An e-sport team, Team Flash, at the Arena of Valor World Cup 2019. (Photo: Courtesy Team Flash)A white book on e-sports recently released by Vero in cooperation with DecisionLab said brands could enter the e-sports market through activities such asin-game advertising, cross-platform advertising, tournament sponsorship,team/player sponsorship, and co-creation.
According to research, forms advertising remains an effective tactic for brandsto connect with potential customers.
About 86 percent of e-sports viewers claim to interact with the brands’ ads.
Over half of watchers trust the products recommended by KOLs they follow, and42 percent buy such products often and consider them personally relevant.
Besides, unlike traditional sports, e-sports players can also actively createtheir own content instead of just consuming content provided by gamers, andthis offers a lot of new opportunities for brands to interact with the publicand co-create high-value content.
Therefore, brands should consider the e-sports industry a “co-business” ratherthan a “show-business” and, by leveraging its ecosystem, could reach the publiceasily and optimise their campaigns.
In recent years e-sports has developed strongly in Việt Nam and this isexpected to continue.
Like its precursor, gaming, e-sports has changed from being a subculturalinterest to a mainstream cultural force, opening up a wide range ofopportunities for brands.
Vietnam, with a large, dynamic and well-integrated youth population, is catchingup with the e-sports industry. The country is an attractive growth market forthe gaming industry, with one of the youngest populations in the region and thehighest percentage of adult gamers in the world in 2020.
About a third of the population now plays e-sports games.
Do Viet Hung, secretary general of the Vietnam Recreational and ElectronicSports Association, said: “In 2021 e-sports will continue to appeal to a largenumber in Vietnam. In contrast to other sports, the digital nature of e-sportshas allowed it to maintain many of its events and tournaments despite theCOVID-19 pandemic.”
The inclusion of e-sports in the 31st SEA Games should also help enhance itspopularity in Vietnam, he added.
The white book said that while young people still make up the majority ofe-sports players, 47 percent are aged 30-40.
The study also found that women made up 38 percent.
Contrary to the stereotype that gaming is solitary and antisocial, 46.5 percentof respondents see interaction with others as a primary factor for playing.
Nguyen Tran Son, head of Esports Manager at VNG Corporation, said: “Given theenormous value that the community and ecosystem of e-sports can bring, Ibelieve investors and big brands will not be able to ignore this fertile landfull of potential. Soon competition between brands will become more and moreintense. I believe entering e-sports at this time is perfectly appropriate todeliver the highest value at the lowest cost.”/.
VNA
