At Esports Insider’s ESI Digital Summer a variety of ‘Brand Showcases’ brought to the fore some of esports’ biggest organisations along with a commercial partner to provide an insight on successful activations the entities embarked on together.
During the event, Mastercard shed light on the success of its expansion into esports, through its collaboration and support with DreamHack and its NLC League of Legends competition.
The banking firm underlined that esports grants a gateway to unlocking engagement with a new audience and a myriad of fresh demographics.
Jessica Stålhbom – Head of Marketing, Nordics and Baltics – Mastercard detailed why esports has been such a fruitful venture for the firm: “We are very focused on connecting people with their passion, sports arts, films and music, then esports which has fast-paced growth that compliments our world-class sponsorship portfolio.
“So, esports is attracting people all over the world of different races, genders and cultures, and similar to other partners esports has passionate and engaged fans. This makes it a great opportunity for us at Mastercard to be one of the first movers in the space and establish ourselves as a trusted authentic brand within League of Legends and the community. We can also bring new thinking and a new experience to a new set of customers.
“It’s also the right fit for our cardholder base and to connect Mastercard to the super highly-engaged gaming community. We can continue to engage with fans, players and audiences and create passion and engagement among them all.
“The trend is super clear, we are heading towards explosive growth. Not only is League of Legends one of the played PC games in the world, but it has a tremendous global reach from the player and viewer perspective.”
James Herring – Account Manager Esports – FRUKT / Octagon also praised Mastercard for their embracing of esports and how they collaborated with the industry and listened to influencers in the sector when they entered the growing sector.
