Sydney, Australia – Gametech and gaming marketing company Livewire has expanded its exclusive partnership with in-game advertising platform Anzu to help more APAC advertisers reach players within some of the most popular AAA console titles via non-disruptive in-game ads.
The partnership between Livewire and Anzu first began in January when the two companies partnered to help APAC advertisers reach players in Roblox.
Anzu is the sole official licensed provider for Xbox and their offering includes AAA console titles from leading game studios, including Ubisoft and Saber Interactive, who recently announced a partnership with Anzu to bring in-game ads into their highly anticipated AAA racer Dakar Desert Rally at launch.
Many more AAA titles are also on the way, which adds to Livewire’s growing suite of gaming solutions including the recent launch of a social gaming offering and the Livewire Creative Studios.
Furthermore, advertisers working with Anzu and Livewire benefit from advanced gaming marketing and gametech solutions, including research, gaming strategies, brand lift measurement, audience verification, data enrichment, and fraud detection in partnership with industry leaders such as Moat, Comscore, Kantar, and Nielsen.
Livewire co-founders Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, said, “Launching in-game ads within premium AAA console titles is a significant milestone for gametech. Console games boast large durational play time, high attention rates, and are often played on large screens. Brands and agencies can now reach players within this premium environment via in-game ads that add to the gaming experience.”
Meanwhile, Itamar Benedy, co-founder and CEO at Anzu, commented, “We are very excited to bring our premium AAA console inventory to more advertisers in APAC through this extended partnership with Livewire. We have already seen huge success working together with Roblox. I’m looking forward to extending this partnership and success to the console space, which is becoming an increasingly important media channel for advertisers looking to connect with their audience in an authentic and engaging way.”
The expanded partnership taps on the 1.4b gamers in APAC, which is expected to grow to 1.8b by 2024, where advertisers running their campaigns in premium titles have a unique opportunity to place themselves in front of this large and diverse audience. With the APAC games market also estimated to grow by over 10% annually with a total market cap of $708.3 billion by 2026, this lucrative region has plenty of demand up for grabs.
Australia – Gametech Livewire has appointed Alexander Southwick as its head of social for Asia-Pacific. In this new role, Southwick will be prioritising launching Livewire’s social offering, adding new services to the gametech companies set of brand solutions connecting the gaming ecosystem and audience for marketers.
He moves from agency Bastion Amplify, where he held the social accounts for client Microsoft XBox. During that stint, he drove engagement and community growth for the client brand in JAPAC for the last 4 years. His other stint include being the social strategy lead at dentsu agency Carat, where he worked with brands such as Woolworths, Mastercard, David Jones and Microsoft.
Southwick has over a decade of experience working in social media for brands, publishers and agencies. In addition, he is a specialist in social media marketing, online advertising and project management, where he delivered multiple cross-market campaigns that have helped engage fans locally and abroad, whilst delivering measurable brand growth.
Speaking about his appointment, he said, “There has never been a better time to be a gamer than now, as more brands begin to develop their gaming strategies, I can’t think of a better time to be joining the team at Livewire. Building a social offering designed to service brands and gaming publishers across APAC is a challenge I can’t wait to tackle.”
Meanwhile, Livewire Co-founders Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel are excited for Southwick to join Livewire as they continue building their presence in the region.
“Xander is a respected leader in APAC across the gaming community and we’re ecstatic to have him lead our social products across the region, adding a subject matter expert to Livewire,” Manuel said.
Khabra commented, “Livewire is focused on creating market leading products across our gaming marketing and gametech offering, Xander’s strong platform knowledge and partnerships will make [an] immediate impact to our clients pushing the boundaries of what is possible in social gaming.”
Australia – Global gametech company Livewire has appointed two new senior leaders, namely Adam Fischer, the new national commercial director for ANZ, and Chris Johnston, the head of gaming strategy for ANZ.
Fischer was most recently the national sales director of screen advertising supplier Val Morgan, where he played an important part in the success of global entertainment media brand Fandom in Australia and led the launch and growth of new publishing brands such as The Latch, POPSUGAR & Thrillist, and their local editions. Fischer was also the group head of sales at digital media and internet company Ziff Davis for 6 years, where he worked across global digital brands including IGN, Mashable, and PCMag.
Meanwhile, Johnston was previously the creative systems director at media agency MediaCom in Australia, where he has worked across clients such as Adidas, Mars, Dell, Alienware, NBC Universal, and Hasbro, amongst others. He has also held roles that combined strategic, content, media, and partnerships experience nationally. In his new role, Johnston will be working on a growing list of non-endemic brands investing in the gaming ecosystem and their gaming marketing strategies.
