What are the most effective ways to attract and retain sponsors for competitive gaming?

La clave está en el ‘storytelling' y en la correcta ejecución de las campa?as de ‘branded content' que es lo que realmente buscan los anunciantes: asociar valores, metas y aspiraciones alrededor del producto. Mensajes vacíos de contenido o acuerdos basados en ‘product placement' tradicional carecen de utilidad. No se puede “vender” presencia de marca al uso. Eso valdría en el a?o 2005, pero el ecosistema ha evolucionado, y tanto las marcas como la audiencia son mucho más exigentes y buscan una EXPERIENCIA única. Ahí está el éxito?? Como casos de éxito (en campa?as), recomiendo estudiar los acuerdos de G2 Esports x Ralph Lauren; FaZe Clan x SteelSeries; Gucci x ESL FACEIT Group o TSM x Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Step 1 - Metrics: Identify how many you're reaching. Compile numbers of followers on social platforms and spectators at tournaments. Understanding your audience's size is key. Step 2 - Demographics & Audience Insights: Dive deep into who your audience is. Age, location, and even more specific data like household income and brand preferences, if you want to go that deep. This knowledge is crucial to tailor your pitch. Step 3 - Storytelling: You know your brand's unique story. Creatively merge this with potential sponsors' values. Back your narrative with solid data from Steps 1 & 2, demonstrating your ability to reach and resonate with the target audience. Combine creativity with concrete data for a compelling sponsorship proposition!

A tip of what we used to do at Fnatic (albeit this is years ago now) was creating profiles. Using data through GWI and first party data, we managed to build out comprehensive audience profiles of our fans. Showing behaviours, purchasing decisions, interests, dislikes, likes, social etc. Show the partner broad audience data so they gain insight into the macro level vs a more granular, detailed, profile so they gain insight into the micro level. But more importantly, show them data that's relevant to them! Don't show them the profiles of audiences that like to buy energy drinks when they're a yoghurt brand. Context/relevance is vital.

Understanding your audience is crucial for attracting sponsors because it allows you to tailor your pitch to their interests and demographics. For instance, if your competitive gaming audience primarily consists of tech-savvy young adults, sponsors related to gaming peripherals or energy drinks might be more inclined to partner with you. By demonstrating a deep understanding of your audience, sponsors are more likely to see the potential value in associating with your brand.

To attract and retain sponsors, deeply knowing your audience is essential. This involves more than just quantifying your reach by size and demographics; it's crucial to understand the nuances of how your audience engages across different platforms and communities. The engagement patterns, preferences, and responses to advertising can vastly differ even within the same age group, depending on whether they're on Twitch, YouTube, socials, or cable TV. Each platform and community has its own hivemind, which influences how content and ads are received. By studying and understanding these distinct audience behaviors, you can tailor your sponsorship pitches and content strategies to resonate more effectively with your audience.

If you're in talks with a sponsor new to Esports, it's crucial to prioritize education over persuasion. Here's why: 1. Knowledge is Key: Sponsors "hearing" about esports without clear vision need guidance, not just convincing. Be authentic and educate them. 2. Long-Term Relationships: Winning a pitch isn't enough. If sponsors feel unsatisfied later, they're less likely to return. Foster understanding for enduring partnerships. 3. Empower Decision Making: Let sponsors feel the decision is theirs. Educate them to make informed choices, respecting their final call. A no today doesn't mean never. Remember, in esports sponsorships, it's not just about the immediate win, but nurturing a relationship built on knowledge and mutual respect.

You need to fully understand what a partner is trying to achieve in esports and be honest with how you can help them achieve that. There is no point starting a partnership within the space unless you have both clearly identified what you are looking to achieve with the partnership, otherwise you will end up with a partner exercising an exit clause or not renewing which only hurts the industry as they either choose not to return or are left sceptical about the opportunity that exists. We at Fnatic always run in depth workshops with our partners up front to ensure that the strategy we propose aligns with what they are looking to achieve.

