Gaming levels the playing field
The conversation shifted into how gaming opens up fan access. “In a lot of fandom, it actually starts with the controller. It’s no longer the ticket,” explained Alex Dao, VP of advertising and sponsorships at Electronic Arts. “And so, it democratizes that access to the player. The players in our games start to follow different teams, allegiances, and loyalties through our games, and then they live that out in the real world,” he said.
Brands like Liquid IV are also joining fan communities. “We look at it as a balance between showing up in these big cultural moments to gain awareness, and we look for partners that are aligned with our brand values and share the same demographic. We like to balance that by focusing on those micro moments and those micro experiences,” said Brittany Shaw, Liquid IV’s Head of Brand. “It’s about bringing our community on the journey with us, and having them be part of the brand story.”
With F1, the fandom runs especially deep, added Google’s Kate Johnson. “Just going down into the pits and making sure that fans have access to learn as much as they want about the drivers, about the technology, about the engineers—those are the right partnerships to form,” she shared.
Finding ways to inspire the world to play is what EA Sports is all about. “When we think about play, there are ways to do that within our games, but then there are also ways to do that around our games. We’re thinking about more experiential types of things where we can bring the player and the fan into real-world experiences and bridge that back into the game itself,” said Dao.
Featured Conversation Leaders
- Alex Dao, VP, Advertising and Sponsorships, Electronic Arts
- Divya Goel, VP, Fan Engagement, Williams Racing
- Ashley Holinger, Global Head of pan-Amazon for Games, Amazon Web Services
- Andrea Hopelain, SVP, Marketing and Commercial, Electronic Arts
- Griffin Johnson, Creator and Entrepreneur
- Kate Johnson, Global Marketing Director, Integrated Brand Partnerships, Head of Sports and Entertainment, Google
- Will Lee, CEO, ADWEEK
- Brittany Shaw, Head of Brand, Liquid IV
- Kameryn Stanhouse, VP, Sports and Entertainment Partnerships, IBM
