How Gamers and Category Experts Are Influencing Brands and Shaping the Creator Economy
How do brands “show up” in meaningful ways in the lives of Gen Z consumers? Get yourself to gaming platforms.
That’s the key focus of a burgeoning unit within advertising giant Havas that aims to take audience targeting to new levels by tapping into gaming communities and social networks built around fandom and esports.
Angelique Hernandez, VP and portfolio lead for Havas Play, and Jarell Thompson, VP of gaming for Havas Play, explained in detail how their teams hunt for good opportunities to connect brands with gamer culture. This episode of Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast is a good warmup for the Cannes Lions festival, set to unfold June 16-20 in Cannes, France. That event is all about the connection of brands, marketers, advertisers and — increasingly — the influencers and social media creators who can reach elusive young consumers. Variety will be there in force.
Listen to the full podcast:
Hernandez said that in the world of online gaming communities, creators have options now, and that’s another telling sign about the evolution of the marketplace.
“They don’t necessarily have to have a brand partnership, right? They can make money on their own. There are all these platforms now that allow them to do that,” Hernandez said in a conversation held as part of the annual Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit in April. “You also have companies, whether they’re brands or even social platforms, that turn to them because now, not only are they experts in what their audience likes to see and hear and talk about, they’re also experts on the platform themselves, like creators know how to use TikTok and Instagram.”
Of course, where digital advertising is concerned, brand safety is always a concern. Thompson detailed the filters and process that Havas Play employs to find the best matches and avoid the landmines of something going viral for the wrong reasons.
“We have a really in-depth process where we vet creators. We have a lot of systems in place where we like do a lot of digging. We make sure that we’re connecting the right brands to the right creators, and we’re doing our due diligence to ensure that like their brand, safe, or if they’re relevant for the brand,” Thompson said. “Because honestly, some brands might make sense for certain creators who may be a little bit edgy, might be a little bit risque, but for some like the financial brands that we work with, we need to make sure that we honestly match with everyone who is the most brand safe and makes sense for the right audience.”
In a separate conversation, Shab Azma, CEO of founder of talent management firm ARC Collective, offered the perspective of creators and expert influencers who are being heavily courted for brand partnerships. What social media platforms offer is unfettered ownership and control of the content, and that’s very appealing.
“We really are focused a lot right now on ownership. There’s a time and a place for traditional television, but that is breaking,” Azma said. “It’s gridlocked, and digital natives are creating content that is just as well produced as what as we’ve seen on television. They can take bigger swings.”
Azma continued, “That’s why not every influencer is really looking to be in traditional entertainment — because they understand the power that they hold within their creator community. For us, we’re really nurturing that in many ways. We really have found that there’s a flywheel and our talent becomes the nucleus for doing podcasts, live streaming, events, publishing, consumer products — all the things that they get to retain ownership in.”
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.
(Pictured: Variety‘s Cynthia Littleton and Havas Play’s Angelique Hernandez and Jarell Thompson)
That’s the key focus of a burgeoning unit within advertising giant Havas that aims to take audience targeting to new levels by tapping into gaming communities and social networks built around fandom and esports.
Angelique Hernandez, VP and portfolio lead for Havas Play, and Jarell Thompson, VP of gaming for Havas Play, explained in detail how their teams hunt for good opportunities to connect brands with gamer culture. This episode of Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast is a good warmup for the Cannes Lions festival, set to unfold June 16-20 in Cannes, France. That event is all about the connection of brands, marketers, advertisers and — increasingly — the influencers and social media creators who can reach elusive young consumers. Variety will be there in force.
Listen to the full podcast:
Hernandez said that in the world of online gaming communities, creators have options now, and that’s another telling sign about the evolution of the marketplace.
“They don’t necessarily have to have a brand partnership, right? They can make money on their own. There are all these platforms now that allow them to do that,” Hernandez said in a conversation held as part of the annual Variety Entertainment Marketing Summit in April. “You also have companies, whether they’re brands or even social platforms, that turn to them because now, not only are they experts in what their audience likes to see and hear and talk about, they’re also experts on the platform themselves, like creators know how to use TikTok and Instagram.”
Of course, where digital advertising is concerned, brand safety is always a concern. Thompson detailed the filters and process that Havas Play employs to find the best matches and avoid the landmines of something going viral for the wrong reasons.
“We have a really in-depth process where we vet creators. We have a lot of systems in place where we like do a lot of digging. We make sure that we’re connecting the right brands to the right creators, and we’re doing our due diligence to ensure that like their brand, safe, or if they’re relevant for the brand,” Thompson said. “Because honestly, some brands might make sense for certain creators who may be a little bit edgy, might be a little bit risque, but for some like the financial brands that we work with, we need to make sure that we honestly match with everyone who is the most brand safe and makes sense for the right audience.”
In a separate conversation, Shab Azma, CEO of founder of talent management firm ARC Collective, offered the perspective of creators and expert influencers who are being heavily courted for brand partnerships. What social media platforms offer is unfettered ownership and control of the content, and that’s very appealing.
“We really are focused a lot right now on ownership. There’s a time and a place for traditional television, but that is breaking,” Azma said. “It’s gridlocked, and digital natives are creating content that is just as well produced as what as we’ve seen on television. They can take bigger swings.”
Azma continued, “That’s why not every influencer is really looking to be in traditional entertainment — because they understand the power that they hold within their creator community. For us, we’re really nurturing that in many ways. We really have found that there’s a flywheel and our talent becomes the nucleus for doing podcasts, live streaming, events, publishing, consumer products — all the things that they get to retain ownership in.”
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.
(Pictured: Variety‘s Cynthia Littleton and Havas Play’s Angelique Hernandez and Jarell Thompson)