• by Tanya Gazdik , March 17, 2022

Wendy’s and Philips Norelco are among the brands using video game streaming platform Twitch to create activations around March Madness.

Twitch is bringing back “Let’s Go! College Hoops” and “SuperFan FaceOff” on /TwitchSports, a channel for helping viewers to find and follow sports streams. 

Wendy’s and Philips Norelco are sponsoring segments within each show, which will feature Twitch creators alongside athletes and sports analysts.

Each sponsorship will include category exclusivity, custom Twitch Chat integrations, branding on the /TwitchSports channel page as well as within the stream.

In its first-ever advertising campaign on Twitch, Philips Norelco is sponsoring “SuperFan FaceOff,” tapping Twitch Chat integrations to reach Twitch’s community of  Gen Z and millennial and sports fans. The brand is promoting its new OneBlade First Shave product.

"The Pick 5” Segment with Wendy’s will appear during “Let’s Go! College Hoops.” It is a fast-paced red-zone style watch-along for each game that will include a custom segment where hosts shout out their daily favorite Wendy’s menu items.

Wendy’s is promoting March Madness specials, such as the $1 Dave Single, available for ordering on the Wendy’s App.

While there is no shortage of ways to watch NCAA basketball games and coverage of the tournament, streaming has become popular in an increasingly mobile world.

Twitch, launched in 2011, has an audience of 7.5 million streamers,  including many Gen Y and Z.

Viewership of traditional sports-related streaming on the service saw a 409% increase in hours watched in 2021, according to Twitch.

Brand partners are turning to Twitch to complement their traditional sports marketing buys with interactivity. When adding Twitch to existing cable sports sponsorships, advertisers get as much as a 9X bump in viewers ages 18-34, according to Twitch.