Ad Opportunities in Gaming
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WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 1. Mobile gaming offers a rich 3. Streaming is, for younger 5. e-sports is becoming opportunity to capture a broad audiences especially, the 'new established in Asia, with a spectrum of users who might not prime time’. Twitch alone draws second-gen evolution into even think of themselves as 1.9m – predominantly Gen Z – female-led, mobile competition gamers. Mobile gamers are casual viewers per day, mostly after 7pm. presenting new partnership players and skew older than Two-thirds of 18–25 year-old opportunities. Brand investment average; ‘gamer mums’ are gamers would rather play video is expected to reach $844m influential in purchasing decisions games or watch gaming content globally this year despite great and brand recommendation. than watch TV. economic turbulence. Media rights will also be core to future 2. Mobile gamers understand the 4. COVID-19-induced lockdowns revenue gains, and a flurry of value exchange of advertising. resulted in a spike in streaming merger and acquisition activity is Most are fine with viewing consumption, particularly on expected in the near term. advertising if it keeps the game Twitch. Within e-sports, however, free-to-play. Ads in mobile games original audiences consolidated have no discernible impact on while new viewers proved hard to churn, and are far more effective woo, this despite more content than banner advertising when being broadcast in lieu of a inserted programmatically. traditional sporting calendar. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 Gamers worldwide Average gameplay session (h:mm) Ads per mobile gaming session Mobile gaming Streamers e-sports Generally free-to-play (F2P) Can be regarded as a form of Competitive gaming which draws games, which are ad supported influencer, they broadcast live or mass live and VoD audiences. but also generate publisher on-demand gaming content Games are traditionally PC- and revenue from in-app purchases through platforms such as console-based but there is a Mobile-only gamers (IAP) or e-commerce elements. Twitch, YouTube and Facebook new, growingLorem market ipsum for mobile Gaming. Top streamers amass e-sports, particularly in Asia. Ad formats include videos, followers in the tens of millions. banner and native ads. Reward- Brands can partner with teams or based videos, whereby a player Advertising opportunities here individual players through receives an in-game reward for encompass pre/mid/post roll sponsorship deals in much the Brand investment in e-sports (2020) watching a video ad, is popular video as well as sponsorships same way as conventional sport. and effective within the genre. and host-read ads. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 Age 10-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 35-40 41-45 46-50 51-65 (Years-old) (11.5%) (11.5%) (14.1%) (13.3%) (11.9%) (11.1%) (8.7%) (7.5%) (10.3%) Male Female Gender (54.0%) (46.0%) Income Low Middle High N/A group (26.2%) (37.5%) (31.4%) (4.9%) Unemployed Full-time Part-time Student Other Employment (57.1%) (9.0%) (9.5%) (6.3%) (18.1%) Live with partner Living Live with partner and children Live with parents Lives alone Other and no children situation (41.5%) (20.5%) (12.6%) (10.4%) (15.1%) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Note: Based on consumer research across 30 markets, anyone who has played video games on PC, console or mobile in last six months. SOURCE: Newzoo © Copyright WARC 2020. All rightsreserved. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 Mobile gamers are casual players and skew older than average; ‘gamer mums’ are influential in purchasing decisions and brand recommendation. Mobile gamers understand the value exchange of advertising. Most are fine with viewing advertising if it keeps the game free-to-play. Ads in mobile games have no discernible impact on churn, and are far more effective than banner advertising when inserted programmatically. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 Mobile gaming Any device Smartphone PC/Laptop Games Console 100% 89% 2.9bn people play games on 80% 82% their smartphone, equivalent 66% 71% 60% to seven in ten (71%) internet 63% users. This is up from 63% in 40% 45% 30% 2015 – an absolute increase 27% of one billion worldwide. 20% 0% In total, 3.4bn people play 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 games on any device, a rise of 662m since 2015. Yet the proportion of internet users gaming has actually fallen 84% 76% 86% 83% 73% 76% 56% 68% 70% 52% during this period, to 82%. 43% 40% 46% 39% 33% 21% 26% 44% 24% 31% While the fall mirrors wider device trends over recent years, it is also a reflection of the rise in the consumption of gaming content, with would- be gamers now watching others rather than playing themselves (see page 15). Note: Based on survey of internet users aged 16-64 across 46 different markets. Q: Which of the following do you use to play games? SOURCE: GlobalWebIndex © Copyright WARC 2020. All rightsreserved. