The PlayFronts were, by all counts, a major success. Attendance was nearly double what was expected. Speaking slots and sponsorships of the event were oversold. Titans of the industry plus startups alike showed off their wares.
One of the highlights of the entire event was a Rocket League Tournament – Thece’s IAB PlayFronts Cup. This was the first time a “pro-am’ tournament was produced that paired “amateurs” from the brand/agency industry with professional Rocket League players.
The PlayFronts Cup was a rave success. And through the week, we were reassured as to why we think Thece is going to be a winner for advertising in the emerging gaming space.
- We’ve created a product that works today and is scalable today. Surely the metaverse is the future, but from an advertiser perspective it seems no closer now than it was 2 years ago. By combining reach, frequency and engagement now, it carves a path for incremental growth into the future, including the etaverse. Many in the gaming space are preparing for tomorrow. But by the time they get there, we’ll have already taken a huge chunk of the market share.
- The market is awash with in-game and rewarded ad companies (9 of the 12 presentations by our count). The rewarded ad market is well known, yet still dominated by endemic advertisers. n-game advertisement is nascent and, from all presentations we experienced, it is hard to imagine a path to brand engagement or conversion through the placements. Although in-game advertising can all prove some measure of viewability, they cannot agree on measurement or verification, which means they are all choosing their own path. Unlike the crowded reward ad market and the nascent in-game advertising ventures, Thece’s ad unit it 100% viewable, reportable, and verifiable by Comscore, the gold standard for measurement used by the advertising industry.
- Thece is the only major player in Livestream, as more than one media buyer has labeled us. We provide the reach and frequency play that every esports and gaming media plan needs to ensure scale. The native labor intensive activations that brands love are an important part of the mix, but usually only hit a very small portion of their audience.Using Thece, brands are consistently seen by the 18-34 year old demographic, which is what advertisers ultimately want.
If you’re ready to take the next step into the future of advertising, check out thece.co/esports/.