The proposed action combines the international know-how of the FTW electronic sports market with DDB's global reach and expertise. “I can say from a global perspective that gaming is the biggest cultural change with the greatest potential in terms of a new market and has a very engaged audience. When we announced FTW a few months ago, we received an avalanche of interested customers and agencies, and Brazil was one of the highlights with enormous potential for the coming years. So, along with SunsetDDB's strength and creativity and Pipo's background in eSports and gaming, our motivation to come to Brazil could not be more evident,” explains Gavin Cheng, Managing Director of DDB FWT Worldwide.
The network expands its operations at a time of market growth. In 2020, Latin America generated around US$ 6 billion in the segment and data from 2018 point to Brazil with revenues of US$ 1.5 billion, with 75.7 million players. For the CEO of the Brazilian unit, the biggest challenge in the country will be to find ways to introduce brands in this gaming community in authentic ways and creating projects that are designed for the long term.
Also according to Pipo, whenever there is talk of this merger “there is tension because the market is either part of that community and brings value to the experiences or they will feel that you are just exploring the platforms and so the brands will not be able to enter.”
“It is a culture change, we need to be part of it, and for that there are two important things: understanding how we can gather Brazilian talents with stakeholders to create something of value for the community and brands, and how we can use the power of FTW as a global network in this transformation,” says Calazans.
Despite the rise of the market and the acceleration caused by the pandemic in the understanding of these new business opportunities, Cheng explains that another difficulty that professionals encounter in the area is that gaming represents different things, for different people. Thus, the sector has three dimensions: an industry, with developers in an ecosystem and all players; a culture that spreads codes, fashions, languages and behaviors; and a channel that presents itself in the game, around the game and about the game.
What DDB FTW wants to do is work with a complete understanding of brands and gaming, having ownership over the two cultures and relationships in these industries. According to Cheng, by bringing these two potentials together, they offer brands a channel and path on this new frontier, with the network being a pathfinder who wants to help their customers and guide them to create engaging and mutually relevant projects for brands and games.
Calazans comments that to understand the concept of the agency, it is necessary to put aside the experiences already lived by the traditional advertising market, because “when we think about it, we already have something very well established, while this universe presents several possibilities in the way of working.”
"I am very excited not only because I am working with something I love, but because it is changing the perspective I have as a professional, of how I can work in a liquid way so that it makes more sense for everyone," says the CEO.
Source: Meio&Mensagem
