Page 54 - Adnews Magazine May-June 2021

Meet the Team
EDWIN HUGHAN•SENIOR CREATIVE STRATEGIST
What’s the most exciting part of your role as a creative strategist? With all the new ways streamers are creating content to entertain their audiences, it’s exciting to work with brands to figure out how we can leverage the best parts of Twitch to create the
best activations for our clients. You’ve got people playing FIFA roleplaying as coaches, holding
team meetings, people sharing their culture and skills,
musicians making new music, even someone
dressing up like a gecko and inviting people to call into their show to chat. There’s always
something new to discover and apply.
Is there a big misconception advertisers have about Twitch?
As easy as Twitch makes it for creators, it’s not just people diving into a game and going live on Twitch — though that’s where it often starts.
The team of support Twitch creators build around themselves to make this their profession really is amazing. The investment that goes into the tech and production value, highlights how dedicated gamers and their audiences are.
We’ve got Australians spending 1.8 billion hours gaming in 2020 and the Australian gaming industry now being worth $3.4 billion. Gaming and livestreaming can’t be considered just a niche hobby these days.
What’s the biggest challenge in your role?
Knowing when to switch hats from creative strategy to producer to client.
I make sure to take the Twitch hat off and zoom out to see things from a different perspective. On the flip-side,
it’s also balancing when to keep the Twitch hat on and help guide all parties through some of the more interesting aspects of
a live environment.
Taking them on that journey to ensure what might seem very out there is in fact helping achieve brand objectives
— even if it involves a roleplaying coach or a grown adult dressed as a gecko.
BATOUL PETERS•ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day for me is helping brands better understand Twitch and demystifying the opportunities available to them. I’m focused on building
a community of likeminded advertisers and agency partners who understand Twitch and appreciate its ability to drive impact for brands.
In many ways I consider myself similar to a Twitch streamer — the account director type! Hear me out... my content narrative is Twitch media opportunities, my audience is made up of advertisers and agency partners, and my platform is virtual.
Having started at Twitch in the midst of a pandemic, I had to get comfortable pretty quickly with building rapport and genuine relationships in 2D.
What attracted you to Twitch?
If the media and advertising industry were The Matrix, then Twitch would be Zion. It’s the chosen place by passionate creators and a deeply engaged audience community. I love the connection the audience has with the creators, it’s deeply authentic.
Twitch isn’t just a media service, it’s a way of life — a culture unto itself driving community-
led content. You can’t find many places that do it like Twitch does.
Have you learnt anything you didn’t expect to while working at Twitch? Brands don’t need
a gaming strategy to win with our audience. Twitch users do “ordinary people things”, like buy groceries, apply for
a loan and shop online. When it comes
to content diversity, Twitch has something for everyone. From gaming, to music to talk shows to sports to beauty and art — there is content for everyone.