Work About Off the Clock Tapped In ↗Weekly culture intel from the inside: gaming, sports, music, fashion, creators and whatever’s moving between them, for anyone who needs to stay tapped in.

Creator Partnership / Public Sector

US Navy

HusKerrs hosted a Warzone tournament with the US Navy’s own esports team.

CLIENT

US Navy

MY ROLE

Talent strategy, creator partnerships

YEAR

2022

US Navy esports players in Goats & Glory jerseys stand with a guest in front of the Senpai Squad booth at an expo

CHALLENGE

Navy recruitment depends on reaching American youth, and Gen Z generally doesn’t feel called to the military. The Navy got into esports in 2020, and by that fall it was getting a lot of criticism for using gaming to recruit an audience that hadn’t asked for it. People already knew the Navy was in esports, and they’d made up their minds about it.

INSIGHT

Research with 224 Gen Z gamers found 34% didn’t think brands improved their esports experience at all, and 69% said the Navy specifically didn’t. The same research pointed to a way in through Goats & Glory, the Navy’s own esports team of full-time active sailors, which only 15% of the audience knew existed. Sailors who weren’t there to recruit were the part of the Navy this audience was actually open to.

APPROACH

The Boot Camp Rebirth Tournament put the spotlight on its cohosts and not the sponsor: Goats & Glory alongside HusKerrs, Dexerto’s Warzone Player of the Year, the first player to earn $100K in Warzone prize money, with over a million Twitch followers. Twenty-eight Gen Z gamers competed for a chance to play with him, and the commentary let viewers learn about Navy life from sailors, not recruiters.

RESULTS