Más que alinearse con la visión que nuestro partner tiene de la industria, diría que resulta más importante poder aprender mutuamente de las respectivas visiones que ambos tenemos a la hora de plantear una colaboración a largo plazo. En este sentido, lo correcto no sería adaptar la visión de nuestra compa?ía a la de nuestro partner, si no, estando alineados en una comprensión básica y común de la industria, definir la manera en que las diferencias de perspectiva pueden ayudarnos mutuamente a crecer en nuestros diferentes ámbitos. Los que nos iguala nos hace ser más fuertes, pero lo que nos diferencia nos permite aprender, mejorar y llegar más lejos.

I feel sometimes in esports there was a lack of understanding that whilst a passion point for those working in the industry, the 'non-endemics' see this purely as a business opportunity. You could see this come through when decks would be focused around the esports organisation rather than being focused on the client. Understanding the client's business is paramount. Understanding their challenges, where they see growth opportunities and what their mission is will show the prospective client that you understand them. Just like the esports organisation the partner will only want to work with organisations that align with their own work and values. Ensuring your pitch is tailored to that is a basic fundamental to attracting new partner

This is a difficult topic, as often sponsors don't have a vision or goal themselves. They just want to sell their products to a new target audience. Make sure that the sponsor understands the required effort and financial commitment to be successsful in the esports market. The sponsor itself must understand their vision, often they want to have a "do this, do that, then you make money" plan though.

The best way to retain long-term partners in the esports sponsorship space is to understand a brand's goals, how your suite of assets can help bring that to life in a way that is unique to a brand and not a rinse and repeat logo slap. You need to creatively educate fans on the brand and what it wants you to understand about it and its' offering. Brands want to be an accepted member of the community, your stewardship will help them be accepted in a fun, creative, and engaging way. And you need to be able to measure results with a reporting suite: Brand Lift, Exposure Valuation, Earned Media Study, and more to have a 360 result recap for them. There should be no question the partnership was a success.

Some aim for quick ROI, others for brand visibility, while some enter this dynamic field to explore and learn. Key to success? Two essential strategies: 1. Creative Integration: As experts of our domain, it's our job to blend sponsors into our teams, creators, or tournaments. Understanding our audience is crucial to ensure seamless and well-received sponsor integration. 2. KPIs and Reporting: Transparency is king. We define, track, and report key metrics. Focusing on Demographics (identifying the audience) and Media Value (a comprehensive metric reflecting ad opportunity costs) is my pro tip. Together, these strategies form the cornerstone of fruitful and lasting sponsor partnerships in Esports.

Become an esports consultant for your non-endemic sponsor. If you position yourself as a consultant instead of a sales manager it will help to land potential non-endemic sponsors. You have to guide them in how they can reach their goals and KPIs because they don't have the knowledge or experience most of the time.

Understand the goal of the promotion and how you can leave a long lasting impression. No matter where you post the promotion, you will have statistics that you can use to track success. Impressions, link clicks, reposts. Make sure to set up a LONG-TERM strategy. If you sponsor one tournament you won't have much success in your promotion. Esport advertising needs some build up time to reach the targeted awareness.

While at Fnatic, the best way we helped achieve partner retention was; - Understand the partners goals & business - Develop clear communication channels and dedicated resources to the partner - Continuous reporting/evaluation and learning's - Accountability throughout multiple departments when delivering on rights and assets - Bring the partnership to life through creativity - Plan, plan, plan - Transparency check in's every quarter Remember, if the partner starts talking about the contract, things aren't in a good place.

When partners feel that it is truly a partnership, is where you truly start to be able to create value. That is done through honest conversations and allowing them to develop that trust in you. When you achieve that strong relationship, you're then able to pivot on ideas, change what a deliverable might be, adapt concepts, etc. all in the interest of making the biggest impact. Contracts are negotiated with a vision in mind, but only when you get into the actual delivery of a partnership do you start to understand that there may be better ways to enhance the partnership and it is up to the partnership managers to move forward with that based on mutual trust and understanding.

The most effective way of building long term partnerships is through passion, honesty and vision. A partner will buy into your passion as it means you believe in what you do. If you can't be honest with one another then you can't be effective business partners. Showing the partner that you understand the long term i.e. vision and how they fit into that is paramount. The vision is the guidance of where you're both heading and why you're doing it. Combine these three elements together and you're on the right path to a long term partnership and success.

All parties need to be clear about the goal of the cooperation and how to reach said goal. It's important to communicate throughout the year, so both parties can track the progress toward the goal. Especially right before and after events or promotions. Things may not work out as planned, so it's important to adjust as soon as possible. And also be honest if activations have not worked out at all.

