Sponsorships are the lifeblood of esports, and having well-made and detailed insights into them can massively help any brand in the industry. However, only a few rare companies offer a comprehensive analysis based on esports.
There are many benefits to being able to see not just your own sponsors, but also those of other teams, events, and organisations. It allows companies to stay abreast of their competitors’ moves, in addition to keeping tabs on the actions of potential sponsors.
Shikenso Analytics created precisely that with Shikenso Esports Radar, a tool that was launched globally in late February 2023. The Radar, as its name suggests, scans a large number of esports events and creates reports giving insights into everything from age groups to logo placement. Karsten Schonauer, Senior Marketing Manager for Shikenso, explained the details of the new product to Esports Insider.
Data is key. Make use of it
Shikenso is known for its usage of artificial intelligence to provide insight into sponsors and partnerships in esports. The company recently inked a partnership with Team Vitality, while also expanding its operations in the Southeast Asia and North America regions. The new product aims to bring together everything Shikenso knows about data in an off-the-shelf and comprehensible report of major esports events
The main goal for Shikenso EsportsRadar is to enable all stakeholders in (and outside of) esports to evaluate sponsorships with ease and speed, Schonauer said, and added that the key is to take a holistic approach:
“We are evaluating major esports events. We are looking at the event brands, the tournament organiser, and the teams that are participating. Basically, our report offers information on any [company that] was present in a tournament. Any [company that] wants to know what the value of these sponsorships is, can simply buy the reports and understand, well, anything.”
The report can be bought by anyone and is not reserved for just esports brands or companies. Shikenso wants to provide as much transparency into the sponsorship market in esports as possible.
Combining data to see the full picture
The key benefits for readers of the new reports lie in the fact that it offers much more overarching information than others on the market. The reports combine sponsorship with viewership data.
“We include audience demographics in the reports, which are age and gender distributions which are crucial for brands who want to see whether they are actually reaching the correct target audience. But wouldn’t it be nice to know from where the viewers tune in? That’s why we don’t stop at Demographics and also added geographical data. With this approach, we have all event data captured and made available. Companies now only have to decide what data is important to them.”
Schonauer said that, for example, if you work for a beverage company that invests in a single team or event, you will have the ability to also see what your competitors are doing and benchmark them.
This provides any company with a dataset that can be tremendously valuable when considering expansion in the esports industry, whether they are already established or entering the esports market for the first time. It is also important for Shikenso to provide unbiased and independent data directly from the source.
The company’s Esports Radar product is made up of data sets that are customised depending on the type of organisation (i.e. team, tournament organiser, brand) and include For example, you can see the viewership of an event, including on-air time, peak viewers, brand exposure, media value, the different sponsorship assets, and audience analysis data.
Schonauer added that Shikenso wants to be a true game-changer in the field, providing companies with unbiased information that was not readily available before. He said that the values of sponsorships are not very transparent at the moment and that is one of the things Shikenso plans to change. This includes a “paradigm shift” with the Radar, allowing everyone to get information about the value of sponsorships.
It does not matter whether someone is already in esports or is just trying to enter the market. “We are just laying the facts open for everyone to make the best decisions in esports” Schonauer said.
That there is nothing like Shikenso Esports Radar available now, according to Schonauer, and there is a growing need for something like it. Shikenso is simply trying to answer a plea that the market had for a long time now.
The first reports of the MLBB M4 and IEM Katowice are already available. Upcoming major event reports such as MSI, TI, and Worlds will be added shortly after the events.
Supported by Shikenso