Into its 12th year this year, The W3 Awards – which is organised by the Academy of Interactive Visual Arts (AIVA) in the United States – recognises the creative and marketing professionals behind award winning sites, videos and marketing programs. It is the first major web competition to be accessible to the biggest agencies, the smallest firms, and everyone in between.
AsiaOne’s recent win comes six months after a major rebranding exercise in May. The content site, which focuses on trending topics and social news being discussed in Singapore, Malaysia and beyond, was given a fresh look and logo.
Besides the recent haul at The W3 Awards, AsiaOne has won three awards in less than six months since its revamp. In May, the website was awarded the Award of Excellence at the 23rd Annual Communicator Awards, and in August, AsiaOne picked up a silver award for Best Website by a Media Owner, as well as a bronze for Best Corporate Branding at the 2017 Spark Awards. The content site was also ranked as the most improved brand among millennials, according to the latest YouGov Brand Index.
Ms Sumiko Tan, managing editor of SPH’s English, Malay and Tamil Media Group, which produces Stomp, said: « The six awards cover not just design of the site but also user experience and content. The AsiaOne team worked hard on the redesign and we’re delighted their work has been recognised. »
Ms Karen Lim, editor at AsiaOne, said: « The awards are significant as it shows a close collaboration between visual designers, editorial and product teams, in creating an award-winning site that not only features news but also showcases web creativity too. The different teams working behind the scenes at AsiaOne truly deserve these awards for their creative excellence and innovation. »
Even as Louis C.K. remained one of the most popular and influential performers in comedy – he has won multiple Emmy Awards for his stand-up specials and his semi-autobiographical FX series, “Louie” – rumors about his misconduct had persisted for several years.
In a substantial rebuke, the FX Networks and FX Productions, which produce and broadcast several of his television shows, said Friday they were ending their association with him. His overall production deal with FX was canceled, and he lost his role as executive producer – as well as the compensation that came with that title – on the FX comedy shows “Better Things” and “Baskets,” the Amazon series “One Mississippi,” and a TBS animated series, “The Cops.”
The “One Mississippi” star Tig Notaro, who had earlier criticized Louis C.K. for not addressing his behavior, said after learning of FX’s decision, “My response is the lyrics to Johnny Nash’s ‘I Can See Clearly Now.’ May the dark clouds continue to move.”
Pamela Adlon, the star of “Better Things,” which she created with Louis C.K., a frequently performer in his work (including his film “I Love You, Daddy”), said on Friday that she was troubled by Louis C.K.’s admission. “My family and I are devastated and in shock after the admission of abhorrent behavior by my friend and partner, Louis C.K.,” Ms. Adlon said in a statement. “I feel deep sorrow and empathy for the women who have come forward. I am asking for privacy at this time for myself and my family. I am processing and grieving and hope to say more as soon as I am able.”
TBS said in its own statement that production on “The Cops,” which was planned for a 2018 debut, had been “suspended until further review.”
Also on Friday, 3 Arts Entertainment, which had been managing Louis C.K., dropped him as a client. Two women who had experienced Louis C.K.’s misconduct believed that his manager, Dave Becky, wanted them to stop talking about their encounter with him. Mr. Becky denied making threats toward them.
And Lewis Kay, who had been the comedian’s publicist, said in a Twitter post Friday, “As of today, I no longer represent Louis C.K.”
In their statement, the FX companies said, “Louis has now confirmed the truth of the reports relating to the five women victimized by his misconduct, which we were unaware of previously.”
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The companies added, “As far as we know, his behavior over the past eight years on all five series he has produced for FX Networks and/or FX Productions has been professional.”
They continued, “However, now is not the time for him to make television shows. Now is the time for him to honestly address the women who have come forth to speak about their painful experiences, a process which he began today with his public statement.”
In that statement, Louis C.K. did not offer apologies to the women who shared their stories with The Times.
He said, however, “I have been remorseful of my actions. And I’ve tried to learn from them. And run from them. Now I’m aware of the extent of the impact of my actions. I learned yesterday the extent to which I left these women who admired me feeling badly about themselves and cautious around other men who would never have put them in that position.”
