Layer wanted PR support and a clever content strategy to raise the profile of their unique licensing marketplace for connecting brands with video games.
Overview
Whether it’s licensed IP games such as Goldeneye and Star Wars: Pod Racer on the N64 or crossovers that have seen the likes of Dragon Ball and Marvel making appearances in Fortnite, licensors have been using video games as a way to reach new audiences since the late ‘70s.
These days, collaborations are happening at such a frequent pace it’s all too easy to lose track. This is especially true on mobile, where only one of the top nine downloaded games in 2021 wasn’t based on an existing franchise or IP. Then you’ve also got designer fashion labels and luxury car brands utilised as in-game skins, virtual concerts with major pop stars, and now even a critically-acclaimed TV show in The Last of Us.
But licensing IP into a video game isn’t always a straightforward process, something that Layer’s co-founder, Rachit Moti, discovered during the process of licensing music from his old band into a video game.
Layer was founded to streamline the process of licensing IP into video games, while helping licensors, brands and IP holders find the best video game partners both creatively and commercially through the Layer licensing marketplace.
Client
Layer
What We Did
B2B PR
We support Layer with all aspects of PR and content creation
As Layer’s licensing platform is an original concept and an exciting market proposition for both game developers and IP holders, they were looking for a PR partner to help them:
- Identify the most effective ways of getting the platform in front of major gaming companies and brands
- Showcase the main features of the platform, such as its ability to match license holders with gaming partners according to demographic fit, gameplay fit and monetisation alignment
- Build their profile as gaming and licensing experts in gaming and traditional licensing publications.
Enter Big Games Machine; we’ve been working hand-in-hand with Layer to support their team with all aspects of PR and content. This includes coordinating press announcements and setting up a reactive news room to issue comments on gaming and licensing stories, developing a content strategy providing detailed insight into licensing news, and pitching and drafting bylined articles on licensing topics that are relevant to gaming.
We’ve also been supporting Layer with creating more educational content, including a comprehensive ebook helping licensors that are new to the gaming world understand the video game market and the process of licensing IP into video games.
We created a best-in-class monthly newsletter on all things licensing
One of the challenges we realised early on during our work with Layer was that while there are loads of stories every day about interesting collaborations between brands and games, there was a limited media audience covering licensing from a business-focused perspective. Coverage for most stories spread across a variety of smaller outlets meaning most news stories could be easily missed.
This also meant there was an opportunity to be the leading voice in this space, and our solution was to create a best-in-class monthly newsletter, with the intention of making it the go-to resource for anyone interested in video games, IP and licensing.
We set up media monitoring to track the latest stories relating to licensing in video games and handpick the most important ones to feature in the newsletter. Our copywriters draft three lead stories for the newsletter based on the previous month’s biggest licensing stories, providing additional insight and context into what these stories mean for the licensing space.
As Layer is working with a limited budget, this approach allowed us to create a content funnel for the newsletter, where content is broken down and distributed through multiple channels and formats including blogs for their website and social media content.
The results
As Layer is a start-up business, we were only working with a limited budget to deliver PR results. Despite this, we’ve secured and drafted over twenty pieces of bylined coverage and lined up speaking opportunities with their key publications.
Seven issues of the newsletter have managed to pick up over 1200 subscribers, with an above-industry-average open rate of 20%. The newsletter also provided a bank of engaging content for promotion across Layer’s social media and a lift-off point for the launch of Layer’s very own podcast.
Highlights include:
- Gained over 22 pieces of coverage generating over 100k views with bylined articles in Gamesindustry.biz, Licensing.biz and PocketGamer.
- Gained over 1200 subscribers to the Layer newsletter monthly newsletter with a 20% open rate.
- Coverage and interview opportunities on the launch of the licensing platform in key B2B gaming publications including MCV and VentureBeat.
- More than 135 qualified downloads/leads of the ‘Licensor’s Guide to Games’ E-book.
