Developing a marketing campaign- research
Esports is a form of sport competition using video games. Its organized, multiplayer video game
competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams.
Focus of this campaign is to increase brand awareness. The focus is to promote esports and to make
the brand TEAM OCCUPOLA aware to future consumers.
Aims & objectives:
Main aim- increase brand awareness. Other aims
Increase viewership-game page traffic by 15% by the end of 2021 - more people will see it- fast
growing genre-easier to achieve-from 2017-2018-12.3% increase-achievable. Promotion (social
media/email/ads, customer sign ups) by and added 15%- needs to be effective and not wasteful- 41%
in 2018 to 51% in 2019- achievable.
s- specific, m- measurable, a- achievable, r- reachable, t- timebound
Competitors:
Competitors are fnatic, optic gaming and London spitfire.
Fnatic- types of games Fnatic host: Counterstrike, League of legends, dota 2 and PUBG. Price
range to enter tournaments: £10-£50. Types of promotion: Twitch, YouTube, Instagram and
Twitter. Unique selling point: Won 10 offline titles, made 13 finals and reached the top 4 in 17 out of
18 titlesothers may (for updates) aspire to recognise themselves a part of a winning team. Profit
margin: 3.6m/38.2mx100=9.42% = LOW. Yearly reach: 1.5B people as of 2018.
Cloud9- Types of games Cloud9 host: Rocket league, Hearthstone, valorant, Counterstrike, COD
and Dota 2. Price range to enter tournaments: £10-£30. Types of promotion: YouTube gaming
and Twitch. Unique selling point: the most recognizable esports organizations in the world.
Championships industry-wide, unmatched viewership hours (high volume), and extensive benefits
packages for players and staff Incentivesencourages team participationbetter than other
teamsbest of the league/game. Profit margin: 9m/29mx100=31%=LOW-MED. Yearly reach:1B
Optic gaming: Types of games: Counterstrike, Dota 2, COD, Gears of war 4. Price range to enter
tournaments: £20-£70. Types of promotion: Twitch, YouTube gaming. Unique selling point:
Communication- keyspectators and players to understand the game, Talentspectators+players will
only side by high ranking teams, Desire to win, shows they are committed, and tranquillity shows
good sportsmanship. Profit margin: 39.5%=MED. Yearly reach: 2.4B as found on dotesport
London spitfire: Types of games: Overwatch, hearthstone and world of warcraft. Price range to
enter tournaments: £20-£70. Types of promotion: Twitch, YouTube gaming. Unique selling
point: Signed top pro players in the industrypeople will want to watch themthey want to identify as
part of a winning team. Profit margin: 31.8% Yearly reach: 1.2B
product life cycle of esportshighlight fnatic’s info: found on Christopher Morris blog
Market size, share and structure:
Market size
Global revenue for the esports market expected to be $973.9 million in
2020 Newzoo, analyst says marking a 1.7% increase compared to 2019. Niche market- satisfying
specific needs of consumers.
The esports market will start to stabilise as consumers resume social interaction and spend more time in leisure activities than
during the lockdown. It is hoped that major esports events will be able to take place in 2021, providing a boost for the industry.
The revenue for Western Europe specifically is $175.3 million, which represents 18% of the global figure.
Market structure:
Explain each areamakeup of the market
Market share:
The esports sector has grown at an annual average rate of 8.5%between 2016 and 2019. The sector
supported over1,200 jobs in 2019. The UK esports sector represents just under 8%of the global market.
Target market:
The esports market has grown 8.5% between 2016-2019
-In the UK, eSports mainly pursued by millennials, predominantly male, with 21-35-year olds making up
63% of the market. Women represent 31% and are also most likely to be 21-35 years old
-Research millennials born between (1985-1999)most likely to partake in esports. Team
Occupolaaim info at the target market(21-35-year olds)brand will be more aware in millennials.
, Fnaticaudience ranging from 18-25-year oldsasked some questions to their audience.
primary data was collected by fnatic. Predominantly male engagement100%
There are no female players in fnatic. It is a male dominant team. However other forms of esports
(watching and spectating) shows that there is around 40%-60% female engagement over the esports
industry. This has been illustrated in the diagram (figure 1) from VentureBeat
Optic gamingaudience ranging from 18-25-year oldsprimary data was collected by optic
gamingpredominantly male engagement100%
Cloud 9- first team to host all female gamevalorant.
Overall statistics:
86% of people aged 16-69 have played computer or mobile games in the last year. 54% play "on most
days". 50% of people play games on most days are female and 50% male. 46%
of peopleplay games on most daysaged over 40. Among women who say they
play most days, only a third (33%) would identify as a “gaming hobbyist”
compared with 58% of men who play the same amount. This may be due to
perceptions that only certain types of video games “count” as gaming. Only 11%
of those people who play exclusively on smartphones or tablets think of
themselves as gamers, compared to nearly half of those people who play on consoles or PCs.
Secondary data collected overall:
female engagement in esports.
Questionnaire given to 5 teenagers about video games.
What is your age? What is your gender? How often do you play video games? Do you support
professional gaming events? If so how much do you spend on tickets? Do you
prefer to stream or watch gaming at venues?
Person 1: 17: MALE: everyday: yes no more that £25: stream
Person 2: 19: FEMALE: occasionally: no: I don’t like to watch video game
Marketing stategy
competitions
Person 3: 16: FEMALE: rarely: no: stream sometimes venue other times
Person 4: 14: MALE: everyday: yes but I wouldn’t pay to watch. Streaming.