Louis C.K. also said he needed to acknowledge “the hurt that I’ve brought on people who I work with.”
Harassment Claims
He added, “I’ve brought pain to my family, my friends, my children and their mother.”
Louis C.K. is just one of several powerful men who have recently faced rapid consequences after media reports brought attention to allegations of their sexual misconduct or harassment. Harvey Weinstein, the film producer and media executive; the actor Kevin Spacey; the filmmaker Brett Ratner; and the journalist Mark Halperin are among the prominent men to have experienced precipitous downfalls as accounts about them accumulated.
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While Louis C.K. was one of the few men to admit to the conduct he’d been accused of, many people found his statement unsatisfactory and wondered why his behavior had not been addressed sooner. The actress Rose McGowan, who has said Mr. Weinstein sexually assaulted her, wrote in a Twitter post on Friday that she had heard stories about Louis C.K. two years ago even though she isn’t connected to the comedy scene. “Industry faux-shock is such a tired lie. I send my strength and love to all women hurt by him and the code of complicity.”
I heard stories about Louis C.K. 2 years ago. I’m in no way connected to the comedy scene, and I’d heard of it. Industry faux-shock is such a tired lie. I send my strength and love to all women hurt by him the code of complicity.
The distributor of Louis C.K.’s coming film, “I Love You, Daddy,” said Friday that it would not go ahead with its Nov. 17 release of the movie. The comedy, which he wrote and directed, was acquired by the entertainment company the Orchard in a $5 million deal. Louis C.K. stars in it as a TV comedy writer opposite John Malkovich as a notorious 68-year-old filmmaker who strikes up an uncomfortable relationship with the writer’s daughter (Chloe Grace Moretz), who has not yet turned 18.
Following preview screenings of “I Love You, Daddy,” several critics remarked on its troubling sexual politics and how certain scenes seemed to be commenting on Louis C.K.’s own reputation for misconduct.
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Louis C.K. in a scene from “I Love You, Daddy.” The movie’s release, set for Nov. 17, has been canceled. Credit
The Orchard
HBO said that Louis C.K. had been dropped from the lineup of “Night of Too Many Stars,” a comedy benefit on Nov. 18, and that it had pulled other works of his from its on-demand service.
Netflix, which struck a deal with Louis C.K. to create two new stand-up specials for the streaming service, said on Friday that it will not produce the planned second special. (The first one, “Louis C.K. 2017,” was released in April.)
In a statement, Netflix said, “The allegations made by several women in The New York Times about Louis C.K.’s behavior are disturbing. Louis’s unprofessional and inappropriate behavior with female colleagues has led us to decide not to produce a second stand-up special, as had been planned.” Netflix continues to show earlier stand-up performances by Louis C.K.
Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore declined Friday to rule out that he may have dated girls in their late teens when he was in his 30s, though he said he did not remember any such encounters and described such behavior as inappropriate.
“If I did, I’m not going to dispute these things, but I don’t remember anything like that,” Moore said on Sean Hannity’s radio program, when asked whether he had dated 17- or 18-year-old girls at the time.
In the same interview, Moore denied outright the claim of Leigh Corfman that he had initiated sexual encounters with her when she was 14. “I don’t know Ms. Corfman from anybody,” he said. “The allegations of sexual misconduct with her are completely false.”
Moore’s comments came as GOP leaders scrambled Friday to limit the political damage from the allegations. Two Republican senators — Steve Daines (Mont.) and Mike Lee (Utah) — withdrew their endorsements of Moore after his interview with Hannity.
“Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the US Senate,” Lee wrote in a tweet.
In a tweet, Daines was more succinct: “I am pulling my endorsement and support for Roy Moore for U.S. Senate.” Daines also retweeted Lee’s statement.
Earlier in the day, the National Republican Senatorial Committee pulled out of a joint committee it had set up with Moore, depriving him of a fundraising vehicle for the final weeks of the campaign. At the same time, current and former national party leaders admitted that they have little power to force Moore from the race. The special election is Dec. 12.
The comments came a day after The Washington Post published a story in which a woman said Moore had initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Three other women said he had asked or taken them on dates when they were teenagers. None of those three women say Moore forced them into any sort of relationship or sexual contact.
