Build stronger consumer relationships by supporting the growth of gaming entertainment, says new report

Brands that work alongside entertainment culture are more likely to create a more powerful connection with consumers than those that don’t, a new study from marketing agency Frukt has found.

In the ‘Press Play: Brands and the Power of Entertainment’ report, over 70 per cent of respondents said they would be more likely to trust a brand that helps support the growth of the entertainment they love. Breaking it down to looking at just gaming (the other categories include music, and TV and film), that figure rises to 82 per cent, showing that gamers are highly receptive to brand communication within their favourite titles.

An average of 71 per cent also said that entertainment was the most effective way for brands to connect with them. Again, that figure rises when looking specifically at gamers, with 81 per cent saying it’s the most direct way to engage with them.

87 per cent of surveyed gamers also said they would tell their friends about brands that deliver entertainment experiences they enjoy in gaming, although this figure was actually comparatively low compared to music (95 per cent) and film and TV (96 per cent).

Elsewhere in the report, 81 per cent of gamers saying they feel more favourable towards brands that enable them to enjoy unique entertainment experiences with their friends, with 88 per cent also saying they feel more connected to their friends when engaged in entertainment they love.

The report also looked at which brands resonated most with consumers. Interestingly, McDonald’s indexed higher with gamers than other entertainment categories (69 per cent), possibly because the brand’s recently got involved with esports.

Dom Hodge, managing director of Frukt, said: Frukt has spent the last 15 years extolling the virtues of aligning with entertainment culture, helping some of the world’s biggest brands Press Play and develop bold new experiences for passionate fans. This research reaffirms the uniquely transformational power of storytelling to captivate and connect. For brands, utilising the universal language of entertainment provides more than just a moment of escapism, it puts the brand at the very epicentre of the consumer’s own, deeply personal, story”.

Giles Fitzgerald, trends and insights editor at Frukt, added: Entertainment is more than a flickering image on a cinema screen, a tune you can’t shake off, or a few stolen moments on a gaming app. Entertainment sits at the very core of what it means to be human; what makes us laugh, cry and connect with other people” For brands seeking that elusive emotional, and fundamentally ‘human’, connection with today’s increasingly discerning consumer, entertainment is now a serious ‘relationship business’.”