Resist the FOMO

In December 2016, Marcos de Quinto, the then Chief Marketing Officer of Coca-Cola Company - the company I work - created waves in the US advertising market when he proclaimed that the ROI of Coke's television advertising was higher than the one from digital media.

"Despite the large number of hours consumers spend looking at their phones, the results for our business are better when we invest in television."

Most of the attendees couldn’t believe what they were hearing. It was obvious that investments in digital should be better because, after all, that was what all brands and agencies were doing. 

But Marcos knew that the time spent on each kind of media had no correlation with the impact on sales of his brands. For him, marketing problems rarely had an obvious solution.

Today, a similar problem is haunting marketers. It is called video games.

The FOMO ("fear of missing out") of marketers has never been so evident. Everyone needs to create a unique experience as quickly as possible to set their presence in the world of video gamings. Since everyone seems to be "doing something," everyone else needs to do it, or else...

The result of this widespread global panic is a tsunami of investments unlike anything seen in many years. An endless number of brands are spending more than they should in this market without a really understanding why. Just like the California Gold Rush of the 1880s, many will venture out and very few will find any gold.

Most marketers justify their actions by looking at... 

(1) The gaming industry size, larger than the movie and music industry combined, 

(2) Its out-of-control growth speed and 

(3) The ability to talk to teenagers and young adults, a group difficult to reach through traditional communication channels.

But the fact that something is very consumed does not necessarily guarantee returns for investors, as Marcos noted years ago. And that is the problem.

Video games are, like sports and other areas of entertainment, just another marketing tools. They cannot be treated as something different just because they are relatively new. When used well, they can help connect brands with their consumers and drive consumption of products and services.

But to get it right, you need to understand the role of your brand in this universe, if any. As in sports, there are products that belong to this world and others that don’t. Depending on your brand, the strategies, the way you measure return and the results can change radically.

In football, adidas and Nike have a very different role from Emirates and Rakuten, sponsors of Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. While apparel brands are part of the game, others use football as a platform to create experiences and enhance their memory. Emirates can survive healthily and happily without football. Adidas, can’t.

In the gaming market; computers, beverages and snacks are endemic categories. Players and fans use or consume these products naturally. Therefore, companies in these sectors can attribute results to their investments and calculate their financial return.

For all other industries, where the ROI is not that obvious, it is recommended to evaluate other alternatives in sports and entertainment before start spending your scarce budgets. Many will offer better returns.

After the analysis, if the decision to invest in gaming is really right for your brand, there are many ways to create this association. The most traditional ones are leagues (like Overwatch League), franchises (like EA FIFA), teams, players (like Ninja) and simple media buying.

The right solution depends on each brand, each business need and the investment capacity of each company.

Investing in gaming can be a great opportunity or a waste of time and money. It's not because everyone seems to be investing that you need to do the same. Resist the FOMO.

PS: Article originally published in Portuguese at Meio & Mensagem (https://www.meioemensagem.com.br/home/opiniao/2019/08/12/resista-a-fomo.html).