Fortress Melbourne is the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest dedicated gaming and esports venue. Ahead of its launch in the first quarter of 2020, the founding team required the support of an esports marketing agency to establish a commercial partnership programme. The goal was to attract inaugural sponsors to the venue and raise much-needed cash, provide essential equipment, enhance creditability in the eyes of gamers, and provide marketing support to amplify key messages to the target audiences. Furthermore, staff wanted to be upskilled in sponsorship strategy and management.
Fortress Melbourne chose Strive to help them at this crucial time in their life given the agency’s thorough knowledge of esports, strategic approach, and experience in building partnership programmes from scratch for new commercial rights holders.
Esports marketing agency / Strive’s scope of work
- Define what commercial success looked like and the measurable objectives needed to achieve it
- Establish/refine the brand architecture to make it true to the business, meaningful to the audience, and attractive to sponsors
- Build audience insights to better understand how to grow and engage audiences, demonstrate the opportunity to brands, and deliver value to partner activations
- Develop a clear and investable commercial sponsorship proposition that brands could understand and would want to be part of
- Build a coherent sales narrative that explained the relevant opportunities the festival could offer brands in meeting their objectives
- Develop commercial sponsorship rights and engagement programmes that maximised the value of relationships with potential partners
- Inform, educate and support sponsorship staff on all elements of building and managing partnerships
- Advise and coach the founding management team through partnership negotiations
Results
All elements were successfully delivered and the output of this was that the Dell brand, Alienware, was announced as a founding Official Partner ahead of the launch in a multimillion-dollar multi-year deal. Indeed, such was the alignment and strength of the partnership that despite closing days after opening due to the COVID pandemic, the partnership sustained through that difficult time and is still in evidence today.
Client comment
Strive’s strong venue experience, comprehensive esports knowledge and track record in building compelling commercial partnership strategies that engage global brands and drive value for both parties, meant they were the obvious choice to work with.
Their knowledge and experience supporting commercial negotiations was a key factor in ensuring value was delivered to Fortress Melbourne, our partners and customers.
Need esports marketing agency help?
If you’re looking for advice from an esports or gaming agency, Strive Sponsorship can help. Contact us for sponsorship, marketing, commercial, content, media, investment, and communications consultancy services.
Frequently asked questions
What is esports marketing?
Esports marketing is the promotion and advertising of products, brands, or events within the competitive video gaming industry, aiming to engage and appeal to the esports audience through sponsorships, content creation, influencer partnerships, event marketing, social media engagement, product integration, and data analytics.
How do you market an esports organization?
A common approach is to create engaging and high-quality content across various digital platforms to captivate and connect with the target audience. Leveraging social media, live streaming, and video platforms, organizations want to establish a strong online presence.
Collaborating with popular influencers and professional players helps power the content and amplify reach and credibility. Additionally, sponsor brands contribute their own content and help amplify esports organization content too.
Additionally, data-driven insights are used to continuously optimize marketing efforts and tailor experiences to cater to the evolving needs and preferences of the esports community, fostering long-term loyalty and commercial growth.
Who is the main target market for esports?
This could be answered from a number of different perspectives. The esports target market could be considered to be:
- Gamers: Enthusiastic gamers who actively participate in video games and follow esports competitions.
- Esports Enthusiasts: Fans who closely follow esports events, teams, and players. They engage with esports content, attend live events, and actively participate in online communities.
- Millennials and Gen Z: Younger generations have shown significant interest in esports due to their affinity for technology, gaming, and digital entertainment. They are early adopters of trends and form a substantial portion of the esports audience.
- Brands and Marketers: Companies targeting the esports market as a means to reach a specific demographic or align their brand with the esports community.
