Esports Marketing

Gaming experience matters.

Esports is huge, growing, and an attractive marketing opportunity. This isn’t new news, but for most brands, gaming is relatively uncharted territory. Even the most strategic marketers have questions. 

• Is the esports fan base the right fit for our brand?
• Where should our brand invest?
• How should we activate? 
• How do we measure success?

Esports sponsorship strategy and activation must be analyzed and evaluated differently from mainstream sports. For brands looking to reach esports professionals, competitors, fans and viewers, insight and experience matter.

Esports Practice

GMR serves as a partner to brand marketers, building strategic, end-to-end esports sponsorship plans. 

Our approach is:

• FOUNDED ON DATA. We've dug deep into the esports landscape. We know the teams, the players, and the fans.
• ROOTED IN INSIGHT. We understand these audiences. How they engage. What they want. How to connect.
• GROUNDED IN STRATEGY. Brand audience and brand objectives are central. We'll determine where your brand should integrate with esports, and how best to communicate your 'authentic reason for being' in the eSports setting.
• DESIGNED METICULOUSLY. Sponsorship. Digital. Experiential. They're core disciplines for us, and we understand how to make them work together in harmony to deliver the best experience.
• EXECUTED FLAWLESSLY. With global reach and a deep bench, our team has the scale, agility, and experience to execute—and measure—complex activations that drive value for the brand.

Want a free copy of our latest esports research? Just fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

Strategic Leadership

Dave Rosenberg, Chief Strategic Officer—Based in San Francisco, Dave provides strategic leadership across the agency, leading cross-functional teams to build strategic brand programs based on business, marketing and consumer analysis. He has been involved in GMR’s gaming initiatives from the 2001 introduction of Xbox to the 2015 launch of the agency’s esports practice.  

Matt Hill, SVP, Global Sports and Entertainment Consulting—Matt serves as a strategic resource in sports and entertainment to a number of GMR’s global clients. A 13-year veteran of the sports marketing industry with extensive experience on the sports property side, Matt specializes in strategic consultation, sponsorship analysis/negotiation and plays a leadership role in our eSports practice.

15+ Years Gaming Experience

Over the past decade, GMR has worked with a broad range of top-tier clients to plan, manage and execute strategic gaming sponsorships across the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe. Our formal eSports practice was established in 2015.

Featured esports clients:

Longtime client MICROSOFT has adopted GMR as an agency partner for esports in the U.S. GMR provides Microsoft’s U.S. Xbox Marketing Team with eSports consultation and program management on the blockbuster franchise Gears of War.

And most recently, COMCAST announced official XFINITY brand partnerships with ESL and Evil Geniuses (EG). As Comcast/XFINITY’s Sports Marketing Agency of Record, GMR led the negotiation of these two new partnerships and will activate against them through digital, social, experiential and content marketing touchpoints.

Esports Research: Free Report

In October 2016, GMR published Esports Marketing: Start with the Consumer, an in-depth study shedding light on enigmatic esports players and fans. This original research will help brands understand:

• Which brands can be successful in the gaming space
• How to approach specific target demographics
• How to identify the most effective marketing tactics within esports
• How to establish a strategic partnership and activation plan
• And more

To download a free copy, please complete this form.

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