Page 55 - Adnews Magazine May-June 2021

LEWIS MITCHELL•APAC CONTENT DIRECTOR
What’s your one key goal for 2021 in your role?
Twitch has been built from the ground up as a livestream service and the tools built for engagement are second to none. My key goal is to continue to provide
a sustainable home for as many creators as possible in 2021.
Have you learnt anything about Twitch you weren’t expecting to
since joining?
While gaming is known to be, and will always be, at the core of Twitch, I found
the breadth and depth of content available astounding. In fact,
non-gaming content on Twitch has
quadrupled during
the past three years. In AUNZ, sports and music genres have experienced tremendous growth, and we’ve seen categories such as art, comedy and lifestyle emerge to capture new audiences.
Have you learnt anything about Twitch you weren’t expecting to since joining?
Creativity is infinite. Throughout my time here, I’ve seen people utilise the service in ways no-one working at the company could have expected. We’ve seen wood carving and knitting streams, new ways to experience sport and music, and creators’ live- builds of bespoke controllers out of baguettes. It’s been amazing seeing what people can do when you give them the right toolkit.
CHEERI LEO•APAC DIRECTOR OF SALES MARKETING
What’s the biggest challenge you have in your role?
Twitch Australia officially launched on 1 January 2020, amid a global pandemic and significant market challenges. Launching and scaling the Twitch presence in Australia in a virtual environment was definitely a challenge, especially without the in-person interactions to connect with brands and clients. We were up against the fatigue of virtual events, and the team had to adapt to working from home and losing the regular face-to-face communication. However, this also created an opportunity for Twitch to connect with the world via our livestreaming services.
What’s something you wish advertisers better understood about Twitch?
Twitch’s “secret sauce” is the live, personality-driven content and two-way interaction between community and creator. Popular creators stream for an average of 40 hours a week, and each creator’s community interacts through its own language, set of rules and inside jokes. Brands that create
a Twitch channel expecting to organically capture an engaged audience will likely struggle to keep up, to create enough content, and to find entry points on their own. Advertising on Twitch is instead about brand building via tapping into a community through creator
partnerships — think Tourism New Zealand’s PLAYNZ campaign collaboration with top Aussie streamer Loserfruit.
Any key goals for 2021 at Twitch?
Bringing about key thought leadership pieces on “Community Created Content” and “The Power of Livestreaming”. We
want to share more on the research and insights we’ve been working on and show how these translate into amazing, and hopefully award- winning, campaigns we’ve done
with clients.
www.adnews.com.au | May/June 2021 55