In the interview with Hannity, Moore recalled knowing two of the older women, Gloria Thacker Deason and Debbie Wesson Gibson, as well as their parents. “I knew her as a friend,” he said of Gibson, who has said Moore asked her on a date when she was 17, after speaking at her high school. “If we did go out on dates, then we did, but I do not remember that,” Moore said.
When asked about Deason’s claim that he provided her wine on dates when she was 18, Moore said: “In this county, it’s a dry county. We never would have had liquor.”
Alcohol sales began in Etowah County in 1972, years before the alleged encounter, and The Post confirmed that wine was for sale at the time at the pizzeria where Deason remembered Moore taking her when she was under the legal drinking age of 19.
The legal age of consent for sexual activity in Alabama is 16, as it was at the time of the contact alleged by Corfman.
“After my return from the military, I dated a lot of young ladies,” Moore told Hannity.
When Hannity asked Moore again if he could unequivocally say he never dated anybody in their late teens when he was 32, Moore said, “That’s out of my customary behavior.”
Hannity said he would not want his 17- or 18-year-old daughter dating a 32-year-old. “I wouldn’t either,” said Moore.
Allies of Moore in Alabama attacked the women. “What these women are doing is such a shame,” state Rep. Ed Henry (R) said in an interview Friday with Huntsville station WVNN-AM. “As a father of two daughters, they discredit when women actually are abused and taken advantage of. They’re not using their supposed experience to find justice. They’re just using it as a weapon, a political weapon.”
At the same time, more national party leaders came forward to call on Moore to leave the race. “Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections,” said Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee. “I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside.”
Romney joined his former rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in calling for Moore to step down immediately. Other Republican Senate leaders, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have called on Moore to quit on the condition that the reports prove to be true — but they have not yet described a process for assessing the truth of the claims.
Strategists saw little hope for pushing Moore out of the race. They backed away from discussions for a Republican write-in campaign, which they said would be doomed if Moore stayed in the contest. That, in turn, raised the possibility that Moore’s scandal will remain a problem for the party into the 2018 midterm elections, as candidates are asked to take a position on the abuse of minors and intergenerational dating.
“Other Republicans are going to be dragged into it,” said Steven Law, chief executive of the Senate Leadership Fund, a political committee affiliated with McConnell that opposed Moore’s nomination.
Indeed, on Friday, Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) issued a blistering rebuke of Moore and his supporters — some of whom, she said, had offered explanations that are “beyond disturbing.” Comstock represents a swing district in the Washington suburbs and is seen as highly vulnerable in next year’s midterms, particularly after the defeat of six GOP state lawmakers whose districts overlap with hers in this week’s Virginia elections.
Back in Alabama, Democrats familiar with the campaign of their nominee, Doug Jones, said no new ad buys or investmentswere planned to take advantage of the story.
None of the women who said Moore pursued them sought out The Post. While reporting a story in Alabama about supporters of Moore’s Senate campaign, a Post reporter heard that Moore allegedly had sought relationships with teenage girls.
Over the ensuing three weeks, two Post reporters contacted and interviewed the four women. All were initially reluctant to speak publicly but chose to do so after multiple interviews, saying they thought it was important for people to know about their interactions with Moore. The women say they don’t know one another.
In interviews since the publication of the story, state officials have either said they would investigate the claims or raised questions about the timing of the revelations, suggesting that the women were politically motivated.
After a Friday event with military veterans, Gov. Kay Ivey (R) told reporters that “the people of Alabama deserve to know the truth,” but she didn’t hint at any particular actions she could take.
One reporter followed up, asking if the word of the women could be trusted. “Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked.
One possibility, floated Friday night by some Republicans, was that Ivey could delay the election if Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it known that he would leave the Trump administration to run for his old seat.
Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, a Republican, told the Washington Examiner that biblical stories offered a justification for the acts Moore is accused of committing. “Take Joseph and Mary,” Zeigler said. “Mary was a teenager, and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.”
Even before the accusations became public, Senate Republicans were asked repeatedly about Moore’s more extreme positions on the proper role of the Christian faith in American political life.