Fischer shared that there is a powerful arsenal in Livewire’s suite of products, including proprietary measurement tools, cookie-free data segments, top tier influencer access, and Australia‘s largest Gaming Ad Marketplace, with exclusive access to major in-game IP across Console, PC, and mobile.
“The fact that Livewire has unlocked exclusive in-game inventory access to global metaverse powerhouse; Roblox, is testament to their credentials and an exciting step forward in connecting brands with the diverse gaming audiences,” said Fischer.
Meanwhile, Johnston commented, “The opportunity to combine multiple passions of mine to a business and industry that is seeing incredible momentum is equal parts thrilling and the right kind of challenging. I look forward to driving the continued success of Livewire and the growth of its clients in the world of gaming.”
Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, Livewire’s co-founders, see the hires as indicative of the demand the business is experiencing both in Australia and globally after expanding into EMEA and APAC.
“We are delighted to have them join the team representing excellence in strategy, service, and client growth. As brands and agencies prioritise gaming to capture attention and connect with the next generation of consumers whether by in-game advertising, content creators, or immersive experience in the metaverse; the addition of Chris and Adam will help us deliver gaming marketing and gametech solutions that marketers require,” said Khabra and Manuel.
Just recently, Livewire has announced its partnership with in-game advertising platform Anzu to help APAC advertisers reach Roblox players through blended in-game ad placements.
Australia – In-game advertising platform Anzu has partnered with global gametech company Livewire to help APAC advertisers reach Roblox players through blended in-game ad placements.
Roblox is a global metaverse where players gather to create, share, and play together in immersive worlds. Currently, the platform has over 40 million games covering every genre imaginable.
The partnership will allow advertisers to run non-disruptive ads within many of Roblox’s most popular titles, namely All Star Tower Defense, Speed Run 4, Wacky Wizards, and Weight Lifting Simulator. Advertisers working with Anzu also benefit from guaranteed viewable impressions, brand safety, detailed campaign reporting, and brand lift measurement.
According to Top Down Games, the studio behind Roblox hit ‘All Star Tower Defense’ which is one of Roblox’s most-played titles, Anzu’s solution allows brands to become part of the game, with their ads appearing on in-game objects that naturally feel part of the gameplay. At the same time, they can reach millions of players within an environment where they are fully engaged and feel comfortable.
Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, Livewire’s co-founders, commented that they are thrilled to partner with Anzu and extremely excited to bring the Roblox platform exclusively to marketers and agencies in APAC.
“Livewire’s vision to be the leading gaming marketing and gametech company takes another leap forward with the immersive virtual world of Roblox. The platform is also fully GDPR and COPPA compliant highlighting their dedication to kidsafe gaming,” said Khabra and Manuel.
Itamar Benedy, Anzu’s co-founder and CEO, noted that some of the world’s biggest brands are using Roblox’s popularity and global reach to access previously hard-to-reach audiences, who are increasingly spending more time on the platform.
“Thanks to our exclusive partnership with Livewire, advertisers in APAC can now reach an engaged and diverse audience through our non-disruptive in-game ads that add to the gameplay, making experiences more realistic,” said Benedy.
Australia – Global in-game audio adtech company AudioMob has announced a new exclusive partnership deal with global gametech firm Livewire, aimed at launching APAC’s first in-game audio ad formats.
The partnership aims to leverage the power of in-game ads as an opportunity to reach players in a non-intrusive way within the game’s environment. Through the new platform, AudioMob will be serving in-game audio ads with an unobtrusive click-through banner. When users stream music or a podcast while playing a game, the in-game audio fades the stream before playing the ad.
According to research from AudioMob, about 61% of 18- to 24-year-olds listen to music when playing video games, while followed by 24- to 34-year-olds (49%), and 35- to 44-year-olds (44%).
Christian Facey, AudioMob’s CEO and co-founder, commented, “It’s amazing to see that we’re getting the same reception from the world’s largest advertising brands too.”
Indy Khabra, Livewire’s co-founder, believes that audio, in general, seems to be enjoying a renaissance with new formats, platforms, and reach.
“Brands in APAC are shifting budgets to target gaming audiences and including In-Game Audio ads delivers the non-intrusive experience players support,” said Khabra.
Brad Manuel, Livewire’s co-founder, said, “More people in APAC play mobile games than any other digital medium, covering casual players in transit to deeply engaged daily players who experience integrated audio ads as a natural fit within gameplay.”
