esports marketing in Indonesia: Why hardcore gamers are not your main audience

Contrary to what marketers may think, hardcore gamers should not be a primary audience when it comes to esports marketing in Indonesia. A gaming and esports research for Indonesia 2021, by Decision Lab and comms agency Vero, revealed that casual gamers - who only play for about one to three hours per session - make up 62% of the market's esports players.

According to the research, gamers in Indonesia can be grouped into three categories: power gamers, who play for over 21 hours per week; mainstream gamers, who play 11 to 20 hours a week; and casual gamers, who only play for five to 10 hours per week. Despite the short gaming hours clocked by casual gamers, they account for over half of the esports player community and remain a valid target audience for brands uniquely suited to them. 

While esports is growing fast in Indonesia, there are still some ways that brands have used it elsewhere to connect with their audiences that haven’t been tried here. Along with the rapid growth of the esports industry, Indonesia is witnessing a significant increase in gaming content creators, according to the research.

In this hyper-connected world, brands should consider the esports industry a 'co-business' rather than a 'show-business' using teams and players to help deliver messages. Instead, they can work directly with esports audiences as co-actors.  

Brands should also look at marketing towards esports audiences, as 92% of them claim that they interact with brand advertising efforts. The research revealed that ads with video (58%) and in-game prizes (52%) attract the most attention and interaction.

They are also most likely to purchase products in technology (62%), electronics (61%) and gaming accessories (58%). However, other industries that seem less relevant follow close behind, including F&B (57%), clothing (56%), and cosmetics (47%).

The research revealed that at least 52 million Indonesians play games consistently. The gaming scene in Indonesia is dominated by Millennials between 26 to 37 years old, 68% of whom have an average income of IDR10 million per month. Gamers present a potential market for brands as they have the financial ability to purchase items or products they see in the game, especially electronics, technology, and game accessories.

Additionally, streaming audiences are also a lucrative audience for brands. Half (50%) of the respondents were found to watch gaming streams for more than two to three times per week. Among them, 74% claim they watch the streams for entertainment. At the same time, 82% of gamers surveyed said that they enjoy playing alone and connecting with others online. As a result, streams double as a platform for social interaction among the streamers and watchers. One way brands can reach out to stream watchers are through the gamers themselves, as 56% of stream watchers said they have purchased a product advertised by a gamer KOL in the past month.

Vice president of public affairs IESPA, Andrew Tobias said, that it is important for brands to oversee and determine the right influencers as well as according to the target market they want to target. "In addition, building long-term partnerships with influencers or KOL can certainly create better content and bonds with consumers and be able to provide more optimal feedback," he added.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf), Sandiaga Salahudin Uno, also said, "The esports industry in Indonesia is one of the creative sub-sectors that has been growing rapidly that succeeded as “pandemic winner” and also able to make a major contribution to the Indonesian economy over the pandemic situation, especially with more and more business entities are involved with e-sports industry to support their business development.”

Separately, Indonesia-based game streaming platform GOX and Tencent Cloud recently entered a four-year partnership to offer livestreaming and esports solutions. The partnership aims to grow the local esports and content delivery ecosystem, whilst becoming an integral part of the entertainment market in Indonesia and Asia. The partnership will see GOX tap on Tencent's streaming service and content delivery network, to offer low latency, seamless and stable gaming content to millions of viewers. 

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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