be how influencers will approach content creation and drive deeper connections and value for the brands they support. For influence and brands to establish a deeper connection with their audience, their content will have to feel more “real” and “relatable” to their followers. This of course is how relationships, trust and loyalty can be established between users and influencers, and as a result, more influencers will have to provide their audiences with a little more glimpse into their authentic lives. However, striking a balance where authenticity and brand messaging is delivered without alienating followers will be challenging feat so it will be interesting to see what new forms of influencer media is developed to tackling this issue.

As we know whether the demand for products and services comes from followers, brands, or new technological developments, the best influencers have mastered the art of evolving to new trends. I have no doubt we can expect to see exciting new content and influencer marketing approaches across all of the social media platforms in 2021!

The Fat Jew - The King of Millennial Digital Media Marketing

 

For anyone who doesn’t know who “The Fat Jew” is, his name is Josh Ostrovsky, and in 2011, he set up an Instagram account under the username, @TheFatJewish. Within months, he had attracted thousands of followers through his offbeat content. He eventually went viral in 2013 after he posted a video parodying SoulCycle, in which he led a spin class for homeless people on Citi Bikes parked on the street. He now boosts 10.6M Instagram followers, 246K Twitter followers, and 976K Facebook likes and these staggering numbers continue to grow daily. 

Through his personal blend of meme generation, crass commentary, and cultural spirit he has captured the attention of not just his massive millennial audience, but that of Bloomberg, The New York Times, Katie Couric, amongst a laundry list of brands vying for an authentic voice that reaches an under-40 crowd. What he has managed to capture in his unique brand is by harnessing the power of social media and carefully crafted content is an inherent level of trust with his followers and deep engagement. This has led to brands, of the likes of Burger King, Virgin Mobile, Apple, Budweiser, Weight Watchers and Stella Artois and Seamless, to let him do what he does best by creating content that promotes these brands desperately trying to target the millennial audience. Time magazine named Ostrovsky to its 2015 list of The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet.

Parlaying his uncanny ability to build a following, in 2015 Ostrovsky decided to diversify from internet celebrity to entrepreneur. He along with his partners, launched a California-based wine company with White Girl Rose, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and White Zinfandel which was followed by a canned sparkling wine called BABE. He crushed it.

I believe “The Fat Jew” brand that Ostrovsky has created is an amazing example of how an individual or even small business can find incredible success through successful social media and content media strategies. He has over time evolved from internet personality to entrepreneur, to film, television, commercials, modeling and fashion to publishing his own book in 2015 titled, Money, Pizza, Respect. I will admit that I have his book and he has not wavered in his unique brand messaging over the years. I think his ability to create content that aligns with his brand truly allows him to connect with his target audience in ways that some brands often can only dream of doing successfully. 

Online Retail is the Way of the Future - Analyzing 2020 Black Friday & Cyber Monday

With so many Americans stuck at home since March, people have become entrenched in online shopping, however for more retail stores who have traditionally relied on brick and mortar stores, they have had to quickly establish an online presence to take advantage of the biggest shopping days of the year. This meant, marketing and customer brand awareness and engagement efforts had to be robust.

Well for those retailers that had successfully established an online retail presence, Cyber Monday was projected to be the largest online shopping day in U.S. history and it delivered just that - a 15.1% increase over last year with $10.8 billion in review for that day. These results are impressive despite early discounts from retailers to jumpstart the holiday shopping season. 

On the other hand, in-store analytics provided by RetailNext reported brick and mortar stores were down 42.3% for the weekend (Friday through Sunday), with conversion (% of shoppers that make a purchase) and average transaction value up 3.8% and 4.9%, respectively. As a result, sales in brick and mortar stores were only down 23.9% because they were advantaged by the increases in conversion and average transaction value. Although, COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions are still in place across the country in varying degrees, foot traffic overall for both non-mall stores and mall stores only down 41% vs 44% year-on-year, respectively. What is interesting about the small 3% delta between 2019 vs 2020 is that shopper traffic was largely down by 49% in 2020 vs 2019 during Black Friday shopping, vs only down 23% during Cyber Monday (seen as a positive trend). What that interesting data allows us to conclude is that more shoppers took advantage of online purchasing and utilized curb-side pick-ups or avoided shopping days that were overly busy or congested. 

If this trend is any indication of how the rest of the holiday season is going to transpire, it will mean online sales will continue to be the primary driver of retail business, especially when thinking about keeping businesses alive through this pandemic and successfully growing market share into the future. 