The in-game audio ad is live and available for all brands across the entire APAC region.
Australia – Livewire, the global gaming marketing and gametech company, has officially launched its operation in EMEA, with its first office in London. This move comes after its launch in APAC six months ago,
The expansion aims to provide opportunities for brands who are understanding the importance of marketing to the gaming audience through a range of diverse opportunities, engaging a generation that is turning off traditional forms of media.
Through this, Livewire will be able to provide gaming marketing and gametech solutions to EMEA brands and clients through the company’s experience, partnerships, and proprietary assets across research and insights, gaming strategy, esports, gaming talent, and in and around game advertising, as well as gaming audience solutions, and direct publisher opportunities.
Following this endeavor, Livewire has also announced the appointment of former Dentsu leads Luke Aldridge and Peter Jacobs as the new directors to lead the EMEA region.
Aldridge and Jacobs the integrated gaming division DGame for global media agency Dentsu in London. They have a rich gaming and digital marketing experience, working with major clients including Kellogg’s and Mondelez. Both have delivered successful gaming campaigns for their roster of clients across gaming strategy, in-game advertising, talent, and esports.
Commenting on his appointment, Aldridge said that Livewire has a deep understanding of the entire gaming ecosystem and how to approach it like a marketer, which makes it exciting for him to join.
Meanwhile, Jacobs commented he is thrilled to join Livewire in helping marketers in EMEA navigate it successfully.
“We are now seeing some of the biggest brands in the world take advantage of the many opportunities gaming presents to engage audiences in unique and immersive ways. It is a complex and fascinating world – massive audiences, unparalleled engagement, and full of sub-cultures,” said Jacobs.
Indy Khabra and Brad Manuel, the co-founders of Livewire, shared that the opportunity and timing to launch Livewire EMEA with their first office in London allows them to bring their approach to clients in the region.
They said, “Globally, gaming and esports is now a priority on the marketer’s agenda and brands are looking to form a holistic gaming strategy to connect with the next generation of consumers who are getting harder to reach through the typical media mix requiring expertise. Gaming and esports are growing exponentially across EMEA, and brands at the forefront of this trend will win in the attention economy.”
“We’re excited that Luke and Pete will lead our EMEA expansion. They are experienced gaming marketers who understand the importance of gaming ecosystem strategy, coupled with great content and gametech,” Khabra and Manuel added.
In August this year, Livewire has also announced the launch of its new ‘Gaming Audiences by Livewire’, a new suite of gametech solutions that helps customers access end-to-end planning, insights, and measurement tools, activating unique gaming audience segments in ANZ.
For generations, gaming has been a cherished pastime across cultures and geographies. It took on a new life with the advent of the console and the internet, becoming more accessible and affordable. We’re now experiencing the next surge in gaming with the industry nearly doubling over the last five years, largely due to a combination of increasing internet access and speed, the proliferation of 5G, and increasing sophistication in hardware and mobile devices.
As the industry has grown, the technology underpinning gaming has become more powerful. The opportunity has evolved beyond the console, bringing many once fantasy science fiction stories to life, creating a flourishing gaming ecosystem. So as the pandemic forced everyone to stay indoors and find new ways to connect and stay entertained, the growth of gaming has accelerated exponentially beyond prediction.
Convergence of gaming and marketing
Fuelled by the maturity and innovation in marketing and advertising technology, coupled with advancements in machine learning, artificial intelligence, smart devices, and cloud computing, we are now witness to the convergence of gaming and marketing as an opportunity to the current market value of $175B USD this year. The landscape has changed and brands and marketers are looking for new and innovative ways to capitalize on the 3 billion global daily users.
But the technology ecosystem hasn’t fully kept up with the exponential growth in gaming, nor has expertise evolved to provide clear, strategic entry points for brands to authentically connect in this new interactive universe. Leading MarTech and AdTech companies are now looking at the gaming universe, seeking to understand how they can capture and grow their piece of the virtual pie and get in on the next big wave of marketing and entertainment.
The next generation of marketers and technologists are building a new landscape for gaming technology, so-called Gametech. New infographics reminiscent of the familiar Lumascape are now in circulation, highlighting the emergence of new businesses with relevant gaming technology dedicated to PC, console, or mobile devices.
Overcoming gaming marketing hesitancy
It has been referenced that brands and marketers are hesitant to invest their budgets in this arena. Claims range from tenuous means to measure campaign effectiveness, to not enough understanding about the medium, to let’s just throw some of my traditional media budget into a streaming platform and see what happens as a strategy.
