Thece
Defining an emerging ad tech innovator
Avion worked closely with a U.S. startup in the esports and gaming space to define their brand, scale their marketing communications and provide steady support in an ever-changing commercial and technical environment.
The opportunity
Thece was ready to disrupt the marketing and esports space by bringing the best of both worlds together into one scalable ad unit. It needed to share this entirely new product offering with the world and sought Avion's help to communicate their value publicly and create a foundation for long-term success and growth in their marketing.
The result
In a multi-year engagement, we helped Thece define their brand, iterate their website and messaging, launch digital marketing channels, foster a social media presence and develop articles for national and international distribution to put them on the map. With flexible support, Thece benefited from senior-level experience at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee.
The battle for consumer attention
It's getting harder and more expensive for brands to grab and keep consumers’ attention through traditional media platforms, with Gen Z's 15-19 year olds spending on average 1.96 hours watching television per day in 2022, compared with 4.25 hours for 65-74 year olds. Viewership for traditional television is in decline. Social media is crowded and increasingly costly to advertise on. And there is general advertising burnout amongst Gen Z, a digital native generation that loses attention within an average of 1.2 seconds when shown a traditional ad.
Thece's Founder and CEO, Zachary Rozga, saw an opportunity when learning about the growing number of individuals, particularly young, who watched hours of live stream gaming and esports every day. While most traditional media platforms are in decline, the ‘game viewing audience’ is on the rise with over 9 billion hours watched in a single quarter by hundreds of millions of individuals all across the world.
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Thece (originally The Consumer Engagement Co.) created an ad unit that could live on the livestream signal without interrupting play. Through QR codes, Thece created second screen interactions and track results across multiple streams, thus turning a new media form into a traditional media buy for brands and agencies. Now brands could purchase advertising for esports and gaming similar to purchasing it for traditional media.
Not only is this a win for brands trying to get the attention of Gen Z and other consumers, this is a win for esports and gaming companies trying to create steady monetary streams for their organisations. By solving both problems, Thece has grown from a small startup to a fast-growing pioneer in the esports and gaming space.
"Avion didn’t just provide a service, they helped us build our company into what it is today."
Zachary Rozga - Founder and CEO, Thece
Navigating a brand message through shifting sands
For any start up in a new industry, defining the offering in a way that makes sense to someone who has never heard of the company is critical. Thece was forging new ground, which meant their brand message needed to be both familiar and novel. But this was easier said than done when the environment Thece operated in continued to shift under its feet.
Avion worked with a range of stakeholders in the company to define, redefine and shift messaging throughout the many changes and iterations of Thece as it navigated the marketplace. When Thece learned of new challenges, potential offerings and setbacks, we were able to help them pivot without losing clarity. Through a comprehensive brand message strategy, articles, social media oversight, and website reviews, we helped Thece communicate their brand to their audience.
It's never easy keeping a steady course as the 'startup' winds blow, but we found that a flexible approach to the engagement coupled with always presenting Thece with options and a sense of control over their destiny was the best way to navigate those early days as a startup.
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Cody Kimmel - North America Lead and Copywriter, Avion
The benefits of a close engagement
Unlike traditional projects, Avion was an embedded part of the Thece team. We provided flexible support when required, quick turnarounds on feedback and strategy, and creative insights that could only come from the deep knowledge that comes from understanding the company as an insider.
Since Thece was operating in such a unique space, we helped them pioneer new ways of engaging consumers – including conducting video interviews for social media, helping to facilitate workshops, and traveling to in-person conferences as a representative of Thece. The ongoing, embedded nature allowed Avion to be nimble and responsive, ultimately providing senior-level fractional marketing, communication and copywriting leadership for their growing team.