Part of Bud Light's strategy is to advertise its products during gamesBUD LIGHT
Bud Light "created its own" esports competition, launching "Battle of the Best" on its Twitch channel this week, according to Seb Joseph of DIGIDAY. The Tuesday-Friday event includes some of the platform's "top streamers and personalities" competing against each other in a "medley of games." Bud Light already is "one of the more pervasive" advertisers in esports, and it has sponsored "some of the biggest properties." But this move has Bud Light "doubling down," trying to "straddle the line between advertiser and content creator." On one side of the strategy, it is "pushing into in-game advertising with a deal to have its brand appear in a game nearing completion." On the other side, it is "looking to pull more viewers into its Twitch channel and is looking to sign esports talent." This comes as esports increasingly "crosses over into mainstream culture" -- see recent investments by Post Malone and Bronny James. That point is where Bud Light Dir of Sports Marketing Joe Barnes "sees the sweet spot for where Bud Light's esports marketing crosses over into what it does around live sports." Barnes: "We're being approached by athletes all the time who want to be involved because they like to game. We'll work on the partnerships we already have in place to bring them into our ecosystem on Twitch and the Bud Light channel there. Gaming is where culture is being set" (DIGIDAY.com, 9/3).
