{"id":1573,"date":"2020-02-28T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/articles\/cpg-esports-activations\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T15:46:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T15:46:27","slug":"cpg-esports-activations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/articles\/cpg-esports-activations\/","title":{"rendered":"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The number of non-endemic brands entering the esports space is growing \u2014 through brand experiences, sponsorship deals and partnering with teams. Just in the first quarter of 2019, partnerships rose 95 percent year over year, with mega consumer brands like Coca-Cola, Snickers and Nissan announcing significant deals. Indeed, as esports continues to move closer to mainstream culture, tapping into its wildly passionate fanbase begins to look more attractive \u2014 and if your goal is to connect with younger generations, perhaps even essential. Let\u2019s take a look at how three trailblazing brands are creating successful CPG esports activations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at using this space to announce to this community our new products that are coming out, and sometimes make them available exclusively to this community before they\u2019re available to the general public,\u201d says Charlie Chappell, The Hershey Company\u2019s head of media.<\/p>\n

At the two-day event, 10 Overwatch League teams compete against one another in different rivalries. Kit Kat adds a fan engagement component to the live battle while the LA Valiant competes in its match. A fan from each competing team volunteers to sit on top of a dunk tank, and the second a winner is declared, the fan from the losing team plunges into the tank of water. All attendees are given free chocolate bars (not yet available in stores), a donation is made to St. Jude\u2019s Children\u2019s Research Hospital in the name of the winning team, and the fans dunked in the water tanks get a sweet reward: a year\u2019s supply of Kit Kat bars. A delicious example in the world of CPG esports activations.<\/p>\n

Totino’s<\/h3>\n

Event marketers looking to engage gaming audiences needn\u2019t stop at live event activations. In fact, if the experience is live-streamed, a brand\u2019s reach can seriously multiply. To amplify an activation on the day of the Super Bowl, a huge streaming day for Twitch, Totino\u2019s creates a \u201cBucking Couch\u201d experience<\/a> in which four of Twitch\u2019s top 10 gamers challenge each other while seated on a red, rodeo-style couch. By voting in a chatroom specifically devoted to Twitch users, fans are able to control the movements of the couch, from making it spin to doing a wave to even bucking gamers off of it. The activation enjoys massive engagement numbers and four hours of content to be used for videos beyond the livestream. A win when it comes to CPG esports activations.<\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n

MTN DEW<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Mtn Dew is going all-in with gamers by calling them out specifically in their packaging and products. The CPG brand develops a version of its AMP energy drink called Game Fuel designed chiefly for fans of gaming. Dew sets up shop at streetwear convention ComplexCon<\/a> to showcase and sample the product, which features a limited-edition Call of Duty: Modern Warfare<\/em> graphic on the can. The entire space is a tribute to gaming\u2019s past, present and future. Attendees journey to the past through a collection of retro arcade games, such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Duck Hunt, complete with vintage equipment and TVs. Gaming\u2019s present is represented by a Call of Duty <\/em>tournament between attendees featuring an electronic leaderboard and a chance to play against hip-hop personality DJ Akademiks. Lastly, in the footprint\u2019s futuristic gaming area, consumers experience virtual reality treadmills and wear gaming vests and VR goggles simulating doomsday scenarios and explosions. An innovative example in the universe of CPG esports activations. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

As the esports industry continues to expand, so do the opportunities for brands that aren\u2019t typically involved in the space. If you haven\u2019t yet dipped your toe in, have no fear. Every brand (including the ones killing it above) had to start somewhere. The key with this crowd is to make the effort to learn what makes this demographic tick<\/a> and, most critically, to engage with them authentically. We can\u2019t wait to see even more creative CPG esports activations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The number of non-endemic brands entering the esports space is growing \u2014 through brand experiences, sponsorship deals and partnering with teams. Just in the first quarter of 2019, partnerships rose 95 percent year over year, with mega consumer brands like Coca-Cola, Snickers and Nissan announcing significant deals. Indeed, as esports continues to move closer to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trends"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports - Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports - Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The number of non-endemic brands entering the esports space is growing \u2014 through brand experiences, sponsorship deals and partnering with teams. Just in the first quarter of 2019, partnerships rose 95 percent year over year, with mega consumer brands like Coca-Cola, Snickers and Nissan announcing significant deals. Indeed, as esports continues to move closer to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T15:46:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sparks Marketing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sparks Marketing\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sparks Marketing\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0d0fcac986d737fbd47359ef7086f4f\"},\"headline\":\"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-26T15:46:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":659,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Trends\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/\",\"name\":\"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports - Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-26T15:46:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/cpg-esports-activations\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/sparks-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/sparks-logo.png\",\"width\":188,\"height\":68,\"caption\":\"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c0d0fcac986d737fbd47359ef7086f4f\",\"name\":\"Sparks Marketing\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f5f1d3f3108b0b33d25fc6187cab36f579a470cc19b2174f0c86944f5e1bb9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f5f1d3f3108b0b33d25fc6187cab36f579a470cc19b2174f0c86944f5e1bb9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3f5f1d3f3108b0b33d25fc6187cab36f579a470cc19b2174f0c86944f5e1bb9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sparks Marketing\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thefreemancompany.com\\\/sparks\\\/author\\\/sparksmarketing\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports - Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports - Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency","og_description":"The number of non-endemic brands entering the esports space is growing \u2014 through brand experiences, sponsorship deals and partnering with teams. Just in the first quarter of 2019, partnerships rose 95 percent year over year, with mega consumer brands like Coca-Cola, Snickers and Nissan announcing significant deals. Indeed, as esports continues to move closer to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/","og_site_name":"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency","article_published_time":"2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-26T15:46:27+00:00","author":"Sparks Marketing","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sparks Marketing","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/"},"author":{"name":"Sparks Marketing","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#\/schema\/person\/c0d0fcac986d737fbd47359ef7086f4f"},"headline":"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports","datePublished":"2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-26T15:46:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/"},"wordCount":659,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Trends"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/","name":"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports - Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-26T15:46:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/cpg-esports-activations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How CPG Brands Can Tap into Esports"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/","name":"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#organization","name":"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency","url":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/sparks-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/01\/sparks-logo.png","width":188,"height":68,"caption":"Sparks | Your Global Brand Experience Agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/#\/schema\/person\/c0d0fcac986d737fbd47359ef7086f4f","name":"Sparks Marketing","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f5f1d3f3108b0b33d25fc6187cab36f579a470cc19b2174f0c86944f5e1bb9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f5f1d3f3108b0b33d25fc6187cab36f579a470cc19b2174f0c86944f5e1bb9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f5f1d3f3108b0b33d25fc6187cab36f579a470cc19b2174f0c86944f5e1bb9e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sparks Marketing"},"url":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/author\/sparksmarketing\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1573"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2699,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions\/2699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefreemancompany.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}