Gaming in a Nutshell: Unveiling Key Personas for Brand Engagement

The world of gaming has changed drastically. It’s not just about “casual” or “hardcore” gamers anymore. There are now many different archetypes of gamers, and these groups shape the gaming world. Brands that want to connect with this ad-blocking, disposable-income-having audience need to understand these different kinds of players. As gaming keeps growing and evolving, marketers have to adapt to reach these different groups, as Helmi Abdalhadi, House of Gaming Manager at Serviceplan Group Middle East, explains.

Different Gamers and How Brands Can Reach Them

In the past, it was easy to divide gamers into just two groups – either “casual” or “hardcore”. Now, there are many smaller groups that gamers belong to. This is both good and bad news for brands: more tailored messaging means better communication and higher effectiveness – but it can also be more challenging to segment the audience, and then craft the correct message.

Figuring out how to connect with different gamers is a creative challenge. Some brands find ways to understand the different archetypes, such as Mastercard. Others use games with similar audiences as their own as a communication platform – Louis Vuitton and League of Legends is a great example of this. Some brands go even further, planning for the future and thinking long-term. Mercedes-Benz and Wendy’s are two such brands.

Meet the ‘High Street’ Gamer

Our first gamer archetype is the ‘High Street’ Gamer. These gamers don’t just play games – gaming is part of their entire lifestyle. They like fashion, pop culture, and things that are trendy. They watch TV shows, anime, and listen to podcasts on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. They play games like Valorant, League of Legends, and RP story games.

Esports organisation 100Thieves is one of the pioneers in the industry. They noticed that many gamers are keen on lifestyle content and merchandise and so created clothing lines and content in collaboration with popular culture brands. Luxury brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Ralph Lauren got in on it. They teamed up with different IPs in the gaming space and made capsules, content, partnerships and more that the “High Street Gamer” would appreciate.

Meet the ‘Jock’ Gamer

It is no secret that an immense overlap exists between traditional sports audiences and gamers. The melding of sports and gaming has been in the works since the industry’s inception. One of the strongest associations that non-gamers make with the gaming scene is that of huge sports titles such as FIFA, NBA2K and Wii Sports.

Sporting audiences have long been a lucrative target group for advertisers and brands. They possess strong brand advocacy motivators due to sport, team or athlete loyalty. The same applies to Esports and its audience, if not to a greater extent, as they possess significantly higher disposable income as per the Magid research group. Some brands who have successfully targeted Esports audiences are BMW, Amazon and Aramco.

Meet the “Audiophile Gamer”

It should come as no surprise that gamers with expensive headphones and microphones are also one of music and audiophile companies’ key target groups.

Just in the past two years, Marshmello, Travis Scott and Ariana Grande have all appeared in the Fortnite metaverse via in-game concerts to millions of spectators and players. Popstar Lil Nas X joined the wave and made an appearance himself in Roblox.

Well, how about audio companies themselves? Sennheiser, JBL, Beyerdynamic and other audiophile brands have gotten involved in gaming through different measures: Sennheiser and JBL now offer gaming-headset lines as well as audiophile-heavy premium headphones that are targeted at gamers. JBL sponsors gaming influencers regularly and hosts tournaments involving them.

Bringing It All Together

Gaming isn’t simple anymore, and there are many kinds of gamers out there, even beyond those mentioned above. Brands have to understand these different groups to target them, let alone connect with them. As gaming keeps growing, brands that can truly connect with gamers will do the best. It’s about building real connections and being a part of something that’s changing and evolving.