Esports strategy and activation: choose the right playing field before you enter the game

Esports, gaming, influence: three fields, three logics

These three words are often used interchangeably. They do not describe the same audience.

Esports is competition: teams, leagues, tournaments and an audience of fans who follow results. Gaming is far broader. It covers everyone who plays, from mobile to PC, which means 3.7 billion players worldwide according to Newzoo. Influence runs through content creators, who talk about video games but also sport, lifestyle and tech.

A sound strategy therefore starts with a simple question: where is your audience, and what does it do when it plays? The field that makes the most noise is not always the one where it spends its time.

Activation levers, from the lightest to the most committed

• A campaign with creators. The most flexible entry point, measurable within a few weeks.
• A partnership with a club or team. Jersey, streams, content and access to a loyal community. The commitment is counted in seasons.
• An event or tournament in your name, online or on stage. A highlight that needs logistics and a proper broadcast plan.
• An in-game presence: integration into a game, virtual items, a branded space on platforms such as Fortnite or Roblox.
• Owned content, whether a show, a series or a competition. It is the heaviest lever. It is also the one that builds the most value over time.

The right mix depends on the target, the timing and what you want to prove. A brand launching a product to 18 to 25-year-olds will not pull the same levers as a bank reshaping its image over three years.

Our method: test, measure, then scale

1. Audit. Your objectives, your audiences, your track record and what your competitors are doing. We also check that the brand can speak to players without striking a false note: some messages land badly in this culture.
2. Recommendation. The chosen levers, the budget per lever, the timeline and the KPIs. A document your board can decide on.
3. Pilot. A first activation on a controlled budget, to test the assumptions in real conditions.
4. Roll-out. We scale what works and stop the rest. STAKRN coordinates the partners: clubs, organisers, creators, producers.
5. Wrap-up. Figures, lessons learnt and the decisions for the next season.

What we measure

Views and impressions are not enough to judge an activation. Depending on the objective, we track qualified reach (who saw it, and in which audience), engagement (watch time, comments, participation), business impact (traffic, promo codes, sign-ups, sales) and brand impact, measured with a before-and-after study when the budget allows.

KPIs are set before launch. Never after.

They trusted us with their strategy

Ubisoft, Arsenal, G2 Esports, Groupe Barrière and the French Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE) are among the organisations that have called on STAKRN Agency’s esports consulting. The detail of the services, the talent we represent and our market analyses is on that specialist website. To train your teams before you start, see also our training and masterclasses.