This stems from a knowledge gap for both marketers and their agencies, and that trusted advisors and genuine gaming specialists are a small group. Beyond the upskilling and education, there also remains a gap in the connection to audience and inventory marketplaces.
Marketers, publishers, and their agencies must be able to access and activate through their DSP and/or SSP of choice. The challenge for some of these platforms is they currently lack the right integrations to support features unique to gaming behaviors and buying methods. The technology must adapt to the intricacies and adopt features like new buying types in order to tap into the market and scale with programmatic.
Combined forces driving game technology
Modern marketing and advertising are powered by machine learning and real-time access to audience segments, creative and inventory via private or public marketplaces. For gaming, the way to gain traction and scale is by leveraging the maturity and speed of these existing technologies combined with dedicated operational support for the new interactive ecosystem.
What the industry needs are businesses that aren’t focused on building the game itself, but genuinely understand how audiences engage with interactive formats and create opportunities that are true to the playing field without disruption. That means campaigns suited to the universe – or metaverse – in which the players reside, as well as in the form of ad monetization, measurement, and analytics to market analysis with a deeply rooted understanding of creativity fuelled growth.
Gametech providers must support marketers to understand how best to approach gaming, supported by research and insights. Data solutions must be available to activate through leading data marketplaces, DSPs, and SSPs. The right strategy and access are not complete without real-time measurement tools to inform in-flight performance and campaign effectiveness.
Industry legends from programmatic to traditional sports are combining learnings and the best of breed technology built for the fourth industrial revolution into the digital age. Platforms that can provide some or all of these solutions will carry brands into the next phase of Gametech and gaming marketing.
Double down on the future of Gametech
Brands, publishers, agencies, and platforms should be paying attention to the opportunity powered by Gametech. Gaming is ingrained in our modern-day culture, across geographies, demographics, economics, psychographics, etc. – all you need is internet access or a mobile phone.
But with great access and power comes responsibility – and children are a part of the gaming community. Innovation in Gametech has brought to light increased safety measures. In-game advertising enables marketers to choose what they define as brand-safe environments, empowering parents to feel secure in the activities their children engage with online.
Leveraging the power of data and insights combined with programmatic media buying methodologies, Gametech solutions enable addressability and harness the benefits of an increasingly sophisticated use of machine learning, smart software, and technology.
With the gaming market nearly doubling over the last five years and forecasted to grow to $217.9 billion by 2023, more of the marketing pie is going to shift into gaming. And the gaming universe is just getting ramped up, with more opportunity to be uncovered at the convergence of gaming and commerce. Fashion companies, sports icons, and music stars alike are bursting into the metaverse offering everything from live concerts, runway fashion shows, merchandise and apparel, and more.
Together, this presents a greenfield for creative innovation to connect the right brands and services to the right metaverse, game, or stream, with the right strategy, at the right time.
Only Gametech expertise can take you there. Are you ready?
This article is written by Indy Khabra, Co-Founder and CEO of Livewire.
Australia – The global game technology, entertainment, and marketing company, Livewire, has just announced the launch of its new ‘Gaming Audiences by Livewire’, a new suite of gametech solutions that helps customers access end-to-end planning, insights, and measurement tools, activating unique gaming audience segments in ANZ.
Following this endeavor, the company has also announced its partnership with HYP, the audience database for unparalleled rigor around targeting and analytics across all screens in Australia. It deems to be the simplest platform for most complex decisions. HYP also supports marketers in their quest to understand, identify, and connect within the digital economy.
Livewire’s new gametech solutions aim to make the complex task of applying data and insights for marketing more approachable holistically to help marketers and agencies better understand gaming and esports audience personas with 100% cookie-free, privacy compliant, and opt-in devices-only data.
The new solutions include ‘Gaming & Esports Research Reports’, which helps marketers understand how gaming is relevant to their vertical with defined gamer consumer segments at both digital audience segment and insights and research levels.
Meanwhile, the ‘Gaming Audiences by Livewire’ solution is to match gamer consumer segments and research to brands in and out of the gaming industry and create digital audience segments to be activated against all relevant DSPs and SSPs, across all screens in ANZ. And lastly, the ‘Real-Time Measurement and Insights’ solution, which measures activations and cross-device campaigns with the proprietary Gaming Maturity Index (GMI) and reporting on metrics such as in-flight sentiment and engagement index.
