Logitech G appoints Labbrand for digital strategy in China

Launched in March this year, Logitech G Series is a new line of PC-gaming peripherals (keyboards, mice and headphones) that forms Logitech's official gaming brand.

In January, Labbrand tailor-made a Chinese tagline (绝胜科技) as part of a pilot project for the localisation of the English equivalent (Science Wins), which showcases Logitech G’s focus on science for outstanding gaming performance.

The client decided to task Labbrand with the bulk of its digital strategy after that, and signed the agency on an annual-retainer contract.

A series of campaigns, each lasting four months, has been planned, including 'guerrilla' marketing and social-media executions. Labbrand has already opened corporate Tencent Weibo and WeChat accounts, working real-time with the client's in-house community management department to feed content to the local gaming community.

Visuals created by Labbrand are based on a recurring theme of control. Being actual gamers themselves, the Labbrand team members said they understood why gamers wanted all the in-game controls that they may not have in real life.

"Gamers are a very particular demographic," Kevin Gentle, Labbrand's digital strategy consultant, told Campaign Asia-Pacific. "You have to be very credible to reach out to them. The client's prerequisite prior to hiring an agency is for it to know gamer's culture."

It's impossible for non-gamers to understand gaming lingo and attitudes. "No amount of market research can replace the knowledge gained only from actually playing games like League Of Legends," Gentle said.

Local gamers are "highly, highly, highly engaged in the activity" and "very intense" when they are in gaming mode, he continued. To sell effectively to gamers, they need to feel they are getting "concrete benefits" from gaming products. That simply means they should be able to play and score better.

A series of web-episodes that demonstrates different features of the G Series product line are in the works, while offline, Labbrand will manage the client's participation in China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference (popularly referred to as ChinaJoy) in late July.

Nearly 60 per cent of the Chinese online population plays MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games), according to CNNIC data.