#MarketingEventsAwards 2020 highlight: Singtel bonds with younger gamers by 'keeping it real'

Winning bronze for Best Use of Influencers at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s Marketing Events Awards was Singtel. The company has in recent years put a focus on esports given gaming and esports are a booming entertainment channel for Gen Zs and Millennials, with APAC accountable for 57% of global esports viewership in 2019 and viewership in Southeast Asia expecting to reach an estimated 38.8 million by 2021.

To connect and engage with this growing audience, Singtel International Group launched its regional PVP Esports platform in 2018, and the PVP Community Leagues in 2019 to provide a platform for gamers of all backgrounds and skill levels to come together and bond over their shared love of gaming.

Today, with the proliferation of platforms such Twitch, Mixer and Facebook, gamers have become some of the most active and influential voices online. Esports and gaming influencers have a niche but highly engaged audience, comprising mostly Gen Zs and Millennials with a strong sense of community and radar for inauthenticity.

Challenge

To reach this audience effectively, PVP knew it had to ‘keep it real’. That said, esports is a complex ecosystem with varied genres, demographics and levels of fan affinity. Southeast Asia is especially fragmented, with multiple languages and varying game title popularities across countries. Unlike high-profile tournaments, PVP leagues showcased amateur teams who were relatively unknown in corporate and campus leagues.

As a relatively young brand and a tournament that featured amateur teams and up-and-coming players, it also meant that the odds were stacked against the team to attract eyeballs and gain mindshare amongst the target audience for the Grand Finals event.

Compared to the pro leagues, the community-focused tournament likely also provided a less compelling proposition to a broad esports audience that had not been following the leagues’ progress. With the Comic Con event anchored in Singapore, PVP needed to find a way to appeal to audiences across the region and get them to sit up and pay attention.

Strategy

In December 2019, the PVP Esports brand held a tent pole event at Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) to close its six-month-long community esports season on a high, and make a final push to grow its gaming audience and increase affinity with the brand. Engaging with influencers was a key part of the strategy and aimed to:

1. Drive eyeballs on a regional level (online and through streams) and footfall (event attendees);
2. Delight gamers through unique and exclusive experiences.

Rather than work with influencers on a one-off appearance at the event, PVP assembled a regional network of advocates who would sustain fan engagement both in the lead up to and after PVP Esports @ SGCC. PVP engaged 18 core, top-tier gaming and esports influencers from around the region over a two-month period, including:

• Singapore - Not Good Gamers, Night Owl Cinematics, Asterisk*, Resurgence, Dee Kosh
• Malaysia - Faraz Shabibi, ShuFaye Wong
• Thailand - Gssspotted
• Philippines - Alodia Gosiengfiao, Biancake, Riku, Dexie Diaz
• Indonesia - Sherlin Tsu, ZxuaN
• International - Viva la Dirt League (New Zealand), Angela and Christian Lee (US), Topson (Finland)

Together, these influencers boast a combined international following of 27 million. Beyond their wide reach, they were handpicked based on their commitment to their craft as pro-players, shoutcasters, content creators or streamers, their affinity and engagement with fans, as well as personal alignment with PVP Esports’ objectives and brand values.

As the overall engagement with PVP required substantial involvement, it was crucial that the chosen influencers were deeply committed to what PVP was trying to achieve to come across as authentic in their communications.

In its programming, PVP purposefully curated the overall on-and-offstage programming to leverage the varied strengths and expertise of these influencers, and create an exciting roster of activities and touchpoints for fans. This group of influencers ultimately played a role far bigger than an invited guest at the event. They were PVP’s key partners and collaborators, which set PVP Esports @ SGCC apart from the crowd, and positioned PVP differently as ‘not just another esports event’.

Execution

PVP first piqued the interest of local gaming influencers with deliveries of PVP swag bags, featuring personalised PVP bomber jackets embroidered with the influencers’ ingame names, alongside other exclusive PVP merchandise.

Ahead of the event, social influencers strategically dropped event teasers and multimedia social content on their respective social pages to drive fan excitement and anticipation. In addition, PVP also collaborated with the top gaming and lifestyle YouTube channels in Singapore, Not Good Gamers and Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) on video content and contests for ticket giveaways.

The event itseld was headlined by two gaming celebrities and both appearances saw the PVP Esports zone at full capacity. From panel discussions to exclusive Q&As, celebrity show matches and fan meet-and-greets, PVP featured these influencers prominently, providing fans opportunities to get up close and personal with their gaming heroes. The two panel discussions featured influencers who were expert streamers and content creators, sharing their valuable opinion on getting involved in the gaming space. To add to the overall experience, PVP also partnered popular gaming channel eGG Network to host audience activities on their segment “Chilling with eGG”, inviting influencers to chat over casual games.

All of the influencers’ onsite participation also translated to social, as they each took over the PVP Esports Instagram account, generating more hype for the PVP Esports zone’s activities.

Result

PVP Esports @ Singapore Comic Con hit its all-time attendance high, attracting nearly 55,000 visitors from Singapore and the region. 96% of visitors polled at an onsite survey1 said they would definitely attend another PVP Esports event in 2020.

On top of this, “influencer meet & greets”, “cosplay” and “influencer panels” ranked within the top five activities enjoyed. Earned media and social media results for the overall campaign were incredibly positive, with over 430,000 views of PVP’s streams on Facebook, Twitch and Youtube and over 1.4 million engagements on posts by engaged influencers.

PVP was also able to generate over 31 million earned media impressions across Southeast Asia in toptier print, online and broadcast in top-tier endemic and non-endemic media outlets.