Now, party leaders expect new questions about the Moore accusations. “I’m prepping my candidate for what he is going to say if he is asked,” said one GOP campaign manager for a top 2018 race, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to not draw attention to the race. “At the very least, it is something that everyone is going to have to answer: Do you think Roy Moore at the age of 32 with a 14-year-old is like Mary and Joseph?”
During the 2012 elections, GOP Senate candidates in Missouri and Indiana made inaccurate or controversial comments about rape that allowed Democrats to make inroads with female voters across the country. Party leaders later said those comments helped prevent Republicans from winning the Senate majority that year.
Law blamed former White House aide Stephen K. Bannon and his website Breitbart News for creating problems that could endanger Republicans in 2018. “This is what Stephen K. Bannon’s French Revolution looks like — chaos and embarrassment for the Republican Party,” Law said.
In the interview with Hannity, Moore described the allegations as a false attack by his political opponents.
“This is a completely manufactured story meant to defrock this campaign,” Moore said. “They don’t want to acknowledge that there is a God. And we have refused to debate them because of their very liberal stance on transgenderism.”
Is your photography business leveraging the power of video to reach new clients? If not, you’re missing out on a great opportunity the likes of which haven’t been seen or may never be seen again. This was the powerful message that I heard at the Social Video Marketing Summit. Having been in attendance I want to share with you what I think are the top three ideas I learned from Gary Vaynerchuk, Brian Peters, Sue Bryce, and Sally Sargood that I think will help photographers take advantage of this medium.
Compete For Attention
Opening up the Summit was Gary Vaynerchuk, who put forward the idea that the number one challenge we all face is gaining people’s attention. Let’s face it, we live in a world where everyone is fighting to get our attention. From news outlets to companies trying to tell us about their latest specials, we’re constantly asked to take time out of our day to watch and listen. Where do you stand in this effort to create attention for your photography business? If you feel that this is an area where you’re not currently competing, the good news is that it can be easier than you think to get started. Start first by recognizing where the attention of your end consumer is at, and where this attention is under or overpriced. Brian Peters talked about how Facebook drives eight billion video views on average per day. Knowing this and having invested some of my own money on marketing via Facebook I can say that serving up your own videos to targeted demographics can be quite affordable. You can also promote your videos on platforms like Instagram for pennies on the dollar if you do it correctly.
Gary Vaynerchuk
So what if you’re one of the masses out there that are intimidated by the idea of creating videos to market yourself? This is where companies like Animoto, who were sponsors of the summit, come in to save the day. Sally Sargood gave a great demo of the platform and showed how you can quickly and easily create these video marketing pieces. As a content creator myself, I think this could be a great solution for anyone that is hesitating to get the process started.
Brian Peters
The Power of Storytelling
Brian Peters and Sue Bryce really hit home the idea that we have to understand what our story is, as well as what kinds of stories resonate with the viewing public at large. One of the ideas that Brian puts forward is to pull on people’s heartstrings to help create brand loyalty. This is something that I see Sue Bryce doing well, and it may be one of the major driving factors in her own business. They both really drive home this idea that if you focus on the emotional aspects of a story it will have more impact and will likely be shared more organically. I’m reminded of a video by Ben Moon called « Denali » which is a powerful example of what good storytelling can look like. Figure out what kind of stories you can tell and put those in your video, plain and simple.
Sally Sargood of Animoto
Experimenting Is Key
Getting started is often the speed bump that we hit as creatives. It keeps us from reaping the benefits of using video to create attention for ourselves. The one thing that I felt all of the presenters mutually agreed with was the idea of trying out different ideas, especially if you aren’t sure what kind of content you want to create. Creatives sometimes push off getting started with something unless they know exactly how everything is going to come together, but that can also shackle you from simply starting out and allowing yourself to make adjustments as you go. Sue Bryce really drove home this point as she started with basic videos that had a heartfelt story which she improved on over time.
Sue Bryce
The Bottom Line
There were lots of great nuggets shared at this summit. Whether you’re in a small or large, competitive market, video is the best way to capture the attention of the buying public. Utilize the tools available to you to make the process easier and you’ll begin reaping the rewards before you know it. I hope to see you all on that journey.
