Paco Rabanne becomes the new broadcast partners with this season’s main esports Dota 2 tournament — EPIC League.
Invictus men’s perfume will be presented during the international championship with a $500 000 prize pool.
The competition among the strongest teams in the world will become a podium for introducing the esports audience to the aroma of strength, pride and victory — the Invictus bottle is made in the form of a trophy cup.
The brand’s advertising campaign was developed by Starcom media Agency (part of Publicis Groupe Russia) together with ESforce Holding and Bridge A[gency].
During the EPIC League final part, which will be held from December 8 to 13, partners will organize large-scale integration of Invictus into the virtual world and tournament media space.
Polina Protsevskaya, Senior Digital Manager, Starcom:
“Bearing in mind the Paco Rabanne strategic goals and the global benchmarks, we have found an innovative approach to expanding the Invictus brand positioning.
The spirit of competition is in the brand’s DNA, but the perfume category has been poorly represented in esports until today.
This is why the brand entered this territory and immediately became a partner of the largest esports tournament of the current Dota 2 season — EPIC League”.
Sergey Barkhudaryan, Commercial Director, ESforce Holding:
“One of the esports industry dynamic growth indicators is the interest of the largest companies from completely different areas.
We thank Paco Rabanne for their trust in implementing this landmark collaboration and are happy to help such a vivid brand communicate with the esports audience”.
Irina Putintseva, CEO, Bridge A[gency]:
“Invictus is an ancient aestheticized masculinity and the will to win. A trophy that the conqueror has already appropriated and keeps on the shelf.
The visual embodiment of the bottle in the form of a сup is a perfect match for the tournament style, because gamers have an uncompromising thirst to win. They are persistent in everything.
We are pleased and happy that today such advertising campaigns destroy the stereotypes that perfumes are far from the usual Russian guy, on the one hand, and that esports athletes are always blinkered and unkempt, on the other hand.
And it’s great that such advertising campaigns open your eyes to reality and make visible the heroes of the esports world, who value not only their skills, but also the impression they make and how they are perceived by the world around them.
After all, they win not only on the virtual fields, but also in the real world”.
About Starcom
Starcom is the main human experience agency within Publicis Groupe Russia. Knows everything about people, technology, and how to combine a deep understanding of human needs and current technologies.
The Agency provides a full-fledged strategic service in media planning, purchases advertising in all media, and develops innovative and technological expertise of the client business. In the past two years alone, the Agency has won more than 14 Effie, MIXX and Red Apple awards.
About Bridge A[gency]
Bridge A[gency] is a game marketing agency in Russia. Connects gaming and major global brands such as HP, Nissan, Procter&Gamble, Reckit Benckiser and others.
The agency focuses on collaborations with influencers, cross-platform gaming projects, advertising sales in gaming publications, including within the Kanobu Plus network created in 2020, and much more
About ESforce Holding
ESforce Holding is one of the biggest esports organizations in the world and the leader of
the Russian esports. The holding encapsulates all esports business sectors: from organizing
international tournaments and creating professional content to publishing and advertising.
ESforce Holding’s business include:
- Virtus.pro, the most renowned and popular esports club in Russia;
- RuHub Studio, the leading Russian-speaking esports broadcasting studio;
- Cybersport.ru, the main esports media in CIS;
- EPICENTER, the largest esports tournament series in CIS;
- Yota Arena, esports-entertainment venue.
ESforce’s resources cover more than 90% of the esports audience in Russia and CIS, as well as a significant segment of the international audience. A marketing agency — a member of the holding — ensures the synergy of the holding’s business units with the clients and partners in mind.
ESforce Holding was founded in 2015. In 2018, the holding became a member of a leading
Internet and IT-company of Russia — Mail.Ru Group.