Case Study: BtoB Tech Firm Artekna Enhances Recruitment Branding and Sales through Esports Sponsorship with SCARZ

## Background of Sponsorship: Challenges in Recruitment and Sales for BtoB Companies

Artekna hires approximately 30 new graduate engineers annually, but as a BtoB company, it has struggled with low brand awareness among potential candidates. Furthermore, with about 80% of transactions being repeat business, the firm faced a shortage of fresh content to facilitate engagement and maintain relationships during client visits.

Following a group company employee's victory at an esports world tournament, the firm took note of the potential of esports. Recognizing the strong affinity between the target demographic of software engineers in their early 20s and gaming fans, along with the ability to reach clients nationwide online, Artekna decided to sponsor SCARZ.

## Results of Sponsorship: Effects across Recruitment, Sales, and Branding

Through its sponsorship of SCARZ, Artekna has realized the following results:

### Recruitment Branding

- Roughly half of new graduate engineers recognize SCARZ: Among the 30 annual new hires, about half were aware of SCARZ before joining, contributing to increased awareness in the job market.
- Vitalization of internal community: A culture of exchanging Discord accounts naturally emerged during induction ceremonies, impacting organizational culture beyond just recruitment branding.

### Impact on SNS and Web Reach

- SNS traffic up to 40x: When posting SCARZ-related content, traffic increased up to 40 times. Even during normal periods, traffic grew 2-4 times.
- Digital impact surpassing traditional sports: It was confirmed that esports generates significantly greater digital engagement compared to traditional sports.

### Strengthening Sales Activities

- Enhanced communication with existing clients: Creation of collaborative novelties with SCARZ contributed to maintaining and strengthening relationships with existing customers.
- Applicable to nationwide sales scenes: Content serves as a conversation starter with clients across the country, independent of geographical constraints.

## Future Outlook: Expansion of Application to Internal Tournaments and Collaborative Novelties

To further evolve the sponsorship, SCARZ and Artekna have begun discussions on the following new initiatives:

- Hosting internal game tournaments: Implementing internal esports tournaments supported by SCARZ to vitalize communication among employees.
- Production of collaborative novelties: Developing original merchandise through collaboration between Artekna, which produces 1,000s of novelties annually for exhibitions, and SCARZ.
- Implementation of real-life experience events: Considering reception events for clients utilizing tournament VIP seats and venues owned by J. Front Retailing group companies (Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores, PARCO).

Through such use cases, SCARZ continues to propose new value in esports for BtoB companies.