Online gaming is a fertile ground for brands and agencies, says Rey Tiempo of VMLY&R at Cannes Lions Live

The gaming industry is made of two big worlds –– e-sports and the gaming community. The industry has seen exponential growth in the last couple of years. Apart from the interest factor, gaming has become a source of livelihood and commerce for many.

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On the third day of Lions Live week, Rey Tiempo, CCO at VMLY&R, Philippines and Valerie Madon, CCO at VMLY&R Asia, discussed the rising growth of online gaming, its speciality and how brands can take advantage of it.

Because of Covid, people are taking to online gaming in a big way in household, says Tiempo. “We are a way past the time where gaming was only associated with males or for certain demographics. The scope of online gaming has become far wide.”

Latest Facebook data suggests there are more females in gaming now.

Why the increase

*Strength of internet connections worldwide (it facilitates gamers to connect more in a scale that wasn’t before ever since the inception of gaming).

*The rise of gaming channels. “Facebook has fully embraced gaming, it has grown bigger in the Philippines,” said Tiempo.

Madon said many clients want to enter the gaming industry and do the right kind of advertising on it.

“A lot of brands are already getting in the sponsorship side of e-sports,” Tiempo said. He gave the example of Red Bull and said the brand was doing a lot of activities with online gamers and platforms.

Red Bull has sponsorships with pro athletes and they have in-game content SOL. It is an excellent way how they have injected fuel into the game, Tiempo said.

Online gaming is very fertile ground for agencies as well as for brands and agencies need to start learning about people’s behaviour when they are in the gaming environment, both Tiempo and Madon said.

Tiempo said because of quarantine; there is a significant rise of gamers who want to be heard and seen playing their games and brands can have a massive opportunity of engagement there.

It’s a medium that absorbs people’s time spends, said Tiempo.

According to Tiempo, recent surveys say that if a person spends more than five hours a week in gaming, then they are an avid gamer already.

“Maximum gamers spend an hour in a day on gaming, and that can be anytime,” he said.

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