Gen Z’s Buying Power Unlocked Through Influencer Marketing and Gaming

March 07, 2024 at 09:44 AM EST

Marketing has come a long way since its early days, but its basic concept remains– to promote a business’s products or services. In the past, marketers relied heavily on impersonal, broad campaigns such as print ads, TV commercials, and billboards.

But times have changed and marketing to younger generations is a completely different ballgame. Gen Z already makes up a significant portion of the buyers shopping and purchasing from today’s businesses in every industry. Soon, they’ll become the largest group of consumers in the market overall.

The problem is, effectively marketing to this “woke” generation can be challenging. Gen Z consumers have very different life experiences, buying habits, priorities and world views than previous generations. They’re also digital natives, spending an average of 2 hours and 55 minutes per day on social media, more than any other generation

The secret weapon to captivating this influential cohort? Influencer marketing.

Influencers on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are not just entertainment; they play a pivotal role in Gen Z’s decision-making processes with approximately 45% of Gen Z consumers being influenced by these platforms.

Just look at how brands like Crocs and Stanley have reinvented themselves through influencer collaborations, proving that direct consumer dialogue can turn a sleepy brand into a viral sensation.

Rather than investing heavily in traditional advertising to engage Gen Z, Crocs CEO Terence Reilly tapped into the power of collaboration, allowing its consumers to lead the conversation. The brand partnered with influencers who created content showing their peers how to style the shoes, turning a once-mocked brand into a fashion statement.

Reilly used the same technique at Stanley, transforming the 110-year old business into a $750 million titan with a massive social media presence.

Video game streamers are also becoming valuable brand ambassadors as Gen Z swaps out traditional sports for video games.

Esports, aka competitive video gaming, may have started out as a niche hobby but it has transformed into a global phenomenon and created a new category of celebrity influencers, some of which are signing deals bigger than NBA players.

In 2024, the global esports market is expected to reach $2.5 billion in revenues with an audience of over 540 million.

Sports teams and brands are taking note, teaming up with video game streamers to expand their audience and revenue streams.

A prime example is the NBA 2K League, a professional gaming league centered around the NBA 2K video game series. This league, managed by the NBA, has not only attracted diverse players but also garnered substantial viewership. Several teams, like the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, own their own NBA 2K League franchises. Even Steph Curry is investing in this hot industry.

Another company fully embracing the power of influencer marketing is OverActive Media (TSXV:OAM) (OTC:OAMCF), a global esports and entertainment company catering to today’s generation of fans.

Through strategic acquisitions, OverActive Media has created a global esports powerhouse with a noteworthy roster of influencers and brand partnerships.

OverActive Media Builds a Worldwide Esports Empire Boasting Over 100 Million Followers

OverActive Media is Canada’s largest esports ownership group with a roster of wildly popular professional esports teams with a huge following, including the Toronto Ultra in Call of Duty League, the MAD Lions for the League of Legends EMEA Championship and the Toronto Defiant in the Overwatch Champion Series.

OverActive Media (TSXV:OAM) (OTC:OAMCF) just completed the acquisition of Spanish Esports organizations KOI and Movistar Riders, catapulting its presence into rapidly expanding international markets with a treasure trove of unparalleled esports assets and over 100 million followers.

KOI, co-founded by Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos and soccer legend Gerard Piqué, quickly became one of Europe’s premier brands. Gerard Piqué initiated the Kings League, a highly followed sports channel on digital platforms with over 100 million views in 2023. OverActive Media has secured service contracts with both Ibai and Gerard.

Movistar Riders, which competes in popular games such as League of Legends, CS2, VALORANT, and FIFA, brought with it a long-term multimillion dollar partnership with telecom leader Telefónica, which was renewed for another three years following the acquisition.

KOI and Movistar are expected to add C$10 million to C$12 million in revenues in 2024 and further bolster OverActive Media‘s rising viewership numbers.

The newly formed MAD Lions KOI team has already seen record crowds, drawing 741,000 peak viewers in a regular season match during the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Winter Split in January. This was the highest viewership since summer 2021. Co-founder Ibai also contributed to this momentum, attracting over 4.7 million Twitch views, surpassing the 2.93 million viewers of the Succession series premiere. Another milestone was achieved on February 18 during the LEC, with a record 830,816 viewers, the highest ever for a regular season match.

OverActive Media also just received the green light from Riot Games to compete in the VALORANT Champions Tour EMEA 2024 season. The company will operate as Movistar KOI alongside 9 other teams. This participation not only enhances fan engagement and draws in sponsorships but also paves the way for new revenue opportunities.

Click here for more information about OverActive Media (TSXV:OAM) (OTC:OAMCF).

Featured Image @ Freepik

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6) This document contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, (collectively, “forward-looking statements”), which reflect management’s expectations regarding OverActive Media’s future growth, future business plans and opportunities, expected activities, and other statements about future events, results or performance. Wherever possible, words such as “predicts”, “projects”, “targets”, “plans”, “expects”, “does not expect”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “anticipate” or “does not anticipate”, “believe”, “intend” and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative or grammatical variation thereof or other variations thereof, or comparable terminology have been used to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements relating to: (a) revenue generating potential with respect to OverActive Media’s industry; (b) market opportunity; (c) OverActive Media’s business plans and strategies; (d) services that OverActive Media intends to offer; (e) OverActive Media’s milestone projections and targets; (f) OverActive Media’s expectations regarding receipt of approval for regulatory applications; (g) OverActive Media’s intentions to expand into other jurisdictions including the timeline expectations relating to those expansion plans; and (h) OverActive Media’s expectations with regarding its ability to deliver shareholder value. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management in light of management’s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, as of the date of this document including, without limitation, assumptions about: (a) the ability to raise any necessary additional capital on reasonable terms to execute OverActive Media’s business plan; (b) that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; (c) OverActive Media’s ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; (d) OverActive Media’s ability to enter into contractual arrangements with additional parties; (e) the accuracy of budgeted costs and expenditures; (f) OverActive Media’s ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; (g) political and regulatory stability; (h) the receipt of governmental, regulatory and third-party approvals, licenses and permits on favorable terms; (i) changes in applicable legislation; (j) stability in financial and capital markets; and (k) expectations regarding the level of disruption to as a result of CV-19. Such forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of OverActive Media to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, without limitation: (a) OverActive Media’s operations could be adversely affected by possible future government legislation, policies and controls or by changes in applicable laws and regulations; (b) public health crises such as CV-19 may adversely impact OverActive Media’s business; (c) the volatility of global capital markets; (d) political instability and changes to the regulations governing OverActive Media’s business operations (e) OverActive Media may be unable to implement its growth strategy; and (f) increased competition.

Except as required by law, OverActive Media undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future event or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Neither does OverActive Media nor any of its representatives make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, sufficiency or completeness of the information in this document. Neither OverActive Media nor any of its representatives shall have any liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise, to you or any person resulting from the use of the information in this document by you or any of your representatives or for omissions from the information in this document.

7) Any graphs, tables or other information demonstrating the historical performance or current or historical attributes of OverActive Media or any other entity contained in this document are intended only to illustrate historical performance or current or historical attributes of OverActive Media or such entities and are not necessarily indicative of future performance of OverActive Media or such entities.

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