Brief:
- Manscaped, the marketer of "below-the-belt" grooming products for men, released an interactive game in the San Francisco 49ers' mobile app. The "Field Goal Challenge" tests a fan's ability to kick as many virtual field goals as possible in 30 seconds, according to an announcement.
- To play the game, users of the team's app must first tap on the "More" tab to access the "Trivia & Games" section. With the flick of a finger, players kick virtual footballs into the uprights of a lifelike version of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The in-app stadium has cheering spectators and signage showing the Manscaped logo. Players have a chance to appear in the game's leaderboard of global top scores.
- The game is the first of other planned activations after Manscaped became the first "Official Below-The-Waist Grooming Partner" of the 49ers last summer. The 49ers app has 125,000 monthly active users (MAUs), and is available for free download from Apple's App Store and Google Play.
Insight:
Manscaped is working to deepen its partnership with the 49ers and engage at-home fans through mobile entertainment inspired by the team. With Levi's Stadium closed to fans this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the men's grooming brand has fewer options for in-stadium signage and other activations. Even if the stadium were open, 38% of 49ers fans said they wouldn't attend games this season because of the health crisis, the highest percentage among any NFL team's fan base, a survey by Casino.org found.
Mobile gaming has grown into a more popular form of entertainment in the past decade or so, and the pandemic has recently led people to spend even more time playing mobile games as many remain mostly at home. The widespread adoption of smartphones has made video games more accessible to billions of people worldwide. Spending on mobile games this year is estimated to be 2.8 times more than for PC games and 3.1 times more than gaming consoles, researchers App Annie and International Data Corp. (IDC) forecast. Hypercasual games like Manscaped's "Field Goal Challenge" are especially popular because they're easy for players to master quickly, making them accessible to a wider group of consumers. Seventy-eight percent of all mobile game downloads consisted of hypercasual games in 2019, according to researcher Sensor Tower.
The 49ers are among the NFL teams that have highlighted their mobile apps as a way of engaging fans, especially for valuable ticketholders who can't attend games in person. The Los Angeles Chargers last month released an updated mobile app to provide fans with livestreamed games and real-time information while SoFi Stadium remains closed. The team planned to add features such as discounts season ticket members and an augmented reality (AR) portal to let fans immerse themselves in a virtual view of the team's home field.