So far the New York Times isn’t showing any remorse. But Kentucky’s Louisville Courier Journal appears to be making amends for its earlier reporting on the vicious assault against U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.). Earlier this week both outlets responded to Mr. Paul’s significant injuries allegedly suffered at the hands of a neighbor by questioning whether Mr. Paul had been disobeying community rules on landscaping. Some of the locals aren’t buying this spin, and kudos to the Courier Journal for acknowledging this fact in a story posted today:
Neighbors of Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul are rallying around their…
President Trump boards Air Force One in Beijing, China Nov. 10 to travel to Danang, Vietnam. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
DANANG, Vietnam — President Trump revived his tough talk on trade Friday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here, warning that he will not allow “the United States to be taken advantage of anymore.”
Speaking to a gathering of business leaders, Trump demanded trade “on a fair and equal basis,” and returned to his campaign rhetoric, promising to place the United States first in global deals and agreements.
“We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore,” he said, speaking shortly after arriving in Vietnam, his penultimate stop on a five-country, 12-day swing through Asia. “I am always going to put America first, the same way that I expect all of you in this room to put your countries first.”
But the president’s more fiery and protectionist tone Friday offered a stark departure from just a day earlier, when on Chinese soil in Beijing, Trump seemed reluctant to press his case as sharply with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
There, Trump lavished praise on Xi, touting their “great chemistry” and saying that he did not blame China — a line he has repeated since — for the trade imbalance that had become a trademark of his aggressive campaign rhetoric.
The president has previously expressed admiration for strongmen leaders, including authoritarian rulers and even dictators, which might explain his reluctance to confront Xi so directly head-on. Trump arrived in China as Xi had just consolidated his power at China’s Party Congress in October.
On Friday, Xi spoke directly after Trump, and the U.S. president’s remarks, which came on more friendly soil to the United States, seemed at least obliquely aimed at China. Trump expressed concerns about intellectual property, ensuring “fair and equal market access,” product dumping, currency manipulation, predatory industrial policies, and freedom of navigation.
When he did mention China by name, it was to rehash his “excellent trip” to the country, where he said he and Xi discussed “China’s unfair trade practices and the enormous trade deficits they have produced with the United States.”
Trump also reiterated his previous line, which he also tweeted, that he does not blame China — or any other nation, for that matter — for a trade imbalance.
“I do not blame China, or any other country, of which there are many, for taking advantage of the United States on trade,” he said. “If their representatives are able to get away with it, they are just doing their jobs. I wish previous administrations in my country saw what was happening and did something about it. They did not, but I will.”
Meanwhile, shortly before Trump’s address, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not have a formal, sit-down meeting at the summit, putting to rest much speculation on the topic.
“There was never a meeting confirmed, and there will not be one that takes place due to scheduling conflicts on both sides,” she said, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Vietnam.
But Sanders noted that because the two leaders were going to be in the same place, they might still have a less scripted encounter. “Are they going to bump into each other and say hello? Certainly possible and likely,” she said. “But in terms of a scheduled, formal meeting, there’s not one on the calendar and we don’t anticipate that there will be one.”
The Kremlin, meanwhile, said that a formal sit-down may still be possible. Dmitri Peskov, the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that discussions were ongoing, adding that “contradictory information was coming from the American side.”
“They will communicate on the sidelines one way or another,” Peskov told reporters, according to the Interfax news service.
The relationship between Trump and Putin is complex and fraught, in part because of the president’s refusal to definitively acknowledge the conclusion of his intelligence agencies that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump had stoked the impression he would meet with Putin in comments to reporters shortly after leaving Washington for his marathon trip through Asia, though other administration officials had downplayed the likelihood of such a meeting.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said while “it wouldn’t be at all unusual if they ended up with some kind of a pull-aside,” he did not anticipate any official meeting. “The view has been if the two leaders are going to meet, is there something sufficiently substantive to talk about that would warrant a formal meeting.”
As the footprint of esports continues to expand, people from outside the esports industry are bringing their knowledge and expertise to help grow the sport.
