“We see gaming as a key opportunity in 2023”, a year of non-endemics briefing us demonstrates the challenge the gaming industry faces.

This year we’ve seen plenty of brands come to us to ask “how do we sell our product to gamers”, and something has become abundantly clear, they have no idea why they’re really here. The conversations that have preceded the brief are likely some of the most important that we’ve had to gauge in order to determine whether a brand truly understands what they’re getting into. After a year of increased activity, and volatility within the gaming industry it’s even more important that agencies double down on their practice of understanding the why behind the what.

Ironically, 2022 has also demonstrated lot of brands still don’t know what they’re doing with gaming, they’ve maybe collaborated or partnered with gaming brands, but it’s not clear what their aim actually is. As a strategist who spends a lot of his time gaming I observe certain partnerships and am intrigued to understand more of the why behind the what. Gucci partnering with Roblox is interesting considering the game is dominated by younger users who aren’t likely to be considering if they spend their $500 pocket money on a Gucci wallet. If their intention was to influence the generation of tomorrow it feels almost premature without Gucci first trying to influence a slightly older generation (Gen-Z) within gaming, who are causing the biggest shifts across marketing in our lifetime, but who knows we weren’t in the room when they had that strategy session! I’m not saying the Gucci partnership wasn’t successful either, as their metrics may deem it to be so, but as I say, I’m not sure what their play is…

So what exactly is the challenge I’m talking about? Well quite simply it’s misguided brands activating in gaming without truly understanding what their purpose is, why they’re even there, and they’re using whatever seems to be the ‘hot right now’ moment to enable them (don’t get me started on the Metaverse). Gamers represent one of the most complex audiences to reach, and let’s be honest they’ve been labelled with a term because they choose to entertain themselves via an interactive media (PC, Console, Mobile, VR), we could likely call them sports fans, or entertainment fans and be operating within the same audience segments. But gamers have something unique about them, like the aforementioned Gen-Z they are influencing the behaviours of others, they’re selling out stadiums, they’re coming together across countries, they’re establishing digital platforms, they’re investing money in their passions, and really it’s the brands who can enable them to do that who will stand out and gain their affection.

It’s been said many times before, but brands who aim to sell to gamers without investing in their community aren’t going to stand the test of time. Influencers, social media, creative & content, partnerships, media buying, things every marketer is familiar with and yet so many are missing the mark all because they can’t answer “why are you here?”, and if you can’t articulate that to an agency you’ve got no hope with a gamer.

Since I started working at Kairos I’ve watched as we’ve responded to many briefs, but it was only recently that I started to truly understand the process we go through and to articulate it simply as the 3 Ps.

1. Purpose

2. Platform

3. Produce

Or in other words

1. What is the reason you’re here

2. What are the platforms we can use to reach your audience

3. What do we produce to bring your brand to life in a way that demonstrates your purpose.

The reason these things are particularly important is they hold a brand to account on what value they add rather than the value they extract. I’m not saying you can’t sell a product to a gamer as part of your work, but what you must always do is demonstrate you’re watching, listening, acting in a way that benefits the community. To do that you need to understand your Purpose. Platform defines your strategy, the how behind the why, and Produce is essentially the creative methods we use to bring awareness back to your purpose. The simplest way to gauge how this works is if you simply Produce content to demonstrate your Purpose is simply selling your latest product then you won’t drive long term sentiment or advocacy, and gamers are very quick to let you know when they’ve figured that out. Audience volatility means some brands only get one shot at this, and ensuring they get it right is vital…surprisingly.