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To connect with Gen Z, BMW turns the keys over to esports organizations

Brands’ sudden interest in esports is all about this tough-to-reach Gen Z. But few esports partnerships have the scope of BMW’s deal.

Brands’ sudden interest in esports is all about this tough-to-reach Gen Z. But few esports partnerships have the scope of BMW’s deal.

BMW first entered esports in 2019 by partnering with Cloud9. Now, the company is quintupling down on esports by partnering with an international group of top esports organizations.
“This will not be the sponsorship approach as we know it from traditional sports,” Koenig said. “Most of the content we will communicate will not be created by BMW. It will be created by the teams. That’s unique for us and a step back for us from a corporate perspective. We are giving much more trust to our partners to use the BMW brand.”
“With the esports industry, we finally have an industry where we can truly take in the entire world,” said Koenig. “China, Korea, Germany, the U.K. and the United States are markets that are our top five markets in terms of sales worldwide. Covering our biggest geographic regions was a big part of our decision-making process.”