I sat down with three experts who have moved into the esports industry recently to get their take on the challenges esports face, what are some of the biggest upsides to the growing industry and where esports are heading. Ken Ungar, Mark Coughlin, and Jason Moore all have extensive experience outside of esports and have brought a wealth of knowledge to the industry.
Ungar is the founder and president of sports marketing agency CHARGE, which recently launched CHARGE esports. He’s the author of “Ahead of the Game: What Every Athlete Needs to Know About Sports Business” and has consulted with marquee brands in sports and entertainment.
Coughlin is the head of marketing and revenue for Team Envy and is helping organize their entry into the Overwatch League. He’s a former executive vice president at Octagon and helped negotiate and manage Sprint NEXTEL’s sponsorship with NASCAR.
Moore is a player agent and CEO at the Agency for Professional Esports (APE). APE currently represents over 30 of the top gamers and cosplayers. He is the former president of Paris Hilton Entertainment and spent a decade developing and managing Paris Hilton’s brand into a Fortune 100 business.
Why have you decided to enter the esports industry, and was there a specific moment or event that triggered that decision?
Ken Ungar: I feel the esports industry has hit an important inflection point. The passion and rooting interest of esports fans has reached the level that this can become a very viable, self-sustaining, profitable industry moving forward for leagues, teams, players and the companies that serve them.
Above: Ken Ungar
A couple years ago, I attended the MLG major event of CS:GO in Columbus, Ohio, and sat through three days of competition in which thousands of fans showed up each day and stayed a minimum of eight hours to watch the event. I saw incredible fan passion and rooting interest that rivaled any sport that I’ve ever attended over the past 40 years, yet I saw very little commercial activity, sponsors, licensed merchandise sales, hospitality and realized there was a tremendous opportunity to take this sport to the next level.
Mark Coughlin: I think the turning point for me was when I met the founder of Team Envy, Mike Rufail, and he started giving me some data and research reports. I started looking at it and thought if these are real this is something special. Then, I went to the Eleague final for CS:GO last year, and I was kind of blown away not by just the crowds themselves but how the crowds responded to every move the players were making. They knew what was important, what wasn’t important, while there was a lot of shooting going on, they knew exactly what was going on. Everything from the players to the moves to the active appreciation for how good these guys are compared to themselves.
Jason Moore: I was a long-time talent representative in the entertainment industry and an avid sports and gaming enthusiast, a colleague and I assisted in the acquisition of an NA LCS team and during that process I saw first-hand the lack of individual representation for the pros, no managers, no agents, no publicists, even if it is new to this industry it is far from new in the others. I was in the LCS studio and watched the players gather after their matches to do fan meet and greets, it amazed me that it was just a free for all, no team branding step repeats, and or reps to organize player interviews, manage and handle them like Stephen Curry after a basketball game in the press room. Mr. Curry would not be in that room alone, that is for sure.
What are some of the biggest challenges esports face?
Ungar: It’s still very wild west. The lines between different business models are very blurry, so it’s unclear where opportunities for the leagues and teams begin and end and what the opportunities are for players and their relative rights. All of this needs to become defined in the coming years.
Above: Mark Coughlin
Coughlin: From a business standpoint and a commercialization standpoint, the biggest challenge that I know two games are trying to fix is one of geography and calendar. The irregularity of a lot of these games in terms of their calendar, the continent they play on, the lack of regular league play happening where they aren’t just crisscrossing all over the world basically fighting for purses and instead having a season long competition that culminates in either a regional championship that maybe goes to the worlds. ESL and others have been doing it but there are so many other events that come into play that it’s very hard from a marketers’ standpoint to understand. Many times, the teams don’t know even weeks in advance where they are going to be playing.
Moore: The same challenges that all major sports, action sports, entertainment and music have, the balance of control and protection between the pros, whom are the talent, and their employer and sponsor, as well as, broadcasting rights, player unionization, and individual player sponsorships outside of team deals are just a few challenges right now, but those were the same issues that each traditional sport has to deal with and still do, look at NASCAR, massive in-person events but struggles to find a broadcasting viewership, or soccer, largest traditional sport globally but in North America the professional player makes an salary far less than most other pro athletes. Sports in general have challenges that are tackled or ongoing, and that will be the same for esports.
