Kia, KitKat, and OnePlus to shed light on esports partnerships at ESI Digital Summit

The ESI Digital Summit (#ESIDIGITAL) is just a day away, providing insights into the esports industry for attendees in the comfort of their own homes. As well as hosting panels on emerging trends, pressing topics, and debate subjects, the event gives a platform to companies who’ve chosen to activate within esports.

As part of what’s become tradition for Esports Insider’s business conferences, such as ESI London and ESI New York, the ESI Digital Summit will follow suit and host multiple brand showcases. Rights-holders and select commercial partners will grace the stage – well, the screen in this case – to shed light into how the partnerships came to be, successful activations they’ve executed in esports, and how these experiences compare to other markets.

ESI Brand Showcase #1 – Rogue and Kia

Just last month, North American organisation Rogue entered a deal with Kia Motors specifically for its European League of Legends team. Interestingly, Kia Motors was an existing sponsor of Riot Games’ LEC – the very league that Rogue is a long-term partner of.

While the one-year partnership has only just taken to the road, it’s still a significant partnership between an esports organisation and a major player in the global automotive market. Rogue’s players will utilise Kia Motor’s vehicles while travelling, but there are plenty of topics to discuss when looking at a brand deal of this nature.

With that in mind, Anna Baumann, Managing Director of Rogue Sports Europe, and SaeGyul Yoon of Kia, will speak at the ESI Digital Summit to look under the hood of this exciting collaboration.

ESI Brand Showcase #2 – Fnatic and OnePlus

London-based organisation Fnatic and smartphone manufacturer OnePlus realised a global partnership in January 2019 after first collaborating at Paris Games Week in 2017. What has followed is regarded by many as one of the deepest brand integrations in esports to date.

Not only does OnePlus activate through a standard jersey sponsorship, the smartphone giant introduced the ‘One Plus FNATIC Mode’ in its OnePlus 7 Series. This setting is the model’s enhanced performance mode specifically devised for gaming, and bringing Fnatic into the fold so heavily was an integration nobody could have predicted years prior.

Fnatic’s Partnerships Manager, Edward Gregory, and OnePlus’ Director of Global Brand Partnerships, Eric Gass, will delve into the partnership on day one of ESI Digital Summit.

ESI Brand Showcase #3 – LEC and KitKat

Nestlé managed to turn what’s effectively a negative aspect of a broadcast into a great marketing opportunity with its KitKat brand. Sponsoring the pauses in LEC’s broadcast – which typically take place due to unforeseen technical difficulties and are only amplified by online play – and making a play on KitKat’s well-known “Have a break, have a KitKat” slogan.

KitKat sponsored the pauses to “make those minutes of downtime fly by” with a rather organic and logical activation, opting out of just slapping its logo on the league’s social media channels and leaving it there.

Alban Dechelotte, Head of Partnerships & Business for Riot Games EMEA, Georg Fischer, Marketing Manager for KitKat in Europe, Middle East, North Africa for Nestlé, and Nazar Syrotiuk, Emerging Tech Manager, Innovation & Service Models at Nestlé will break down the partnership at ESI Digital Summit.