Summer 2019 saw Honda in North America partner with E-Sports property League of Legends Championship and one of its pre-eminent side’s Team Liquid as it seeks to leverage competitive gaming as a way of maintaining its status as the region’s pre-eminent auto brand for first time buyers.
The Japanese auto giant penned an official automaker partnership with Riot Games Inc.’s League of Legends Championship Series (one of North America’s biggest E-Sports leagues) and three-time champion Team Liquid to engage and convert first time US and Canadian car buyers.
The tactic sees the car company seek to leverage competitive gaming to maintain its status as the dominant first-time buyer brand.
Honda’s objective is to connect with young consumers on their own terms in their own environments.
The partnership launched at the league’s Summer Split playoffs in Los Angeles
We are excited to announce that @Honda is now the exclusive automotive partner for the #LCS!
Learn more at: https://t.co/lA7jJn2YMQ pic.twitter.com/jzT8KEbXgA
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) August 8, 2019
and it was initially activated through talent fronted video content from Team Liquid rolled out during the League of Legends Championship Series broadcasts which including four 15-second videos featuring players Doublelift, Hungrybox, Vivid and CEO Steve Arhancet in custom-wrapped Honda Civics.
This custom social video series, launched on 8 August and running across Honda and Team Liquid digital and social platforms celebrates the imagination and determination of Team Liquid athletes as they compete in the year’s biggest esports tournaments.
‘Every Time featuring Vivid’,
‘Foresight featuring Steve Arhancet’,
‘It Drives Me featuring Hungrybox’
and ‘It’s What You Do featuring Doublelift’.
Honda is proud to be the official automotive partner of Team Liquid. For more from Team Liquid and Honda, check out Level Up, a custom series celebrating the imagination and determination of Team Liquid athletes as they compete in the year’s biggest esports tournaments.
As it unfolds, activating the deal will see Honda and Riot work together on a behind-the-scenes documentary at this weekend’s Summer Split playoffs in Los Angeles, plus the auto brand will run traditional on-site advertising that will feature wrapped cars outside the venue.
Honda is also the naming rights to the championship series’ MVP award.
“These younger audiences that we’re trying to reach really prefer e-sports and social media over more traditional media,” said Phil Hruska, manager of media strategy at American Honda.
“We look at these deals as a social-media platform, which is a great evolution of where the eyeballs are going. Through this partnership with the LCS, Honda will continue to forge a strong connection with the next generation of car buyers who happen to be fans of the incredible athletes of Team Liquid and the League of Legends Championship Series in North America,” said Hruska.
“We understand the passion of esports fans and how strongly they support the gaming community, and Honda is fully vested in creating one-of-a-kind, unforgettable experiences for gamers as we launch the next phase of Honda’s endeavor in esports and gaming.”
Matthew Archambault, Riot’s North American head of e-sports partnerships and business development added: “We really try to find brands that are investing in this space, and don’t just see esports as checking a box,” said Matthew Archambault, Riot’s North American head of e-sports partnerships and business development. Honda is looking to invest, commit resources and go into storytelling.”
Comment:
The global e-sports audience is more than 450 million people (according to analysis firm Newzoo) and North America is the largest market.
While League of Legends alone has 1.1 million average daily users and its competitive matches had 26 million total hours watched during the 2018 season.
So it certainly seems a strategically sensible sponsorship move from Honda as this group is predominantly young and tech-savvy and don’t engage with traditional, above-the-line marketing platforms in the same way as their older peers.
Especially as Millennials and Gen Z are the only generations increasing their share of car sales in the current environments.
Honda’s Civic and Accord models are the top-selling vehicles for first-time buyers in North America (according to the car company’s own data).
Honda joins an impressive stable of sponsors for Riot’s North American league (others include Mastercard, State Farm, Walmart and Quicken Loans)
Indeed, unlike many other sports leagues, instead of generation the bulk of their revenue from media rights and ticket sales, corporate sponsorship is often E-Sports’ main source of revenue.
Honda has been active in E-Sports since 2014 and its activations have ranged from in-game integration in Fora, R vs. R with Xbox and around its rights as the presenting sponsor of EA’s first NHL World Championship, while the brand recently built the ‘Honda Head 2 Head’ program with Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/hondahead2head).
Links:
Honda
https://www.facebook.com/honda
https://www.instagram.com/honda/
https://www.pinterest.com/honda/
https://snapchat.com/add/officialhonda
https://www.linkedin.com/company/amer…
Team Liquid
https://twitter.com/TeamLiquid
https://www.facebook.com/teamliquid
https://www.instagram.com/TeamLiquid
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