Why is this work relevant for Media?

The pandemic has pushed for an ingenious, if not merely altered, way of how brands communicate to their market. With imposed lockdowns, digital media consumption rose with the new normal as ‘virtual.’ Men’s passion spaces were not an exception as offline activities such as sports were put to a halt, causing a shift to an online alternative: e-sports. With the rise of gamers and gaming enthusiasts alike, e-sports was an impactful starting point and a medium that allowed Master to continuously develop its positioning and relevance in the Male Grooming category.

Background

Well-renowned as the biggest face care brand for men in the Philippines and as a market leader with a value price point, Master offers a comprehensive range of face care products—from face washes to scrubs to the “gwapo” (handsome) Filipino. The brand has previously communicated hygiene in the context of being objectively handsome, but young Filipino men nowadays see being good-looking beyond physical traits. It’s being gwapo despite the odds—especially in competitive spaces such as gaming. Through a new product launch of an All-in-One Clay Facial Wash, the objective is to build awareness and Equity for Master as a face brand used by Filipino Gamers that pushes their clay game to the limit.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

Most men do not place that much importance and effort on keeping a clean face; they just use soap and water. While the brand was able to communicate hygiene in the context of playing sports, the current lockdown has denied the brand from reaching out to sports enthusiasts. Master found its core target market’s new home with gaming as an interest on the rise. The gamer population is more involved in the e-sports world than ever before. With the significant overlap of Master’s core target market with the biggest demographic of the gamer population, the opportunity was clear. The only question now was where to start. When it comes to content consumption, esports leagues and tournaments lead the pack, with more than half of gamers following tournament broadcasts - by watching the content during live streams, replay VODs, and checking out the news.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

TAPPING THE HIGHEST REACHING ESPORTS GAMING LEAGUE WAS KEY FOR MASTER With all of these pros coming together, it was clear that Philippine Pro Gaming League (PPGL), the largest multi-title e-sports league in the Philippines, was the optimal place for Master to start its journey into the gaming space. The Philippines is a mobile-first country, with 76% of gamers playing primarily on smartphones. Gaming on mobile phones is the lead platform for gamers because of the increased availability of affordable smartphones, better data plans, and the expansion of ISPs across the country. These are also why mobile phones as a platform will most likely be the fastest-growing option in the coming years. The campaign looked at the segments where masters were present and selected key game moments that highlighted these masterful players and their plays.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

With the legacy fanbase of League of Legends on PC, as well as the primary platform for gaming in the Philippines being mobile phones, Master selected League of Legends: Wild Rift. To amplify reach and effectively connect to Filipino gamers, Master partnered with Mineski for a Youth E-Sports Program (YEP) that taps local event organizers in Visayas and Mindanao (VisMin), two of the Philippines’ three major islands, to run grassroots community tournaments to build interest in gaming. VisMin audiences were also used as a sampling channel for Master, wherein organizers would distribute prizes to participants from these regions. On Channels, the strategy behind everything is bringing your “Clay-Game” a play on words on “A-Game”. Here, taking from the name of the brand itself, the campaign team looked at the segments where masters were present - and selected key game moments that highlighted these masterful players and their plays.

List the results (30% of vote)

Based on the viewership data where the PPGL was broadcasted - Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, the Wild Rift SEA Icon Series - PH garnered a total of: • 69M Reach • 36M Minutes Viewed • 77M Impressions • over 5.2M unique viewers over the course of the broadcast • 15,541 Peak Concurrent Viewers Aside from the viewership numbers, PPGL touched the center of the emerging PH WR competitive community and gathered a total of 893 teams throughout the year. Amongst these were well-known local and international esports organizations: Bren Esports and Team Secret. This partnership also helped Master achieve good business results: • Massive growth of +14.1% in H1 of 2021 alone vs a USG of –18% of previous year. • Highest volume share since 2018 at 140 BPS with the introduction of a new format—clay wash—that highlighted cleansing superiority.