EA and Twitch revealed the secrets of e-sports at IGNITION 2016 – Business Insider

Peter
More, chief competition officer of EA, and Kevin Lin, COO of
Twitch, at Business Insider IGNITION 2016.
Business Insider

The
world of e-sports is massive and still growing, and
advertisers are wondering how they can profit from this
phenomenon.

Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch, and Peter More, chief competition
officer of EA, sat down with Business Insider’s Steve Kovach at
IGNITION 2016 to discuss the role advertisers play in e-sports.

In addition to revenue sources like subscriptions, donations,
sponsorships, event-based ticketing, merchandise, food and
beverage, and in-game items, Lin said advertising is the main way
e-sports are monetized.

So why do advertisers want to get involved? For one thing, the
viewership numbers are huge. “Some of them hit tens of millions,”
Lin said. “In concurrents, you’ll see millions.” Additionally,
users spend two hours a day, on average, watching content. During
competitions, the number grows to 8 to 10 hours.

Another reason e-sports are intriguing to advertisers is the
demographic they reach. According to Lin, 90% of the Twitch
audience subscribes to Netflix or Hulu rather than traditional
cable. “Broadcasters are wondering how to reach this
demographic,” Moore said, so they want to be a part of e-sports.

With millions of young people not seeing traditional
advertisements, companies are recognizing the need to engage with
younger audiences in other ways. But there is a challenge in this
form of advertising. Because this audience is not used to
traditional advertising, they are quick to recognize when
something is not authentic.

Moore mentioned that brands have to be careful when entering this
space, and must be able to show they are truly interested in
growing the field of e-sports rather than just selling a product.

“A lot of brands that are very interested in the space are
building entire divisions that are hired from the community,” Lin
said. “They can help craft a message and marketing plan that
really resonates.”

When done correctly, massive success can be had. For example,
Nissan launched a holiday campaign on Twitch. The Twitter
impressions and chat messages involving the word “Nissan” were in
the millions. Nissan did not expect this result, but because the
campaign was authentic it succeeded.

Companies have huge potential to reach a new audience by dipping
into e-sports, and we will likely be seeing even more of this in
the future.

To learn more about the future of digital, be sure to attend
Business Insider’s IGNITION 2017!

We’re rolling out the speaker lineup over the coming months, and
you won’t want to miss it. Business Insider IGNITION 2017 will
take place November 29-30 at the Time Warner Center in New York
City. Right now we’re offering Extra-Early-Bird tickets that will
save you $1,000 — don’t miss out!

To hear more about the
world of e-sports, check out the full interview below (the
segment starts at 2:12).