Hitting the right messaging strategy, tone, and execution is the key to powerful and authentic brand partnerships. This can be particularly difficult when speaking to deeply passionate, niche audiences like gamers. Dr Pepper came to IPG to help them understand how they could activate gamers. The result was a hugely popular partnership that is one of the most beloved and valued branded efforts within the gaming world.
In partnership with Initiative I helped craft a landscape overview of the gaming space. This report was part business analysis, part cultural listening and was used to feed into the comms planning process. I presented our landscape findings to Dr Pepper team to help guide their exploration of the space.
Enter consulting firm Catalyst and eSports organization TSM. Catalyst leveraged AI to best fit the Dr Pepper audience against the TSM digital footprint and identified TSM’s League of Legends Team Solomid as an ideal partner.
We worked tightly with TSM and Catalyst to step beyond traditional “logo slap” sponsorship to create bespoke branded content and social opportunities—completely changing the way brands operate within the gaming landscape.
Creative shop The Richard’s Group worked alongside our teams to come up with an authentic brand narrative that resonated deeply with gaming audiences.
As a result of these efforts, Dr Pepper was nominated in the “Commercial Partner of the Year” category of the 2018 eSports awards.