Person 5: 18: MALE: 2-3 times per week: yes no more that £50: venue
Trends:
Global esports revenues will grow to $1.1 billion in 2020, a year-on-year growth of +15.7%, up from
$950.6 million in 2019.
In 2020, $822.4 million in revenues—or three-quarters of the total market—will come from media rights
and sponsorship. This will increase to $1.2 billion by 2023, making up 76% of total esports revenues.
· Globally, the total esports audience will grow to 495.0 million people in 2020, a year on-year growth of
+11.7%. Esports Enthusiasts will make up 222.9 million of this number, growing +10.8% year on year.
· China is the largest market by revenues, with total revenues of $385.1 million in 2020. This is up
+18.0% from 2019’s total of $326.2 million. It is followed by North America, with total revenues of
$252.8 million, and Western Europe, with total revenues of $201.2 million.
The global average revenue per Esports Enthusiast will be £4.94 this year, up +2.8% from $4.80 in
2019.
In 2019, there were 885 major events. Together, they generated £56.3 million in ticket revenues, up
from £54.7 million in 2018.
Total prize money in 2019 reached £167.4 million, a slight increase from 2018’s £150.8 million. The
League of Legends World Championship was 2019’s biggest tournament by live viewership hours on
Twitch and YouTube, with 105.5 million hours. The Overwatch League was the most-watched league by
live viewership hours on Twitch and YouTube, generating 104.1 million hours.
Product Lifecyle model:
Esportsgrowth stage.
Team Occupola introductorynew team trying to create brand awareness
Validity and reliability:
Primary researchconducted a surveyasked 5 peoplequantitive and qualitative questionsgain
better understanding of esports. When asked if heard of esports60% said yes however 40% knew of it
through games or had a disinterest in games. Reliableasked variety of peopleunbiasedupto date
aswell. Research conduvted 0 cost. Next timeask people who are not just gamers and of various
different agesbetter insight.
Secondary research: Researched various resourcesbased on esports current marketfound that
males aged 32 speng an average of 8 hours gamingreliable and sufficientall reports has similar
infodated so it was within a certain time windowupto date but not as much as the primary research
conducted. Next timemore upto date dataregarding events not under the businesses control.
, External influences:
SWOT analysis-
Strengths:
Attracting more of an audience perfect for team Occupola as they are trying to raise brand awareness
Growing viewership globally 33% aged 18-39reached by esports meets objective of increasing
viewership.
Bigger the sportmore sponsors. Sponsors=money. That is how esports make money. s
Weaknesses:
Limited developmentcreating a pathway for gamers(underage players cannot play may cause
problems with viewership)
Lack of professionalism within the industry negative comments/bad languagemay make a brand
less reputable
Cheating within gamesdrug misuse, boost rankingbots
Lack of educationmay prevent sponsors/parents from investinglack of revenue coming into the
business
Heightened aggression and angersocial problemsincrease in crime rates. E.g in Pakistan young
players started playing PUBG and then became in habitually aggressiveincrease in crime rates
Opportunities:
Professionalism: programmesprovide players with clarity and consequences of their actions
(inappropriate behaviour) good for esports ecosystem
Structural+efficiency plays: Larger participant base=larger fan baseopportunity for merchandise, live
venue tickets etc
Threats
Competitors, fnatic (uk), TSM (globally) team solomid. Segmented fanbase/ target audience. Game
distruption- Lose popularity at any timeteam needs to be versatile.
Addiction to games, unhealthy lifestyle and social separation causes problems on their mental health.
PESTLE:
Political:
Mergers and Acquisitions As esports growsinvestments flooding in from a variety of sources e.g
celebrities and large corporations. M&A counsel who understand the complexities of the esports
industry teams and players to the technological developments impacting esports and more
makes it invaluable to anyone planning to acquire, sell, or invest in esports.
Economic:
Brexitmore freedom whether to recognise esportsas a form of sports. Governmentsbig aspect of
esports futurerecognise esports players as professional athletes/industrycan ease legal issues and
work visa problemsillegal to complete internationally without visa.
The economy also affects the performance of the industry. The economy of the country as a whole
depends on how consumers react to different products. E.g, if the economy is declining consumers of
gaming could decrease. Covid19 has had an impact on this. This will have negative effects on the
industry. The industry needs to elevate itself despite the cyclical turns of the economy. Inflation
increase of money supply in the hands of the people leads to the increase of prices of the products in
the gaming industry. Inflation and a dwindling economy reduce the demand for online gaming. This
decreases the profitability of the representative companies and the competitive rivalry.
Social:
Recognisation to improve public perception and acceptability as
career/hobby/stakeholdersinternationally a problem if esports is not internationally recognised.
Negative gaming effects: social detachment & disengagement from social activitiesheightened
aggressionsocial separationdue to violate video games e.g call of duty.
Playerscosidered socially awkward. Nowgames evolvedallows socialisation with people in games.
E.g social platforms such as twitch, YouTube gaming and Facebook gaming
Technological:
Tv streaming servicestwitch, YouTube, Facebook gaming, steam, origin.
Twitchmost popularbrought by amazon. Gamersmore revenueviewersmore content to watch.
Enhanced esports visibility
Brought twitch for $970 million in 201.
Twitchbreakthrough/turning pointacceptance of gaming. Amazon paus 30% from sub packs
allows them to reach a wider audience.
Mobile/console and pc gaming technological driving
Virtual reality gamesunattractiveexpensive force
Reverb headsetpartnered with virtuxorganise $100,000 esport tournaments in 2020
If VR prices were lowerpeople would watch tournaments from home using VR