For reference, below are the numbers for Cyber Monday and Black Friday Weekend

• Cyber Monday online sales: $10.8 billion (+15.1% from 2019)
• Season-to-date online spending: $106.5 billion (+27.7% from 2019)
• Projected online sales for Giving Tuesday (12/1): $4.1 billion
• Percentage of total Cyber Monday sales during 7-11pm PST: 25%
• Percentage of total Cyber Monday sales from mobiles devices: 37%
• Small retailers vs large retailers sales on Cyber Monday compared to Oct daily average: 501% vs 486%, respectively

The debate of net neutrality is back

The debate of net neutrality never gets old. Actually it is time to raise that topic again now that Joe Biden will take office in January. Trump threw out Obama-era’s neutrality rules and now Democrats are getting ready to take back Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reinstate those rules. 

 

So what is net neutrality? Without net neutrality, broadband companies become the gatekeepers of internet. They could block people’s access to certain websites or apps or slow down the internet, and then charge consumers additional fees to speed up the internet. More subtlety, they could also prioritize people getting access faster to their own content and slow down the internet for competitors’ content. For example, if you were using AT&T network, you might find that watching HBO Max is smooth and HD and watching Peacocktv is slow, because AT&T owns Time Warner, who owns HBO, and Peacocktv is owned by NBC Universal, which is owned by AT&T’s competitor Comcast.

 

With the new administration, FCC will reinstate net neutrality protections and take some power off broadband companies’ hands. It will likely be met with lawsuits, but federal courts have always been on FCC’s side. However, we will have to wait for the Senate elections to be over and see if the Democrats will take over the Senate. Otherwise, this fight will go on and on.

Why sport and gaming are a powerful combination for consumers?

November 2020

Marketingweek.com

 

There has been a rise in the consumption of both sports and video games videos online through platforms like YouTube. Marketers have noticed this behavioral trend and sees valuable marketing opportunities. Games such as FIFA, Madden NFL, and Pro Evolution Soccer have a global popularity selling over 100 million copies through their lifetime. And most recently, gaming has become a spectator sport with eSports being established. This market is valued at over $950 million in 2020 and projected to grow to $1.6 billion by 2023. 

This creates the opportunity for brands to market towards engaged consumers consuming sports and video game content on YouTube. With sports, people like to watch the highlights, live streams, behind the scenes content with their favorite athlete. With gaming, people like to watch YouTube creators play, discuss, and review video games.

Brands understand that there is a great opportunity to market towards sports and gaming enthusiasts on YouTube. Between June 2019 and June 2020, time spent by consumers watching rugby increased by 100%, golf by 120%, and cycling by 70% in the UK.

Sky Sports marketing director Robbie Balfour says that YouTube allows them to broadcast their online content to create a story through advertising and retargeting for future conversions. The brand times its YouTube campaigns to the start of an important sports event such as a new football season or Formula One to initiate their action to become a customer of their TV sports channel and live streaming online.

Watching gaming content is gaining broad popularity with Goldman Sachs forecasting eSports will reach the same number of viewing audience 300 million as the NFL by 2022. In 2019, there has been more than 35 million channels that uploaded a gaming video on YouTube. And 55,000 new channels that uploaded at least one gaming video saw subscribers exceed 100,000 during the same time. Gaming content is driving this growth in channels and brands. Consumers not only want to consume content but also follow commentary and reviews of professional gamers. This is great news for marketers who now have access to an engaged audience that is looking for a total experience.

Gifting in the Age of Coronavirus

 Given it seems that Coronavirus is here to stay at least until the first half of next year, it looks like we are in for a socially distance holiday season.  As part of the new norm to minimize contact, the landscape of gift giving has also evolved.  On one had people will be looking for gifts that can be shared remotely, for instance the classic online gift card.  In fact, gift card sales are already booming with growth of over 100% versus same sales this quarter last year according to Digital Commerce.  Additionally there is some thought that not only will e-gift cards boom in sales, but also contactless or even mobile gift cards to minimize the amount of required contact if used in store.

While on one had many people are gifting in a way to minimize contact, the months of social distancing is increasing many people's desire for closeness and connection.  The forced isolation has been very stressful for people, especially individuals living on their own and this feeling will likely only be exacerbated during the holiday season.  With that in mind, there are many suggestions for gifts to help overcome that feeling of loneliness and sadness while still respecting social distancing:

Some fun ideas from Business Insider

Some advice on sending from Fortune

Some personalized gift ideas from Shutterfly

Some Coronavirus care packages from Brilliantgifts

Some ideas for employees working from home from Reading Eagle

Some gift ideas for essential workers from USA Today

Some pick-me-up gift ideas from Newsweek

This should give you a great starting point for planning your holiday gift lists this year!  Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season.