Seth Ladetsky, senior vice president of sales at Turner Sports

Kellogg’s Cheez-It brand has entered esports for the first time through a new cross-media marketing program with Turner and IMG’s ELeague. Seth Ladetsky, senior vice president of sales at Turner Sports, told AListDaily that the hope is for the deal, which just kicked off, to run for “a long, long time.”

At the heart of the new marketing plan is the sponsorship of the brand new Players’ Lounge, which Ladetsky said will be part of every tournament moving forward. Upcoming game tournaments that will feature the Cheez-It Players’ Lounge include CS:GO and Injustice 2. Kellogg’s brand will receive a full array of promotion, including signage, product placement and advertising across digital and TV broadcasts.

“We’ll have pre-game and post-game shows from the lounge featuring interviews with the players,” Ladetsky said. “The Players’ Lounge offers a behind-the-scenes look at these players as they’re gearing up for competition. It’s like a second studio that we’re using for live coverage on digital and TV, but we also use it for social content to make it snackable across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and social media.”

The Cheez-It Players’ Lounge is one spoke in the bigger sponsorship wheel, which also includes traditional commercials and social outreach. Ladetsky describes the lounge as one cool piece of a much larger pie Kellogg’s is buying into.

“The partnership with Turner ELeague extends our presence in the world of gaming,” said Jeff Delonis, marketing director, Kellogg, in a statement.

Kellogg’s is one of 30 brands working with Turner across its ELeague tournaments, with others that include Geico and Dell. Ladetsky said to date, endemic brands have been focused on particular esports events, while non-endemics are more interested in reaching the overall esports fan base across multiple games.

“We’ve been seeing a gaining momentum with non-endemic brands taking a stronger view of the esports space,” Ladetsky said. “As we wrap up the second year of ELeague and look at Season 3, we have the umbrella of ELeague with multiple IPs and tournaments that allow brands to can get a ‘best of all worlds’ with us.”

Over the course of ELeague’s seasons, Ladetsky has seen a lot of brands become more comfortable with their understanding of this space.

“A lot of clients are now educated on esports and they’re making their moves,” Ladetsky said. “These fans appreciate sponsorship support if it’s done to augment their viewing experience. We want to bring a partner in and give value to the audience that they wouldn’t have had. With Cheez-It, they’re get behind-the-scenes access for this Players’ Lounge. It’s a great example of creating new content to get additional value and experience for both the brand and the fans.”

With the start of the NBA season, Turner has taken a different approach with esports. Turner produces Inside the NBA and NBA TV in the same complex as the ELeague Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Ladetsky said what’s unique about esports is that it employs a live studio audience, more akin to a stadium. The ELeague Stadium also employs a moving set that allows the shoutcaster desk to move around.

“The NBA fan and ELeague fan are both comprised of a really young demographic, but they’re different psychographics,” Ladetsky explained. “The typical NBA fan has a lot of other interests when they’re not consuming media, while esports fans spend their free time playing a lot of video games and competing with their friends.”

Also, the NBA is a very mature organization, which means brands connect with a dedicated audience across multiple generations. But that also means advertising is just par for the course. Ladetsky said the advantage with esports is that ELeague fans have more appreciation for new brands entering their sport to further legitimize their pastime.

“The NBA is a great model to emulate,” Ladetsky said. “We’re trying to bring esports to that level.”