United in Rivalry

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BMW Esports

BMW went big in esports in 2020, in order to connect with a new, young target group. The goal was to bring BMW’s positioning to this new audience, by authentically staging the brand at a global level: United in Rivalry was born. 

But the right partners had to carry the multi-layered narrative – establishing an emotional connection globally, offering success, differentiating from competition, and creating relevance in esports. The world’s best five League of Legends teams – Cloud9 (United States), Fnatic (Europe), G2 Esports (Europe), FunPlus Phoenix (China) and T1 (South Korea) – offered the right fit.  The way to our ambitious, impactful objectives: translating the brand into the community by co-creating narratives, involving the fans and generating conversations for our brand. The year saw BMW build tension across five time zones for the big reveal, hold a live event, and activate team and central brand channels with a myriad of authentic (co-)created content pieces and all along deeply involving the community. 

The year resulted in “United in Rivalry” winning the ESA Award for “Sponsorship Esports”, The Esports Observer naming BMW the best among “New or Expanding Brands in Esports for 2020” and also the Esports Award nominating our client for “Esports Commercial Partner of the Year”.