Consumers are becoming increasingly popular with esports, and brand names, like Coca-Cola, jumping to the category to reach their growing supporters base.
NASCAR reports that its audience for esports is increasing, although there have been no specific numbers provided by the sports organisation. “The audience surge and growth our e-NASCAR platforms experienced in 2019 was the result of the most talented gamers delivering some of the best weeknight racing,” said NASCAR SVP and Chief Digital Officer Tim Clark.
Brands note and invest in advertising to meet these markets with more people who watch esports. In this year alone, eMarketer forecasts are planned to achieve esports ad revenues of $200 million. According to a recent study by Marketing Intelligence Corporation WARC, company contributions in esports are valued at $795 million worldwide, up 23.1 per cent, with $584 million funded and $211 million supported.
In the growing esports field, Coca-Cola follows other brands that ramped up their offers. In December, Mars ‘ Snickers candy announced that its promotional activity would become a sponsor for the Madden NFL 20 Club Championship, a video game maker’s tournament Electronic Arts that won the $700,000 prize. In the course of the tournament on Twitch, YouTube and the ESPN mobile application Snickers was present in highlight packs and branded studio segments.
Brands like the Snickers and Coca-Cola are able to present important content to esports fans since research suggests that the main audience for esports is Gen Z. A study conducted by the Institute of Food Technologies found that 74% of GenZ consumers often say they snack between meals, which shows why brand names like Coca-Cola and Snickers want to settle in the world of esports.
