Today' automotive industry is more dependent on global markets than at any time in history, and they understand that only more segmented marketing, more customized services, and more personalized content can stand out from the competition.
Despite the impact of COVID-19 on the global automotive market, driven by the goal of electrification and carbon neutrality, global automotive brands still need to hold the marketing bottom line, constantly identify new opportunities and take effective actions. In the sports sponsorship market, automobiles are a category that tends to be saturated, and the head market is mainly occupied by head brands, and the liquidity is weak. In the traditional sense, when the segment enters this state, new sponsorship trends will occur. At the same time, it also lays the foundation for the growth of the sports sponsorship market.
Over the past two years, the esports industry has witnessed the expansion of a number of non-regional sponsorship categories in the space, from cars to luxury fashion to lifestyle clothing. As the industry seeks a broader return of live events and continues to grow in 2022, new sponsors will continue to pour into the ecosystem. Nowadays, esports sponsorship has become a norm in the automotive industry, and almost every head brand has made a move in this field and continues to expand into the luxury car market.
According to Newzoo's report, 465.1 million people watched esports in 2021, up 6.7% year-on-year, with 235.5 million watching esports occasionally (less than once a month), while the remaining 229.6 million were deep esports enthusiasts (at least once a month). In addition, the esports market is expected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue in 2021, with nearly 60% of it coming from sponsorships. The esports market is expected to generate $1.6 billion in revenue by 2024.
With the blessing of virtual technology and the concept of meta-universe, car brands are also going beyond sports marketing thinking and rooting the user experience in the event scene. This suggests that they have seen the importance of embedding brands into the event culture beyond traditional brand marketing. In fact, whether it is a new digital technology or an e-sports circle, they all represent a kind of marketing concept progression, which is an area where the majority of auto brands are eager to develop value in depth.
The Researchers at Newzoo said: "Whether people agree with the metaverse-centric future that Meta, Roblox and Epic Games are trying to build, there is a shift that has become increasingly clear over the past year: personal expression and identity have become critical for players." Younger generations are relatively more tech-savvy, and their social activities tend to shift online. The virtual world is poised to become a social hub for the next decade, while traditional 2D social media platforms will gradually decline. "This is bound to determine the future direction of the marketing market to a large extent."
The automotive industry is definitely a representative category of e-sports marketing, leading the traditional category in both breadth and precision. At the beginning, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and other European car companies took the lead in entering the global e-sports marketing map, in the past one or two years, Japanese companies, Korean companies, and American companies have also begun to increase investment in the field of e-sports, and this expansion trend will be maintained in the next few years.
With the global popularity of e-sports and the increasingly complete event system, e-sports marketing has gradually been able to meet the global market demand of car companies. Kia, for example, became a major sponsor of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) in 2019 and has maintained that status for the past two years. In the Americas, Kia became a partner of Thunder Predator and Rogue in 2020, two of america's esports organizations. By 2021, French esports organization Team Vitality has formed a partnership with Kia Motors France to draw attention to new EV options.
It is not difficult to see that in the emerging field of e-sports, brands can also find a breakthrough to open up market segments. Today' automotive industry is more dependent on global markets than at any time in history, and they understand that only more segmented marketing, more customized services, and more personalized content can stand out from the competition. Kia's initial establishment of the brand's global esports marketing network in just two or three years is telling.
BMW is also one of the more active car brands in the field of e-sports in recent years. In 2019, BMW first sponsored the well-known e-sports team Cloud9, and then in 2020, it added the four top e-sports organizations T1, G2, Fnatic and FPX into the sponsorship map. It is worth noting that the aforementioned e-sports organizations are from the United States, South Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom and China, covering the world's most important e-sports markets, as well as the core automobile consumer market. In April 2021, BMW's esports division launched the Heroes Of Rivalry comic book series with these five co-op teams as the protagonists.
BMW believes that when it comes to esports, they have found ways to solve the problem of young target groups and are eager to increase investment in the sport. In addition, the company believes that esports increases the potential for future mobility of individuals, which means that more people can be brought together through the sport. Christophe Koenig, MEDIA RELATIONS manager at BMW Esports, said: "BMW's global commitment supports the positioning of the BMW brand, enabling us to have a younger, more modern impact. This global commitment has enabled us to significantly expand our exchange activities in sports sponsorship. "We can implement new creative approaches and interact with new target groups." In the future, we will make full use of our expertise in innovation and design to help develop this area. ”
Nowadays, luxury car brands have also joined the trend of e-sports marketing. In July 2020, Lamborghini launched its own esports series "The Real Race", and in April 2021, Lamborghini also partnered with Rocket League developer Psyonix to launch an event called "Battle of the Bulls".
Porsche's thinking is somewhat similar to that of Lamborghini, which has partnered with online racing simulator iRacing to launch the Porsche iRacing World Championship Series, which has been held for three years. In the Asia-Pacific region, Porsche hosted its first regional esports tournament, the Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Motorsports Cup, in 2020, which attracted more than 24.7 million participants in the region.
Janine Dietzel, Porsche's experience marketing manager for Asia Pacific, said that while the automotive industry is currently undergoing dramatic changes, Porsche has no intention of breaking that tradition. Events like the Forza Motorsport are a testament to how Porsche is embracing the future while maintaining its traditions and transporting exciting tracks to the virtual world. "This allows us to reach out to young and motivated target groups and engage with them through an emotional and interactive brand experience."
Prior to the pandemic, consumer brands spent more than $21.8 million on sponsorships in the esports market, and well-known players including Coca-Cola, MasterCard, Intel and others made extensive and influential investments in the space, according to Statista, but no industry has such a strong convergence towards the auto industry. Perhaps, as Ditzer says, they don't see esports as just a fad, or a bubble that will burst, but rather really see the marketing opportunities behind it.
In Yu Tang's view, e-sports represents a diversified sports asset with unique energy, which can be physical or virtual, it can create an exciting atmosphere, and it can also transmit excitement through digital channels. It's also alluring in its convenience, and advances in technology have made virtual experiences almost a reality. For the automotive industry, these are the most important elements for the companies involved, which opens up more possibilities for them.