Indy Khabra, Livewire’s CEO and co-founder, commented that they are passionate about helping marketers connect with consumers through gametech and gaming marketing, and they are especially excited to launch the new solutions helping brands and agencies better engage their target audience.
“With the launch of our new gametech solutions, we now offer customers a compliant and brand-safe option to define, understand, match and activate gaming audiences. This is the first release from our product roadmap with more gametech solutions in development as we continue to add value to the gaming and esports ecosystem with a focus on MobileAR, VR, and the Metaverse,” said Khabra.
Meanwhile, Yun Yip, HYP’s managing director for APAC, believes that the synergies between the two Australian startup companies bring an exciting new level of connection to this hard-to-reach audience in an emerging and expanding part of the industry.
“Our mission to make complex decisions simple for marketers and agencies adds further fuel to Livewire’s gametech solutions by leveraging HYP’s technology and unparalleled rigor for targeting and analytics across all screens,” said Yip.
Livewire said that the new ‘Gaming Audiences by Livewire’ leverages HYP’s combination of two million pre-set variables and advanced machine learning, giving Livewire customers access to location, behavior, age, gender, income, and retail expenditure, as well as household type gaming and esports audience insights.
Just recently, Livewire has announced that it is entering a global partnership with esports company GAMURS Group, encompassing the markets of Europe, Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. Through the partnership, Livewire clients will be able to leverage the GAMURS Group’s audience of over 100 million unique fans across its portfolio of websites and social media profiles.
Sydney, Australia – Gametech marketing company Livewire has announced that it is entering a global partnership with esports company GAMURS Group, encompassing the markets of Europe, Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.
Said partnership follows after Livewire recently expanded to APAC this year.
Riad Chikhani, founder and CEO at GAMURS, says the company is excited to launch the partnership with Livewire off the back of formidable growth over the past 18 months which saw GAMURS’ collective audience grow to nearly 40 million readers.
“Growth remains our highest priority in the GAMURS Group as we continue to expand into new verticals and expand our reach. The growth offered through our partnership with Livewire is exciting as we look to work with more brands to help them reach such a dedicated audience,” Chikhani stated.
The new partnership enables Livewire clients to leverage the GAMURS Group’s audience of over 100 million unique fans across its portfolio of websites and social media profiles which separately command more than 80 million consumers per month.
For Indy Khabra, co-founder and CEO at Livewire, gaming and esports has been a priority on the marketer’s agenda as brands progress to find new ways to add value to the next generation of consumers. He also added that GAMURS Group has quickly become one of the largest online esports and gaming destinations, connecting millions of users every day.
“By partnering with GAMURS Group, we continue to execute on our gametech vision. Global esports viewership is expected to grow at a 9% CAGR, hitting 646 million viewers in 2023. The partnership gives marketers the ability to easily target esports enthusiasts programmatically, while providing our clients gametech solutions that deliver effective marketing outcomes,” Khabra stated.
Australia – In-game advertising platform Frameplay has partnered with Livewire, the global game technology, entertainment, and marketing company, to provide in-game inventory to marketers across the APAC region.
The partnership will see Livewire offering Frameplay’s advertising inventory to the market at a preferred partner rate, helping brands expand their audience through buying strategic in-game advertising, which is an effective cookieless alternative. It will also enable advanced insights into diverse gaming communities at scale.
Livewire will be offering the exclusive inventory to advertisers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as the Philippines, and India, among others, allowing brand exposure to targeted geographic or global audiences. Furthermore, the partnership with Frameplay enables Livewire clients to have access to over 190 million daily impressions and premium game inventory across millions of mobile, PC, and console devices.
According to Scott Linzer, the senior vice president of business development at Frameplay, the platform’s product launching in 2020 allowed several global brands like Pizza Hut and Energizer to experience their brand lift benefits.
“We are excited to bring this same opportunity to APAC advertisers through our strategic partnership with Livewire, which is a leading global gaming marketing company for brands,” said Linzer.
Indy Khabra, the co-founder and CEO at Livewire, commented that they are thrilled to add Frameplay as an exclusive partner to their growing gaming client base and extend Livewire’s APAC footprint as a leading game technology company.
“The region is a very important market strategically, especially for mobile gaming and it’s great to be launching with the premium game inventory. The partnership with Frameplay works side by side with Livewire’s vision to meet the growing demand for inventory that is brand safe, viewable, and unintrusive to the next generation of consumers, while still being highly measurable for brands and marketers,” said Khabra.
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