Dive Brief:

• The number of hours spent watching sponsored gaming and esport streams in the first quarter of 2022 increased 211% compared to the same period two years ago, peaking at 153 million, according to a study from Stream Hatchet that the company shared with Marketing Dive.
• Electric hardware brands were the most visible brands with streamers, with logos appearing in 5,700 of the top Twitch channels this year. Doritos was the most popular snack brand on Twitch, with 458,000 mentions, from its highly produced esport tournaments and a custom chip emote that has become the de facto symbol for snacks for many Twitch users.  
• Cryptocurrency brands are quickly becoming some of the most recognizable to gamers. Coinbase, in particular, reaped benefits from a partnership with Blast Premier that resulted in over 141 minutes of exposure time and 676 million impressions.

Dive Insight:

Gaming has been on the rise for years, with an estimated 215 million people playing games regularly. The pandemic also accelerated growth of the livestreaming category, benefitting platforms like Twitch. This dramatic arc and widening popularity among young consumers have made the space ripe for brands. 

Electronic hardware’s dominance in both logo presence and chat engagement is unsurprising, as such companies have a deep stake in the gaming industry. Gaming computers and PC companies have a vested interest in getting their products in front of as many gamers as possible. 

Following hardware, the categories with the highest brand logo presence were apparel (appearing in 7.3% of unique channels), household goods (4.3%), beverages (4.2%) and automotive (3.3%). The top five categories mentioned in Twitch chat were electronic hardware (22.4% of mentions), marketplaces (18.7%), web browsers (7.3%), beverages (6%) and payments companies (4.4%). 

In terms of specific brands, McDonald’s led the fast-food pack with 1.3 million mentions in chat on Twitch, accounting for 33% of mentions for the category. KFC was next with 878,000 mentions, while Subway (381,000), Wendy’s (360,000) and Burger King (151,000) rounded out the list. Doritos was the top-mentioned snack by far with nearly double that of its next closest competitor Cheetos (458,000 vs. 273,000, respectively). This could be due to Doritos’s tailored strategy, including the development of a custom emote. These emotes have shown to be one way brands can increase affinity among gamers.  

Luxury cars took the top four of five spots in the most talked-about automotive brands. Ferrari was mentioned 593,000 times, followed by Mercedes Benz (384,000), Audi (312,000), Porsche (264,000) and Chevrolet (126,000). Esport team sponsorships are popular among luxury car brands, such as Scuderia Ferrari’s partnership with Velas. Additionally, as streamers earn more from sponsorships, many choose to purchase luxury cars and talk about them as they play. 

Nike was the most talked-about sports apparel brand, making up 45.5% of mentions. Adidas was the second most mentioned brand, with 23.4% of mentions. Other popular sport apparel brands include Puma, The North Face and Champion.