Fácil, que tu sponsor gane más de lo que invierte. Easy, make your sponsor earns bigger than hes invests. Revisa y vuelve a hacerlo Review, then do it again

Cultivating long-term relationships with sponsors is key to sustainability and growth. Beyond transactional partnerships, aim to foster genuine connections based on trust, mutual respect, and shared objectives. Regular communication, feedback sessions, and collaboration on co-branded initiatives can strengthen the bond between your platform and sponsors. Additionally, prioritize delivering exceptional value and exceeding expectations to reinforce the partnership's longevity. By investing in long-term relationships, you create a win-win scenario where both parties benefit from sustained success and collaboration.

In esports there's an attitude for risk taking and that should be grabbed with both hands to attain new sponsors. New Sponsors = big ideas, new technologies, growth mindset, risk taking...shoot for the stars! Retain Sponsors = marginal gains, collective calculated risk, innovation mindset Keep ahead of things by taking risks and encouraging big ideas within the team. Brawn F1 won the championship because a junior engineer raised his hand and had an idea around technology & performance that ultimately won them the title. Encourage this behaviour.

Check out new trends and be open to change your approach. But always keep in mind if your current channels are still the main channels for your niche. For example the Fighting Game community is mainly on Twitter, even though new platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky or different social media channels like TikTok appeared. You need to channel the advantages of each platform, while keeping your time limits in mind. You can't be active on every platform 24/7. Make sure to post fitting content for each platform, which can be a lot of work. Twitter, Instagram and TikTok for example work completely different.

For real, first of all be a gamer, enjoy the community, know the slang, whats new in this version, play hard, farm, loot, enjoy, that's the vanguard you want to be on, then you can be creative. De verdad, antes que nada sé un jugador, disfruta de la comunidad, conoce la jerga, las novedades de esta versión, juega duro, cultiva, saquea, disfruta, esa es la vanguardia en la que quieres estar, luego podrás ser creativo.??

In the rapidly evolving landscape of competitive gaming, staying ahead of the curve is essential to remain competitive and attractive to sponsors. Keep abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and shifting consumer preferences to anticipate market demands and innovate accordingly. Whether it's integrating virtual reality experiences, organizing unique tournament formats, or exploring new platforms for content distribution, demonstrate your platform's adaptability and innovation to differentiate yourself from competitors and capture sponsors' attention.

Hire a sales person that knows how to sell. Sales experience over esports experience will win. They need to know how to speak with brands, and understand the sales and marketing cycle.

Sometimes due to a number of factors the partnership does not make sense. Sometimes your product or solution may not be bespoke enough. Sometimes a brand or agency wants a program for less than what your target profitability margin is and you have to say no. Sometimes the KPIs a brand wants you to agree to are too aggressive or performance based especially in sponsorships and you’d rather say no than overpromise and underdeliver. Sometimes you just need to walk away from a deal that doesn’t make sense and doesn’t have an equal value proposition.

I’d also add that going above and beyond what a sponsors is expecting you to give. People love having added value. Although a sponsorship deck has specific values it offers. Showing the benefit of the sponsorship streaming the event can bring additional eyes to the brand if a company has a large audience. A lot of brands would like to get into Esports but just don’t know how to activate their brand Esports with digital ads, digital videos & streaming can boost sales and eyes that see the brand that usually wouldn’t. Esports can help a good company become a better company.

Understand that sometimes there are factors out of your control. What started off as a solid, positive, successful partnership/sponsorship could easily turn into a slow, painful...failure. This can be for a number of factors. Maybe the lead champion at the brand has left and their replacement doesn't share the enthusiasm. Maybe there are market forces at play such as a recession and spending is cut. Maybe the results, while positive, just don't add up for the brand and they're moving in a new strategic direction. Either way these are opportunities to learn, grow and adapt/develop. Both in terms of new processes and ultimately new successes.

Consider that there is also the possibility that no matter what you do or the success you achieve, you will not get a sponsor and that you will have to find a work around. Being able to produce value for a partner is the true goal here and many organizations with sponsorship deals not based on value but on visualization/engagement numbers are not realistically delivering any ROI for their clients.