The Impact of Sponsorship in E-sports on Brand Awareness and Brand Image: Case Study of an E-sport Event

This study attempts to contribute to the knowledge base by exploring the impact of Esports event sponsorship on brand recognition, brand recall and brand image of endemic and non-endemic brands (by example of Monster Energy and Corsair). The respondent on the 1st stage of research were the followers of Cybersport.ru account in social network Vkontakte who watch streams. On the second stage we surveyed the followers who had watched the broadcast of DreamLeague Season 11 in the period from 14 to 24 March 2019. In this study, the following methods were used: comparing the shares of brand recognition and brand recall, comparing average values of the brand image characteristics using the Mann-Whitney test, and comparing the shares of positive and negative associations with Monster Energy and Corsair. The results of the following study may be of interest not only for marketing students but also for the brand manager and employees in the field of Esports and scholars in the relevant field. Recommendations obtained as a result of the research can be used by brand managers of both endemic and non-endemic brands as a guideline in developing a communication strategy and strategic planning.