Why brands like Spotify & Louis Vuitton advertise through League of Legends Yicun Liu\/Riot GamesThis year\u2019s League of Legends World Championship is almost at a close, and it\u2019s been the most sponsored edition of the legendary event to date. [jwplayer 0ryqkFvi] The popular MOBA title seems to be going from strength to strength each year, with rising viewership, ever-growing commercial success, outside recognition from traditional sports, and a more robust competitive ecosystem. With brands such as Bose, Spotify, Mercedes-Benz, and Cisco getting involved in 2020, as well as a landmark broadcast deal for Chinese viewers, it\u2019s fair to say that Riot Games\u2019 flagship title is leading the pack when it comes to commercial partnerships. Dexerto spoke with Naz Aletaha, head of global esports partnerships and business development for Riot Games, to find out exactly why major brands are dying to get involved with League of Legends esports. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely evolved over the years,\u201d Aletaha said of how such deals begin. \u201cIn the last two or three years is where we\u2019ve really seen an inpouring of inquiries, attention, and understanding. Understanding is the most important piece. Esports has been pretty big for quite some time, we started in 2011 and each year the sport, fandom, and viewership has continued to grow. \u201cIn the early years, there wasn\u2019t a solid understanding in the marketplace on what esports was and really what the value proposition was for brands to get involved. There were probably some questions brands had around the longevity of esports, whether it was a sport or not.\u201d Broadening the pool What are the factors behind such a change in heart for prominent, household companies? We still see some sports fans ridiculing the concept of competitive video games when they get their time to shine on networks such as ESPN, so it\u2019s clear that the industry has a way to go before the general population is acclimatized. That\u2019s changing rapidly on the business front, however. \u201cThe market has a pretty good baseline understanding of what esports is now, the viewership and engagement that we see are really starting to rival what\u2019s seen in traditional sports, and the audience is incredibly engaged,\u201d she explained. \u201cThis demographic is getting harder and harder to reach through traditional forms of marketing.\u201d On the surface, it may seem fair to attribute the rise in viewership \u2014 which likely is in part down to the global health situation, with sports being sidelined for much of the year \u2014 to the mainstream acceptance, but Aletaha thinks there\u2019s more to it. \u201cThe fact that we\u2019re so global and we\u2019ve set up an ecosystem where partners and brands can get involved at various levels opens up so much opportunity,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have 12 regional leagues across the world and then we have these massive global events that bring attention from every corner of the world, that\u2019s very attractive to brands.\u201d League of Legends has an official competitive structure that sees major leagues taking place in major countries and regions; Brazil, China, Europe, Korea, Latin America, North America, and plenty more are all involved. This translates well when they\u2019re all brought together in what\u2019s deemed a \u201cglobal\u201d event, and Riot Games ensure that these fan bases are served properly. \u201cFor our global events, because we are catering to a global audience, we broadcast Worlds in over 15 languages,\u201d said Aletaha. \u201cThat level of customization and localization allows us to accommodate brands that are interested in certain markets through specific language feeds. China is a very good example of this. You see our global partners in the Mandarin feed but you also see specific Chinese partners that are very relevant for that local market.\u201d The legitimacy of the All-Star Event and MSI In League of Legends\u2019 suite of global competitions are three annual events. There\u2019s the Mid-Season Invitational, an All-Star Event, and, of course, the World Championship. The latter is, as you\u2019d expect, the crown jewel of the game\u2019s esports calendar \u2014 but does it prop up the other tournaments? \u201cWorlds, if you plotted our events on a pyramid, is the pinnacle,\u201d she explained. \u201cThat\u2019s what every team in our ecosystem is working towards throughout the entire season. You could liken it to our Super Bowl or our World Cup.\u201d Despite Worlds undoubtedly being the summit of competition, Aletaha thinks each of the three global initiatives has their own merits and each contributes towards the commercial interest in League of Legends esports. \u201cAll three of our global events have their own unique value and themes,\u201d she told Dexerto. \u201cEach event has its own identity. All-Star is a fun celebration of the season, it\u2019s meant to celebrate the pros and their performance, and be something that fans can engage with. MSI is meant to be a midpoint check-in on who is the best. You\u2019ve watched a split in each of the regional leagues so now let\u2019s have those winners face-off to determine who\u2019s the best at the halfway point. \u201cIf you\u2019re a partner of the three global events, it gives you the opportunity to always be on. Through the first split you\u2019re working up to MSI, then there\u2019s Worlds, then we finish the year with All-Stars.\u201d This year\u2019s World Championship has a nice mix of gaming brands and companies that operate outside of League of Legends\u2019 expected periphery. That\u2019s not by design, as Aletaha explains, but instead is a testament to the variety of partners that they\u2019ve managed to secure. There\u2019s not a quota to meet in terms of diversity of companies, instead, it\u2019s about who can help them to improve the experience for fans. \u201cOur goal with any partnership, whether it\u2019s with an endemic or non-endemic brand, is that that brand wants to come in and do right by our audience,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the most important box that we look to check. You can see endemics like Alienware and Secretlab have such a deep understanding of the audience and the community, that makes them incredibly able and willing to do things for and with our fans that we really like to see. \u201cThe same thing can go with Mastercard and what they do for their community, and Mercedes-Benz and Spotify too. We don\u2019t look to achieve a certain mix [of endemic and non-endemic brands], we try to look through the same lens across any partner that we bring into the fold.