Esports in MENA is now growing and gaining popularity to the extent that it is now taking center stage when it comes to media, entertainment, advertising, and brand activations.
Projected to reach a market value of 16.7 billion USD by 2033, esports is currently reaching billions of consumers around the world, tapping into the global demand for online and interactive communication, which has become a necessity for the tech-savvy, youthful, and passionate audiences.
esports vs traditional entertainment
People now consciously choose to watch gaming and esports content more than traditional entertainment, to the extent that Netflix announced in its 2018 Q4 report that Fortnite, a free-to-play game, is more of a competition to them than HBO.
People love to hang out and interact with each other, especially online, as proved by the rise of esports during the COVID pandemic… and esports is one of the biggest platforms for these networking and interactive opportunities.
esports in mena: levelling-up Marketing
Moving on to esports in MENA, it currently boasts a massive reach of more than 68 million gamers and is projected to reach 87 million gamers in the coming years. These gamers and esports fans and audiences are young, tech-savvy, and very loyal to the brands that respect their esports culture and communities, and contribute to them.
“Animated space exploration drama gorgeous animation with an exciting and emotional story Collection of weapons is genuinely cool of its same levels is satisfying”Carolyn OrtizManager
And what this means for brands is that esports offers an opportunity to tap into a huge fan base and join their culture.
Esports audiences value authenticity, creativity, and shared and relatable experiences; that’s why successful brands know to go beyond logos on screens and to create interactive activations tailored to this unique audience instead.
ess: taking esports marketing to a new level
Since 2018, Esports Summit (ESS) has been bridging the gap between brands and esports communities, and empowering brands to take the leap into the esports field and speak “the gaming lingo”.
Esports Summit 2020 and 2021 specifically witnessed partnerships that led to some of the most successful brand activations in the region.
ess 2020 & tiktok
In 2020, ESS partnered with TikTok to create a hashtag challenge where users shot videos of themselves doing one of the dances in the Fortnite game for the chance to win.
The #DanceRoyale challenge gained popularity quickly and was very well received by the gaming community as it tapped into one of their favorite games and fun features within it. This activation resulted in the creation of thousands of user-generated videos and offered a common platform where gamers directly interacted with one of the biggest social media platforms.
mcdonald’s in esports: why compete when hungry?
Additionally, McDonald’s had its own campaign within the Summit that was based on a gaming insight by the ESS organizers, which is that hungry players can’t focus on the game. So, with the message “Don’t play while you’re hungry!”, McDonald’s offered thousands of free meals to the participants in the event.
ess 2021: redefining ugc
As for 2021, Esports Summit partnered with Spotify for a multi-faceted campaign, where the music app sponsored one of the Summit’s biggest tournaments, “WarPros,” along with Samsung, in addition to creating a playlist on the app specifically for the ESS players, and named after the Esports Summit.
Furthermore, ESS led a one-of-a-kind partnership between Spotify and TikTok for a new hashtag challenge. The #GamingCave campaign encouraged users to share videos of their gaming setups at home for a chance to win.
This campaign, in a large part due to its relatability and simplicity, boasted more than 90 million video views by the end of ESS 2021, and the hashtag is still active and receives thousands of videos and views to this day.
esports in mena: leading media & entertainment
In conclusion, the MENA esports scene is thriving, and esports is currently leading the media and entertainment fields. Esports offers an advertising and branding platform that is creative, interactive, innovative, and unique, and, due to it being accessible given its online nature, reaches billions of people worldwide.