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 Mobile gaming 34% Search 32% TV A full 29% of internet users (and 35% of gamers – 1.2bn) 23% Social media are mobile-only, rising to one Male 45% Female 55% in three in Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. Israel 48% Search (46%), Singapore (44%) and Thailand (42%) record the Gen Z Millennial Gen X 37% Social media 17% 41% 34% highest domestic rates. 36% Consumer reviews Baby Boomers 8% This cohort skews older than the average gamer, and is 56% Free delivery comprised mostly of females Asia Pacific – 33% (55% vs. 46% for all gamers). MEA – 32% 43% Coupons and discounts North America – 26% 28% Next-day delivery They are more casual gamers Europe – 25% – playing during idle time (on Latin America – 21% the commute, for example) – and do not engage with 48% Be eco-friendly typical gaming culture; only 45% Be socially responsible one in five (13%) visits Twitch, for example. Instead, mobile- 43% Listen to feedback only gamers typically spend 35 minutes longer watching linear TV than other gamers. Note: Based on survey of internet users aged 16-64 across 46 different markets. SOURCE: GlobalWebIndex © Copyright WARC 2020. All rightsreserved. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 Streaming is, for younger audiences especially, the 'new prime time’. Twitch alone draws 1.9m – predominantly Gen Z – viewers per day, mostly after 7pm. Two-thirds of 18–25 year-old gamers would rather play video games or watch gaming content than watch TV. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 Streaming Facebook Gaming Mixer Smashcast Twitch YouTube Gaming Amazon-owned Twitch is the 1,800 dominant platform, averaging 1,600 846.9m hours of gaming content viewed per month in 1,400 2019. This is more than double all other major 1,200 platforms combined. 1,000 The COVID-19 lockdown drove Twitch consumption to 800 new highs, and while most of the surge has been retained, 600 total hours are now trending downwards as lockdown 400 conditions ease. 200 Tencent is looking to disrupt the landscape with the launch 0 of Trovo – an analogous platform to Twitch – in the US 2020-03 2020-04 2020-05 2019-02 2019-03 2019-04 2019-05 2019-06 2019-07 2019-08 2019-09 2019-10 2019-11 2019-12 2020-01 2020-02 2020-06 this year. The move comes as 2019-01 Microsoft’s Mixer closed in Note: No YouTube data for June due to a change in algorithm. July 2020 due to poor uptake. SOURCE: Arsenal.gg © Copyright WARC 2020. All rightsreserved. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 e-sports is becoming established in Asia, with a second-gen evolution into female-led, mobile competition presenting new partnership opportunities. Brand investment is expected to reach $844m globally this year despite economic turbulence. Western markets are lagging and new audiences proved hard to woo during lockdown. Media rights will be core to future revenue gains, and a great deal of merger and acquisition activity is expected as investors vie for control. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 e-sports Watching more Just started 35% Just 3% of adults said they started watching e-sports 30% during April, when many markets were at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. 25% Instead, existing viewers were consuming more – this was 20% true of one in ten on average. 15% Newzoo finds that only 45% of all e-sports viewers can be 10% regarded as enthusiasts (those who watch frequently 5% and interact with content), while the majority (55%) are occasional viewers. 0% US UK Italy UAE CAC Peru India Chile Spain Almost three in five (58%) China Poland France Canada Belgium Sweden Average Portugal Australia Denmark Germany Colombia Indonesia enthusiasts are located in Argentina Switzerland South South Korea Asia, per Newzoo, while South Arabia Saudi Korea, India and Indonesia recorded the highest uptick in Note: Based on survey (n=845 per market, on average) representative of populations aged 18+, April 2020. CAC is Central America and Caribbean. consumption rates in April. SOURCE: McKinsey & Company © Copyright WARC 2020. All rightsreserved. WARC DATA Global Ad Trends, July 2020 e-sports Sponsorship Advertising Brand investment is expected 1,250 to rise in spite of economic 1,084.3 (+11.3%) turbulence this year, with the 974.3 vast majority (62.8% in 2020) (+15.5%) 1,000 of money directed towards 843.9 255.3 sponsorships. Over half of (+5.4%) 768.0 (+9.9%) 242.3 investment is made in Asia. (+20.9%) (+5.9%) 750 635.0 228.9 Advertisers looking to work in (+50.6%) 225.0 (+1.7%) this space should ensure (+8.7%) brand integration feels 421.6 207.0 organic and authentic, and 500 (+51.1%) (+33.3%) 829.0 that any messaging does not 732.0 155.3 (+12.4%) interfere with gameplay.