\u201d The Making of Take Over: The #Worlds2020 Anthem Hear from the team that developed and composed the 2020 anthem as they provide unique insight on how it was born! Check out the episode on @Spotify: https:\/\/t.co\/wOMCcYXXOO pic.twitter.com\/N8iQOYIxm2 \u2014 LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 30, 2020 It\u2019s more about the value proposition of a prospective partner. How do they add to the experience, whether that be the broadcast, shoulder content, social media, or in a venue? Riot Games always keep the product in mind, and how it will be received by their spectators. \u201cAny partnership has to be a win-win-win,\u201d said Aletaha. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a two-way win for Riot Games and our partner, it has to be a win for our whole ecosystem. That\u2019s the goal. I don\u2019t think you achieve that goal if it\u2019s a pure transaction where a sponsor pays you dollars and you display their logo. It has to be more than that. \u201cWe really look to create a robust campaign with each of our partners that, of course, includes advertising elements, but that advertising should reinforce what they\u2019re doing for the community. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to make the brand successful and continue to drive [partnership] renewals. All of this needs to accrue to our fans and their experience with League of Legends esports.\u201d Content is (still) king This year\u2019s World Championship has been supplemented with content from almost all of their partners. From Spotify producing and housing podcasts, to Cisco writing blogs about their involvement, to Mastercard enabling Riot Games to produce video series, it\u2019s clear that there\u2019s a focus on content \u2014 now more than ever. Aletaha insists that this isn\u2019t just a sign of the limitations brought about this year, but it definitely helps to be able to work with partners in such a way considering the difficulties. \u201cThe fact we\u2019re a digital sport and our audience is digitally-savvy absolutely helps given the constraints that has been presented,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe live event experience is really important and compelling for brands, but when you also focus on the digital side you\u2019re going to be able to engage with exponentially more fans. The content play is what we\u2019d do regardless.\u201d Perhaps the most groundbreaking advancement made in terms of advertisement capabilities for League of Legends was the integration of in-game banners. Announced in May 2020 with Mastercard and Alienware up to bat first, partners were now able to have their brands shown right next to the action during live matches. This innovation is just the tip of the iceberg when considering the potential scale of such technology, but it\u2019s already a success for Riot Games. \u201cIt really adds to a well-rounded package,\u201d she told Dexerto. \u201cIt\u2019s important for partners to really be woven through the various touchpoints that we can offer. Any single asset or placement is valuable on its own, but it\u2019s the sum of the parts that creates a cohesive, holistic connection to the sport and reinforce their activation and engagement. \u201cSponsors are absolutely loving it and it starts to bring us to parity what traditional sports offer. You\u2019re used to seeing brands next to a pitch or a court, we\u2019re now able to do that in our physical arenas and also leverage our virtual real estate as well.\u201d One pertinent question that arises when you consider the potential impact of in-game ads is surrounding their value. Just how much dollar value do they provide to partners, and how is value even measured? An approximation of watch time multiplied by a set figure is likely the formula, and Riot Games enlisted some help to nail down a price tag. \u201cWe worked with Nielsen, who use a quality index score to evaluate banners,\u201d said Aletaha. \u201cThey use a methodology to evaluate the rest of our inventory, and inventory for sports in general. We worked really closely with them on this, including when we developed the product itself because we needed to make sure we were optimizing for viewability, clarity, placements, and angles to make sure they\u2019re effective for our partners.\u201d The Beijing News reported that Bilibili (BLG’s parent company) successfully bid the exclusive (only in China) broadcasting right of Worlds for the next three years for the price of 800 million yuan(113,349,768 USD), beating competitors such as Huya etc.https:\/\/t.co\/jv1ZHIyD30 \u2014 Ran (@ran_lpl) December 3, 2019 We\u2019d be remiss to ignore the landmark deal closed by Riot Games and Bilibili. In December 2019, it was reported that the Chinese video platform had purchased the rights to broadcast Worlds in Chinese for 800 million yuan (roughly \u00a390 million) over three years. Confirmed in August this year, though the monetary value was never officially disclosed, this transaction is the largest media rights deal to date. In many traditional sports, media rights deals are the largest piece of the pie but that hasn\u2019t translated into esports yet, somewhat down to the prominence of streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, but this purchase, in particular, demonstrates that the tides may well be changing. \u201cThere absolutely will be growth in media rights revenues going forward,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Bilibili deal is a landmark deal and a testament to the demand for the content with our fans. I think that demand is going to continue to go up. \u201cYou see the viewership numbers year-over-year \u2014 the play-ins at Worlds this year broke all of our records \u2014 and we\u2019re seeing a massive demand for content. We hope to service that viewership by putting on an incredible production.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why brands like Spotify & Louis Vuitton advertise through League of Legends Yicun Liu\/Riot GamesThis year\u2019s League of Legends World Championship is almost at a close, and it\u2019s been the most sponsored edition of the legendary event to date. [jwplayer 0ryqkFvi] The popular MOBA title seems to be going from strength to strength each year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21905\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}