A couple of months ago I came across a quote by Geoffrey Moore that stuck with me, as someone who is working with data, day in and day out.
Without big data, you are blind and deaf, and in the middle of a freeway.
Geoffrey Moore
And this rings nowhere truer, than in esports and sponsorships. Even though sponsorships are a fixed pillar in the marketing strategy of all endemic brands in the esports ecosystem, sponsorship accountability – defined as measuring and growing the financial contribution of sponsorship investments and assets to a business-has become exponentially more important.
For esport organizations that means a paradigm shift. They often no longer have to explain why investing in esports, in general, is a good idea. Instead, they have to explain why investing in their particular organization the right choice – impossible without data.
Increased pressure to validate sponsorship initiatives
In a recent study by Forbes 78% of brands reported that there was an increase of pressure within the last two years to validate the financial results of sponsorship initiatives. 60% of CMOs responded that they were under increased pressure from the CEO to communicate, measure, and grow the financial impact of their sponsorship portfolio. And a whopping 96% of all marketeers, according to the Association of National Advertisers, feel it is important to have metrics that show their sponsorship performance in relation to other marketing expenditures.
A pressure, that in my experience, has been passed on directly to esport organizations. That includes household organizations, with a stable portfolio of partners, and newly established incumbents that are on their way to becoming the next big thing.
Good content is no longer enough
Having regular and high-quality content is no longer enough to satisfy brands. Questions like “Yes, great, that the tweet had 10 000 impressions. But what does that mean for us?” .“Cool that the stream, where our Logo would be displayed, had a reach of 23 000… but what is the ROI there for us?” are the ones organizations need to be able to answer, and it isn’t always that easy.
Start thinking about the ROI you create for brands
A media valuation tool enables esport organizations to answer the above questions for brands. It also serves as an important benchmark for themselves. An esport organization is not a hobby club asking for tax-deductible donations, but a valuable investment for brands to reach their business goals. By defining their value correctly, and utilizing their data right, organizations have a chance to beat their competition in the sponsorship game.
As the Account manager for Cavea I have noticed our partners can use the tool for more than just a benchmark for themselves, but as an active tool to grow their business, through the power of data. Not every esport organization follows the same strategies or same goals to continue to grow. What they all have in common is that growing their portfolio of partners and getting more, or better deals from their existing sponsors is what they need to do.
What is the media value your organization creates?
Sales managers of teams use the media valuation tool to showcase to potential new sponsors and partners their potential ROI, including streams, tweets, and content.
Through the integration of all player and team accounts across platforms, Cavea allows organizations to not only show and highlight the social accounts of all of the organization based accounts, but also the accounts of their signed Players, Streamers, and entertainers, giving a comprehensive overview of what potential sponsors can buy into.
Track all the accounts connected to your organization
Many organizations rely on the value of their signed properties as part of their business model. Having all these account metrics, after set up, within the reach of one click, not only saves time and energy for the organization but allows for a holistic view of the entire portfolio and its performance. Caveas media valuation platform provides, in a simple way data, in a language that brands understand: ROI.
With the increased pressure on marketeers on the brand side to prove the ROI on sponsorship initiatives, they might question existing deals and demand regular updates on the results. Caveas media valuation tool has been very successful in supporting account managers on the side of the teams. This includes reporting and helping to demonstrate that the ROI for brands is higher with their sponsorship than with other marketing channels.
Campaign planning for overview and time-limited sponsorships
Cavea allows for setting up campaigns, directly in the tool, evaluating their success right then and there. That includes information and media valuation, even if the events are hosted on third-party accounts or platforms, leaving the esport organization in full control of all of their relevant data.
Share the Data in real time with your partners
Time is money, but so is Data. Our partnership dashboard saves time and provides data, making everyone’s life easier. It is not a manually created pdf report that has to be sent over monthly, but rather a comprehensive report, that is automatically created within the tool, submitting almost real-time data. But if the partner should insist, organizations can with only a few clicks, create “traditional” reports instead.
At the end of the day, greater financial scrutiny from brands in regard to sponsorships might seem like a big challenge or an obstacle for esport organizations, but for the organizations that know their value and are data-savvy, it is a great opportunity to take out their competition.
