This article is part of an ongoing series of data-driven articles from PocketGamer.biz and App Annie highlighting trends in the global mobile games sector using App Annie’s app market data.
In this week’s column, we’re considering how fashion brands such as Louis Vitton are expanding their audiences by partnering with mobile games and even including game experiences within their mobile apps.
Beautiful synergies
As App Annie’s senior market insights manager Lexi Sydow explains, the experiences created by these partnerships drives both engagement for brands’ existing audiences while also encouraging new users to get involved.
This works because the millennials and Gen Z audiences fashion brands are interested in attracting are mobile-first, so leveraging popular mobile games makes complete sense.
One of the first examples of this was Louis Vuitton in-game skins in League of Legends back in 2019, while more recently Tencent partnered with Burberry to add limited-edition skins into its China-only mobile MOBA Honor of Kings, which was the top grossing mobile game globally during 2020.
Some brands are taking a broader approach.
One example is Puma, which is now sponsoring five esports teams – including Chinese, Korean and US team Gen.G – to enable global coverage of its brand.
Perhaps the most surprising initiative, however, can be seen within Gucci’s mobile app, which contains its own game arcade section.
Gucci’s app ranked #2 for downloads in the period January 2020 to March 2021. And Android phone users of the Gucci app in South Korea were 37 per cent more likely to use the Snake.io game included in the Arcade than the overall population as of December 2020.
Looking for more mobile insights heading into 2021? Download App Annie’s industry-leading State of Mobile report, covering everything you need to know about how to win on mobile in 2021.