What are some of the biggest upsides of esports?
Ungar: The demographic trends are extremely favorable for esports. Video game playership privately increases year over year. Now that esports has become a cultural part of that lifestyle, you’ll see more and more participation on the esports side as traditional video game playing continues to increase. So as new entrants — kids in their tweens and teens — start to become part of the video game lifestyle, those who are part of it now are getting older and are likely going to continue as they progress into their 30s and 40s.
Coughlin: The audience, right. It’s the audience that I’ve seen repeatedly defined as the unattainable — often referred to as cord-cutters and cord-nevers. You’ve got large amounts of people who are also fans are using ad blockers, they don’t buy television by satellite or cable, they are mostly doing over the top or watching online. These people are very hard to reach by traditional methods. I think there’s a tremendous upside for brands. There’s not a lot of non-endemics in the space, so I think there’s an opportunity to affect this fan base and for brands to be known as esports brands. In most sports, when a brand shows they are also a fan and they act like a fan they usually get embraced and rewarded by those fans. So I think it’s a great opportunity for non-endemics.
Above: Jason Moore
Moore: An entirely new sports industry that introduces the same positive fundamentals for kids around the world that other youth sports leagues, collegiate scholarships and professional aspirations to allow players to simply enjoy a fun past-time or to go to college on a scholarship or even on a pro level and earn a living doing what you love to do. The last time a new “sport” was introduced to popular culture and ended up creating an industry, would probably have to be basketball, and now look at where basketball is as an industry, market and lifestyle. I do not foresee another industry and market opening up like this to ever to happen again.
Who are the three most important people/brands in esports today?
Ungar: I would answer that in terms of three important sectors. There’s the publishers and leagues, which are right now fairly synonymous, there’s the teams, and there are the players. Those three groups will continue to jockey between them as to the relative economic power that they share. That’s what makes them the three most important groups. They are the center of the esports ecosystem.
Coughlin: The most important are probably Riot, and Activision-Blizzard right now because they are launching these leagues. I think that everybody is looking toward them and their success and hopefully not their failure. Looking toward the launch of these leagues and seeing if it can be replicated by other games and other places.
Moore: I feel there are too many to just select three, but names that come to mind are three-time League of Legends World Champion, Faker, Twitch, and Jack Etienne, co-founder of esports powerhouse Cloud9.
What games or game types do you think might have the most potential to turn into major esports?
Ungar: I think the most interesting phenomenon in that perspective is the extension of traditional sports into esports. The NFL’s relationship with the Madden game, NBA2K and the NBA’s role in that esport and Formula One with their esports game. So, you have a very powerful extension of the terrestrial sport experience and the extension of that into video game play and esports. It can be extremely powerful as they leverage the connection between all three – the sport, playing the game and watching others play the game. That creates a powerful 24/7/365 football experience, for example, which is why the major sports are so interested in their tie to esports.
Coughlin: You still get some pushback from some consumer brands that still aren’t really embracing the military blood and guts, red blood kind of games. I think you’re probably going to see more and more games being designed as spectator games, sort of like Overwatch, which was really designed as the first spectator-focused esports game.
Moore: It is not only about the competitive scene but also the community and most importantly the fans to define the potential. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is taking over Twitch and we will see how it pans out as a competitive league and I am also curious to see how the LAN events are organized with 20 squads of 4. The current leaders of the pack like LOL, CS:GO, DOTA2 still have massive legs and OG’s, so new games have a lot of fanbase and a proven esports competitive experience. That is the key, everyone games but not everyone goes to an esports match and participates in the experience.
Where do you see esports in the next three years?
Ungar: I think lines will continue to be defined and non-endemic sponsors will find their way into esports. The result of more non-endemic sponsorship will lead to a quantum leap in investment. That will allow player salaries to increase, upgrades to venues, creation of venues, more broadcasts, better broadcasts, a larger fan base and more activation.
Coughlin: The real telling thing is going to be, particularly with the Overwatch League, is when the teams are playing in their own venues. Can they fill those venues on a regular basis, and are we going to build fan bases that are loyal to their hometown teams? That’s going to be a very interesting space to follow. If it’s successful, then others are going to follow. The other thing is can all these games live in the same professional esports space or are a few titles going to dominate.
