Brief:

• Procter & Gamble's Bounty brand of paper towels enlisted popular personalities on Amazon's livestreaming platform Twitch to show gamers how they can quickly clean up spills that interrupt gameplay, per an announcement.
• The campaign includes a video that dramatizes the anguish felt by gamers who accidentally knock over drinks on their computer equipment during intense gaming sessions.
• Bounty and Twitch are collaborating with streamers including Joshua Beaver (whose Twitch handle is JoshOG), Anthony Kongphan (Anthony_Kongphan) and Hannah Kennedy (Bnans) on the campaign. P&G plans to add more streamers throughout June, per its announcement.

Insight:

P&G's influencer campaign on Twitch for Bounty paper towels aims to reach a young audience that's mostly elusive to other media platforms. Twitch viewership started to surge in March as people stuck at home during pandemic lockdowns spent more time watching the livestreams of gamers, including influencers who have gained a loyal following on the Amazon-owned platform. Twitch lets viewers post comments on a running feed alongside its live videos, helping to deepen the engagement with streamers while fostering connections with other gaming fans. By collaborating with streamers like Joshua Beaver, who has 1.7 million followers on Twitch, Bounty can get its brand in front of those engaged audiences.

Bounty's campaign is another sign of how non-gaming brands are taking an interest in gaming audiences that either watch Twitch, play popular games like "Fortnite" or are fans of esports. The Almond Board of California, a trade group that represents growers in the state, last month launched a campaign on Twitch to show viewers how to power up their gaming sessions with a healthy snack. Chocolate maker Hershey last year signed a sponsorship deal with Twitch to boost exposure on its platform and at esports events.

The demographics of gamers are desirable for advertisers, and gamers have indicated they are open to seeing advertising. Fifty-five percent of Twitch's audience is 18 to 34 years old, a key group for marketers, while 82% of its users are male, per Comscore data cited in Influencer Marketing Hub. More than half (53%) of mobile gamers said ads helped them get updates about products they want, compared with 42% of non-gamers, per researcher Newzoo.

Twitch's surge in viewership during lockdowns was somewhat unexpected, and accelerated a longer-term shift toward streaming platforms and away from linear TV. As many cities and states ease lockdowns and people resume activities like going to work or spending time outside the home, viewership is likely to decline from the April peak. Before the pandemic boosted Twitch's viewership to record levels, researcher eMarketer had forecast the platform would grow 14% to 37.5 million this year and reach about 16% of the U.S. audience for digital video.