Gaming is a $200B+ industry, yet many brands still treat it as a test or a one-off line item. If the data already proves the ROI, why is the barrier to entry still perceived as so high? It is time to move from experimental budgets to long-term strategies that reach the global 225 million-strong gaming community authentically.
The Discussion: Drawing on 14 years at Spotify, Playwire, and EFG, Dominic Grant leads an audience-led, collaborative deep dive into shifting from transactional ads to cultural utility. This session moves beyond the why of gaming to provide a practical blueprint for how to work within the games and esports space from a brand perspective.
Learning from the success of partners like DHL, we will explore how brands can move from being an ‘interruption’ to a functional part of the fan experience. We’ll discuss the shift from simply buying space to building real value, showing that when gaming feels like a new frontier for a brand, an authentic connection is the only way to deliver sustained results. The goal is to provide a roadmap for accessing 225 million global gaming fans by becoming a member of the community rather than just a sponsor.
Key questions for the table:
What still stops brands from making gaming an always-on strategy?
What makes a brand feel valuable to a gaming community instead of intrusive?
How can brands stay culturally relevant across increasingly fragmented audience touchpoints?
What does gaming understand about modern audiences that other industries still miss?