Moore: Same trajectory that reality TV accomplished over traditional scripted content. A new wave of popular culture. We will see professional players on the side of buses as ads selling yogurt, sitting court side at the Lakers game, dating super models, but, most importantly kids will be able to pay for college from their gaming abilities and open up opportunities for an education and a career.
Do you have any last stories or ideas you’d like to share?
Ungar: In recent weeks, I’ve had interesting esports conversations with educators, sponsors, public officials, arena owners and players. There’s an amazing trend developing where esports will become as much of a part of the high school and college experience as basketball and football games. There is still a lot of work to do before that becomes a reality. Once it happens culturally, the sky is the limit for esports as a major lifestyle.
Coughlin: It’s an exciting space for someone who has been around sports for 30 years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something with such explosive growth and a following on truly a global basis. Soccer didn’t take root in North America until the last decade or two. Baseball hasn’t really taken off globally. Certainly, the NBA has done a great job on a global basis but they are missing pockets around the world. What’s interesting about esports is that it’s truly global and teams have players from literally every corner of the globe. The accessibility of esports is really a differentiating factor and I think it’s going to be really exciting to watch to see how it develops.”
Moore: I think I have the most playing hours in NA PUBG without a chicken dinner…
Lucas Wiseman is the manager of public relations for national marketing agency CHARGE.
People just aren’t paying as much attention as they used to. This means that people will retain more in the two minutes it takes to watch a video than the many minutes it would take to read a 1 000 word article. And who could blame them?
Since television became part of our lives in the 1970s, we’ve become far more used to watching moving and speaking characters on a screen in a corner of our lounge than reading pages in a book or even on a small device in our hands.
Thales Teixeira, associate professor at Harvard Business School, talks about the limited attention economy of consumers, which always comes at a price. A skyrocketing price in recent years. « Every single day, there are more companies with more brands and more products to advertise, which means there’s more demand for consumer attention than ever, » says Teixeira.
« The problem is, the supply of consumer attention simply hasn’t kept pace with this demand. There’s no evidence individual human attention capacity is growing. Nor has the population grown as fast as the number of brands has, » he adds.
It’s important, Teixeira says, for brands and marketers to ask whether they’re spending their budget on the right platforms and in ways that’ll attract their audience’s attention.
All video platforms are different
Small budgets work well for the more relaxed vibe of Snapchat and Instagram Stories. Bigger budgets and more polished videos work best on Facebook and YouTube. Not all video platforms are created equal and they shouldn’t be treated as such.
To convince brands of the importance of video, here are some numbers:
Seven out of 10 businesses which use video say it’s increased website conversion rates; and
A massive 74% of all Internet traffic this year is expected to come from video.
Recently released figures from Think With Google indicate:
81% of video-watching moments get all or most of people’s attention. Compare that to the multitasking that all of us tend to do when we’re watching television or listening to the radio;
68% of YouTube users watched YouTube to help them make a purchasing decision; and
On mobile alone, and in the United States, more adults are watching YouTube during prime viewing time than any cable network.
Consider for a minute that YouTube is either the most or second most used search engine in the world, depending on who you ask. That’s right, it’s just about overtaken Google as the search engine used most often. That means that when consumers are looking for products to buy or how to use the products they already own, they’re often more likely to turn to YouTube than Google.
Brands can use videos to answer questions
Two years ago, a lifetime in digital media, entrepreneur, investor, and marketing professional Gary Vaynerchuk sang the praises of video and urged businesses to get involved. Already then, he could see the impact that video was having on business and marketing.
« The single most important strategy in content marketing today is video. Whether it’s video on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Youtube, the content you need to be thinking about creating and marketing on social for your business is video. Period, » Vaynerchuk says.
« No matter what you’re selling, no matter what your company does, if you don’t have a video marketing strategy for the biggest video platforms, you are going to lose, » he adds.
So, implementing video in your content marketing strategy is essential. Brands might be hesitant to embrace the idea of video now, but they will soon learn it’s essential.
