Digiday Gaming Advertising Forum

April 8, 2021 || Virtual

Navigating the E-Sports Frontier

The world of online gaming is becoming even more mainstream. That means more captured consumers operating in an environment they’ve made all their own. What’s the best way to reach them?

As the life cycle of online gaming opens up a whole new branding opportunity for marketers, join us for a full day of programming to hear from leading brands about how they’ve successfully navigated this wide-open area, streamers who can give you a sense of the community they’ve created for themselves and the brand safety concerns associated with the virtual space that people gamers are experiencing.

Register for free thanks to our sponsors.

SPEAKERS

  • speaker
    Joe BarnesANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEVDIRECTOR, BUD LIGHT SPORTS MARKETING & HEAD OF ESPORTS & GAMING
  • speaker
    Jan BojkoACTIVISION BLIZZARD MEDIAHEAD OF MARKET RESEARCH
  • speaker
    Jonathan HarropADCOLONYVP, GLOBAL MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
  • speaker
    Rachel HoaglandNFLVP, GAMING, ESPORTS & PARTNERSHIPS
  • speaker
    Samuel HuberADMIXCEO & CO-FOUNDER
  • speaker
    Joe LigePUBMATICVP OF MOBILE
  • speaker
    Paul MascaliPEPSICOHEAD OF GAMING & ESPORTS
  • speaker
    Krishan PatelTWITCHDIRECTOR, SALES, EMEA
  • speaker
    Mike SchoelchUNITYVP, AGENCY AND BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
  • speaker
    Pia SchoernerBMW GROUPHEAD OF MARKETING, BMW ESPORTS
See all Speakers

AGENDA

10:00 a.m. ET
Opening Remarks

Let’s kick-off the forum with a state of the industry and some opening remarks.

speaker

Seb Joseph

BRANDS EDITOR, UK

DIGIDAY

10:05 a.m. ET
From Fortnite to Fashion, and Everything in Between: A Conversation with Twitch

Let’s talk about all things live streaming. In this session, a Twitch executive will take us through a multitude of topics including the brand’s content evolution, audience make-up, covid-19 impact as well as the platform’s origin story and more recent growth.

speaker

Krishan Patel

DIRECTOR, SALES, EMEA

TWITCH

speaker
Moderator
Seb Joseph
10:25 a.m. ET
Growing up with Gaming: Understanding Millennial Gamers

Millennials spend more time gaming than almost any other demographic, but it’s not just their passion for gaming that makes millennial gamers so unique. As the first generation to grow up playing, they have a strong emotional relationship with gaming and affinity for long-standing gaming franchises. Learn why this connection, coupled with the purchasing power of a high disposable income, makes millennial gamers one of the most valuable audience groups for brands.

speaker

Jan Bojko

HEAD OF MARKET RESEARCH

ACTIVISION BLIZZARD MEDIA

10:40 a.m. ET
Conquering E-Sports: The BMW Approach

In this session, head of e-sports at BMW, Pia Schoerner will take us through a case study about how BMW has approached the gaming and e-sports sphere including the brand’s #UnitdInRivalry iniative.

speaker

Pia Schoerner

HEAD OF MARKETING, BMW ESPORTS

BMW GROUP

speaker
Moderator
Seb Joseph
11:00 a.m. ET
Beyond the Console – Audiences in Mobile

Mobile gaming is often overlooked by advertisers looking to reach a gaming audience. Mobile games not only have incredible audience crossover with the “standard” gaming channels like streaming, consoles, and PC, but they also have a broad reach beyond that audience to more than two-thirds of Americans. Many mobile games also have advertising built-in, and offer programmatic channels to your existing campaigns. We bet you’ve got one installed on your phone right now.

speaker

Jonathan Harrop

VP, GLOBAL MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

ADCOLONY

11:15 a.m. ET
Leveraging Esports and Gaming to Fuel D2C Strategies

As both esports and e-commerce soared to new levels in 2020, brands were uniquely positioned to connect with gaming enthusiasts in new, creative ways. For Mountain Dew Game Fuel, that meant launching and testing a direct-to-gamer site, offering a one-stop-shop for all Game Fuel products, while unlocking a hub of new entertainment and rewards. In this session, Paul Mascali, head of gaming and esports at PepsiCo, will highlight how gaming and esports partnerships help fuel the new D2C offering, including best practices for reimagining how brands can level up gamers’ experiences today.

speaker

Paul Mascali

HEAD OF GAMING & ESPORTS

PEPSICO

speaker
Moderator
Seb Joseph
11:35 a.m. ET
Are You Stereotyping the Mobile Gamer?

Over 2.6 Billion people worldwide play mobile games – but biases and preconceived notions around “gamers” persist. In this first look at findings from joint ironSource/Digiday research, we will share a preview of insights that reveal the depth of diversity among mobile gamers, the attitudes towards in-game advertising, and the gaps between the audience and media buyers’ perceptions.

speaker

Mike Schoelch

VP, AGENCY AND BRAND PARTNERSHIPS

UNITY

speaker
Moderator
James O’Brien
11:50 a.m. ET
The Past, Present, & Future of the NFL & E-Sports

In this session, Rachel Hoagland, vp of gaming, e-sports, and partnerships at the NFL will take us through the genesis of the NFL’s involvement in e-sports, what the brand is working on currently, and what the future is for the brand in this space.

speaker

Rachel Hoagland

VP, GAMING, ESPORTS & PARTNERSHIPS

NFL

speaker
Moderator
Seb Joseph
12:10 p.m. ET
Level-Up Your Omnichannel Game with an In-App Video Strategy

The gaming audience is the mainstream audience now. CPG, entertainment, and finance brands are finding meaningful new engagement with core “non-traditional” gaming audiences across devices and screens. How should a brand or agency marketer be visualizing the value of in-app/rewarded video as part of a comprehensive programmatic strategy? What are the new developments across campaign strategy, brand safety and identity that can make under-utilized formats a key driver of omnichannel success? Join Joe Lige, VP of Mobile at PubMatic, as he takes you through new approaches and best practices to help you up your mobile in-app video game and build greater brand engagement. 

speaker

Joe Lige

VP OF MOBILE

PUBMATIC

12:25 p.m. ET
Looking Forward: What is the Future of Gaming & Advertising?
The intersection of gaming and advertising is more expansive than ever now, but where is it headed and how has it evolved? In this session, Joe Barnes, director of Bud Light sports marketing will take us through Bud Light’s evolution as it pertains to gaming and where the industry is headed as this space continues to grow.
speaker

Joe Barnes

DIRECTOR, BUD LIGHT SPORTS MARKETING & HEAD OF ESPORTS & GAMING

ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV

speaker
Moderator
Seb Joseph
12:45 p.m. ET
Unlocking Gaming’s Potential as a Media Channel

For advertisers, the billions of people gaming on personal devices are impossible to ignore. They’re also hard to reach. While gaming holds a similar proportion of our attention as social media does, a comparatively immature ecosystem means it attracts a fraction of the advertising dollars. Admix’ Sam Huber unpacks the infrastructure that will enable brands to follow the attention economy to gaming with confidence, catalyzing the next key media channel.

speaker

Samuel Huber

CEO & CO-FOUNDER

ADMIX

1:00 p.m. ET
Key Takeaways

Let’s listen to the key takeaways from the day’s worth of content.

speaker

Seb Joseph

BRANDS EDITOR, UK

DIGIDAY

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