GroupM Denmark Enters Strategic Partnership with Gaming Agency Goblin Creative

September 9, 2024 – GroupM Denamrk has announced an exclusive strategic partnership with Denmark’s largest gaming agency, Goblin Creative. While the two agencies already work on shared clients, including Playstation and Danske Spil, this exclusive partnership takes their collaboration to new heights – benefiting all of GroupM’s clients.

Goblin Creative was founded by Rasmus Simonsen, one of Denmark’s first professional esports athletes, and Andreas Thomsen, a former top Danish live streamer. Since it’s launch, Goblin Creative has created and driven countless commercial and creative gaming-native solutions for major Danish brands. The agency’s deep experience and know-how will now be accessible to GroupM’s clients through the partnership. In this partnerhsip, Goblin Creative will be responsible for delivering powerful gaming-native strategies, creative concept development, and production services, which GroupM will then activate for its clients.

“We see a huge untapped potential in gaming. There is the obvious media exposure before, during, and after gameplay, where our access to media and partnerships can truly power gaming strategies and drive performance. Goblin Creative’s knowledge of the diverse gamer audiences is incredibly valuable for us in the intersection of media and advertising. A gamer is not just a gamer. Gaming has become an integral part of Danes’ media consumption, on par with social media and streaming services. Together with Goblin Creative, we will focus on everything from simple mobile games to the grand arenas where tournaments are held – and everything in between”, says Jesper S. Jørgensen, Nordic COO of GroupM.

Gaming has truly become mainstream. 58% of all Danes now play games weekly or more often, and this number is steadily increasing. Although gaming is often associated with children and young adults, the average gamer is in fact 35 years old, and 25% of all gamers are women – a number that has increased by 75% since 2016. So, gaming and “gamers” should no longer be seen as a niche target group that doesn’t warrant consideration in media strategies. In fact, GroupM believes that advertisers can no longer afford to omit gaming from their media mix:

“As media consumption evolves and becomes increasingly fragmented, gaming stands out as an untapped opportunity to gain cost-effective and deeply engaged attention from audiences that advertisers normally would struggle to reach. In gaming, you’re dealing with audiences that are both demographically diverse and exceptionally engaged. That’s why we also see gaming and gamers as a natural extension of our activation work, and 89% of brands that use gaming as a channel say it has had a positive impact on their brand”, says Helle Appelquist, Chief Content Officer at GroupM Nexus.

Rasmus Wisti Simonsen from Goblin Creative adds: “Traditional advertising has no effect in the gaming world. Gamers are actively participating and deeply engaged, and they know when they are being marketed to. This doesn’t mean you can’t reach them. If you, as a brand, understand and utilize the dynamic and creative advertising arenas that gaming offers, they will engage. However, it requires understanding the segment, and that’s what we do at Goblin Creative. As an advertiser, you not only gain access to our know-how and native approach but also the opportunity to connect with gamers authentically, leading to greater brand loyalty.”

It is precisely the synergy between native gaming strategies and performance-driven audience activation that has motivated this partnership. Both partners believe that their combined expertise will give clients a unique advantage in the gaming market.

With this new collaboration, GroupM’s agencies – EssenceMediacom, Wavemaker, and Mindshare – together with Goblin Creative, can offer everything from programmatic buying of in-game and live streaming ads to tailored brand concepts and native gaming integrations. This will ensure authentic user experiences for all gamers on their home turf.

If you are interested in learning more about the partnership’s possibilities, please reach out to Emil Valdemar Madsen at GroupM or attend our upcoming seminar, “Leveraging the Untapped Potential of Gaming,” on October 22nd in Aarhus or October 23rd in Copenhagen. Here, Rasmus Wisti Simonsen from Goblin Creative and Aline Bougard from Wavemaker will share insights on how advertisers can best incorporate gaming into their media strategies.

Register for the seminar here.