FIAP Face to Face: Esports attract consumers to brands more than other kinds of communications

A brand looking for sales strategies that really work will find that an esports team creates much more engagement with consumers than with other kinds of communications, said Augusto Zapata, senior specialist in sports and gaming in LatAm, who together with Claudia Romo, operations manager of Unlocked LatAm, were guests at a new edition of the FIAP Face to Face Webinar, moderated by Mara Fernandez, chief transformation officer of PRODU. According to a study presented by Unlocked, a leading company in the gaming industry, when a brand becomes associated with an esports team, it will automatically grow positive feelings in all its fans and in the hardcore watchers. Which is to say that 63 percent of the most ardent fans will consider this brand for a future purchase. “Esports gives you consumers’ trip to the store,” Zapata said, since the brand awareness created has a positive impact and some 65 percent of thse hardcore fans want to know more about the brand, the sales pitch and the purchase. Romo explained that Unlocked is one of the top companies related to the world of gaming, because it has its own ability to produce events, startups and content. The goal of the company is to push brands, endemic or not, to enter the world of gaming in order to connect with its target audience. “One of our specialties is to use a data platform of our partner Loadout, with data of GWI and data panels of Toluna. And from there, Unlocked does the magic.”Most important for Zapata is the data needed to take the best decisions. “To use Unlocked the owner has three types of data, which is basically data very much in a niche, made to be able to research thoroughly the gaming market: syndicated data sent them through the GWI partner to be able to extrapolate the data and have an understanding of how to compare the owner’s data with that of the top margins and the passive data that is a collection of elements to be able to have an accurate image of the value, of how much to invest, and whether the return on investment is right, etc.”Presented during the meeting were data from the study entitled Unlocking Esports & Gaming in LatAm: Key Data & Insights. The total number of people in Latin America who took part in this study was 7,997 from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia Peru and Chile. Meanwhile the GWI segment in the region is almost 84,000 with a gaming segment of some 11,000, out of a total worldwide gaming segment of more than 979,000 According to the results obtained, Latin America is the region with the greatest growth of esports in the world, with some 26 percent of the population between the ages of 16 and 64 who could be considered esports fans. “That means to say that 68 million people want to know what’s going on in the different esports. And that is higher than in other regions. For example, in APAC or Asia-Pacific with 20 percent, Europe with 9 percent, and North America with 11 percent, Latin America is therefore a great guide to understanding and managing how this generation thinks,” Zapata said.. Another point is the high percentage of folks who are up to date with esports. This is about the 79 percent of the people you see it at least once a year. “So then you have a visitor, a potential client, a chance at least once a month.in the 79 percent of the population interested in the subject. It’s much more than the soccer games. And why? Because there’s a great variety of games and that is always the first question, when one is going to do a campaign,” he said. Zapata also cleared up certain myths about esports and gaming, like the fact that this is not an activity for children and young people only. The average age is around 34.9 years. Plus the esports population gets older as time goes by. “So it’s really important to understand it’s not just a niche for Generation Z only, but is a subject of growth. And when you join in this passion, you grow with the others.”For more details, see Unlocking Esports & Gaming in LATAM: Key Data & Insights on FIAP Face to Face Webinar.