Brand Image and Social Presence for Esports Pros: How Important Is It?

A few days ago, Mateus "C9 Porti" Portilho (@portilho), the senior social media manager of Cloud9, gave a "hot" take on how pro players need to work on their social numbers and brand image. The post was quoted again by Esports journalist Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky), emphasising how it is essential for pro players to work on their brand images. The takes had the esports community divided.

Esports and Sponsorships:

Quoting Portilho, "It's also INCREDIBLY harder for organisations to market them[selves] if they are never interested in being part of content, post on socials, be featured in sponsorship features, etc. ", Esports organisations largely depend on the sponsorships to make the teams run and pay out huge salaries. If the players have a personality outside the game, it becomes easier for the organisations to bring sponsors.

Numbers drive sponsors. A good sponsor will only invest in your organisation if it sees bankable talent. Of course, winning a championship helps build the numbers for the organisation, but the world of esports is volatile, in that the teams that win change vastly (barring a few exceptions). Solely relying on a good tournament run will make it difficult to do so, but creating a solid fan base to support the team and the organisation helps secure a strong flow of finances.

That said, it also relies on the organisation itself on how it presents itself and the players to the world and the sponsors. Sentinels, one of the youngest organisations in Tier 1 Valorant, created a brand image for itself in two short years. A large part might be the first International LAN win for the Valorant team, but despite not achieving results for two years, Sentinels has stayed relevant in people's minds.

Sentinels, Riot and Content Creation-driven Esports model:

Sentinels, as an organisation, understand the importance of branding and thus realises the importance of content creation in today's world. They actively make strides to strengthen their presence, one example being the acquisitions of 39Daph, one of the funniest streamers out there, Valorant overload Tarik, and the Human Highlight reel in Aceu. They also brought in Shroud for their 2022 VCT LCQ run, which helped them secure the Valorant partnership.

Riot's partnership program for Valorant has a clause for Content creation. The partnered organisations will deliver multiple activations in return for the partnership from Riot. These partners are Riot and Valorant's marketing tools that will eventually help Valorant to earn profits.

Player Branding and its importance:

While getting trophies is a big deal, the reality is that awards aren't enough now. Being the best player is not enough; Cloud9 just dropped Yay, the best player of 2022—the same Cloud9 which held on to Tenz and Shroud back in the day.

I am no pro myself, neither am I an esports personality, nothing close, but entirely relying on a deteriorating skill set does not seem like a good option. In the highly driven competitive environment of Tier 1 esports, finding time for content creation is hard. But that does not mean brand-building can't happen. A good example is Fnatic Valorant's IGL Jake "Boaster" Howlett, who might not be creating content traditionally. Still, via interviews, Twitter interactions and on-stage walkouts, has built a solid brand image.

The brand image of the individual player not only helps the organisation but also works for the player himself. If an organisation drops the player, he can easily fall back on his brand image and transition to content creation. Also, having a second option helps the player to quit the taxing Esports scene at his convenience. Shroud, Tarik and Mixwell are notable examples of pro-turned-content creators.

Notable community takes:

Aceu, currently a content creator under Sentinels, emphasised the branding:

Fellow Sentinel Tarik's views:

Jake Lucky's Take:

NaVi IGL Ange1's counter-take on the issue:

Faze's Ropz:

Faze's Karrigan and Mauisnake:

Concluding Notes:

Obviously, a job of a pro player is to try their hardest to reach the highest level of competition, but sparing some time of the day or the week to create something of their own helps the organisations and the players themselves. In the cutthroat esports scene, there will always be better and younger players pouring in, and these younger players will be better at the game than their older counterparts.

While multiple significant community members claim otherwise, the world is changing. The previously small esports community is no longer. The esports and gaming as a whole is growing, and to be an outlier in such a growing community, one needs to have something more than just the ability to "tap heads" on the server.

Featured Image Credits: Mixwell Twitter

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