VCCP+ taps into 'thriving multiverse' of 2.7bn gamers

VCCP Group is making a major play for the gaming market with the launch of a new global proposition VCCP+, designed to help brands tap into the 2.7 billion consumers who have moved on from video games and now are part of a “complex, thriving multiverse of distinct and diverse platforms, media and cultures”.

The agency claims VCCP+ will deliver data-backed solutions to help brands build long-term value in the space and challenge the ways gaming is traditionally viewed and activated.

It insists the current obsession with the metaverse is distracting the much needed attention away from the single largest unmet audience opportunity in marketing.

The power of gaming as a medium and culture has been alarmingly misunderstood for too long, the agency argues, a gaming today is much more than just playing video games. It is a complex, thriving multiverse of distinct and diverse platforms, media and cultures – from content, to influencers, lifestyle, design, entertainment, and sports.

With a third of the world’s population in its mix, gaming has a larger audience than even Facebook. But it is not just its sheer size. Every touchpoint across the multiverse surpasses that of existing social and traditional channels of communication, VCCP maintains, with gaming content viewership on YouTube, for example, bigger than HBO, Netflix, and Hulu combined. And these numbers will only continue to accelerate with a new generation of audience where gaming is a core part of their identity and social life.

Despite its popularity and abundance of opportunities, brands, marketers and even agencies have only really scratched the surface of gaming’s potential as the force in marketing to leverage. Investment in gaming is currently 100 times less than ad spend on Facebook and four times less than in print.

VCCP+ aims to disrupt this status quo and claims it will arm future-facing brands with the right data, expertise, ideas, and partnerships for an immediate marketing future where a gaming strategy and an always-on plan will be a critical necessity.

VCCP+ will be led by chief executive Jonny Shaw (pictured, right) and head of strategy Sashi Nair (left). Shaw has worked in the game space for over 20 years, leading teams in London, Tokyo, San Francisco and New York. He has worked on both endemic games brands, PlayStation, Xbox, EA and Rockstar games, to name a few, as well as helping some of the world’s best consumer brands navigate the world of games including Coca Cola, Fanta, Adidas, Google, and many more.

Nair joins from Havas Sports & Entertainment, where he led the strategy practice on gaming, partnerships, sports and music. A multi-disciplinary strategist, Nair has worked on leading brands, including The Coca-Cola Company, Beam Suntory, Michelin, Tracfone, Fidelity, Titlelist, P&G, Pringles, Emirates, HSBC, Sony and Volkswagen.

Shaw said: “The gaming space is completely misunderstood, misused or relegated to being an experiment for marketers. It is the biggest unmet audience opportunity there is in marketing. Gaming represents the biggest entertainment vertical in the world and is constantly ignored by brands. As 90% of Gen Z identify as gamers, the audience of tomorrow is everyone. VCCP+ is here to challenge the status quo and offer brands a way to engage and tap into this demographic in a way that is authentic and will reduce media wastage.”

VCCP+ will tap into coders from VCCP CX and makers in the world of design and art, motion and 3D tech, from VCCP’s recently launched global content studio, Girl&Bear. VCCP+ will also team up with leading production and content partners, collaborators at the intersections of sports, lifestyle and entertainment, as well as gaming publishers and influencers.

The agency launches as a new practice within all VCCP offices worldwide, including New York, where it is headquartered, Madrid, Prague, San Francisco, London, Singapore, Sydney and Shanghai, and will be offered as core service to VCCP clients such as White Claw and O2.