How TwitchCon sponsorships offer brands the opportunity to connect with audiences more deeply and creatively

Streamers, viewers, and exhibitors alike travel great lengths to attend TwitchCon, the twice-annual celebration of the Twitch community. One TwitchCon San Diego attendee hopped three planes—traveling more than 30 hours—to reconnect with his friends from the Twitch community in September 2024. He wouldn’t be the only streamer crossing oceans to attend the event—tens of thousands of attendees traveled from 68 countries to be a part of excitement in San Diego.

For attendees, TwitchCon is a chance to celebrate what they love about Twitch IRL or “in real life.” The weekend-long event offers a full slate of programming, live performances, and head-to-head competitions across multiple halls and community spaces; a bustling expo floor where brands and exhibitors can meet engage attendees; workshops and panels where streamers can learn tips and tactics to uplevel their streaming skills; and countless opportunities for fans to meet their favorite streamers.

Community is at the heart of every activity, interaction, and touchpoint at TwitchCon. "I don't think I have ever seen a community show up as highly connected to a service as they do at TwitchCon. For them, it's more than a brand or a service,” explained Andrea Garabedian, the Global Head of the Brand Partnership Studio at HAQM Ads. “TwitchCon represents the people they've met, the streamers they watch and engage with each day, and the things they love and want to learn about. When you're at TwitchCon, you can feel the electricity of the community all around you." This loyalty is fueled by the active, participatory nature of Twitch itself. Viewers don't sit back and passively watch their favorite streamers—they actively build relationships with them and their fellow fans by engaging in chat, tuning in daily, and making use of the service’s various features designed for fostering community. TwitchCon helps ensure this sense of community extends beyond the digital realm.

For brands, TwitchCon is an opportunity to engage Twitch’s dynamic audience more deeply and demonstrate support for the communities and creators who call the livestreaming service home. But this isn't your typical sponsorship play—it requires a deep understanding of Twitch's unique culture and a commitment to adding real value to the attendee experience.

Twitch is not just a livestreaming service. It's a community of content creators and fans united by the passions and interests they share, including video games, arts and crafting, music, and everything in between. Successful sponsorships find authentic ways to tap into these core interests. A recent example, announced at TwitchCon, demonstrates how Twitch and HAQM Ads are helping brands enter the Fortnite world through branded gaming experiences.

At TwitchCon, brands can transform these sponsored experiences into something tangible. "I think what is very beneficial for brands is being able to connect in real life," says Garabedian. "Many brands are already doing it in digital form, and now they can do it in real life. They can drive home that connection while giving the community a chance to touch, feel, and interact with their brand in new ways."

With the beauty category, for example, viewers tune in to watch their favorite streamers share makeup tutorials and content in the popular ‘get ready with me’ format, allowing brands an opportunity to easily tap into the community’s passion for self-expression and creativity. "Any brand can help bring an experience to TwitchCon that matches what people want to do on Twitch. Makeup lessons, hairstyling, and showing people how to do these things are always welcome additions to the Expo Floor," explains Garabedian. Previous TwitchCons have seen cosmetics brands set up booths with makeup artists at the ready. Last year, a haircare brand helped attendees get camera-ready for their IRL streams and offered tips attendees could bring home and incorporate into their own routines.

Andrea Garabedian points to the attendee experience as the north star that should guide brands that pursue a TwitchCon sponsorship. "You should ask yourself, ‘How does this benefit the attendees?’ When your brand impacts how attendees experience the convention, they will let their friends know, and your brand will be a part of the positive associations they already have of Twitch." State Farm®, for example, rolled out the red carpet at TwitchCon San Diego with its exclusive State Farm® Lounge. The brand offered a VIP experience—including a special entrance and premium seating at the Twitch Rivals Arena presented by State Farm®—to lucky attendees who stopped by the State Farm® booth on the show floor. This not only strengthened its ties with the community, but offered attendees a new way to experience the Twitch Rivals programming at TwitchCon.

By sponsoring the arcade at TwitchCon San Diego, Differin—a leader in acne care—brought additional value and interactivity to a fan-favorite space at the convention. "The gaming community is known for its strong sense of community and confidence-building, which aligns perfectly with Differin’s mission to empower acne sufferers with acne care education and support," shared Lindsey Scales, Associate Director, OTC Skincare, Galderma.

This was also an opportunity for Differin to reach more audiences with its gamer-focused "Level Up" marketing campaign in new ways. Scales added, "The most exciting aspect of the activation was the opportunity to bridge the gap between URL and IRL, creating a comprehensive and immersive experience for attendees. The Differin Arcade at TwitchCon featured interactive events, vintage favorite games, and live broadcasts with streamers, making acne care education both fun and memorable."

As the old (slightly-altered) cliché goes: what happens at TwitchCon doesn’t stay at TwitchCon. For brands activating in a meaningful way, that’s a good thing. True to Twitch’s expertise in livestreaming, all of the weekend’s festivities are broadcast live to viewers and streamers who aren’t able to make it to the celebration. This year, 2.9 million viewers stopped by Twitch’s official channels to check out the event, offering brands a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between online and IRL engagement.

Honda took advantage of that bridge with a project that started online and culminated with one lucky fan driving into the San Diego sunset with a brand-new set of wheels. Honda has a long-standing relationship with Twitch and its head-to-head competition series “Twitch Rivals.” Last summer, Honda engaged the community in a customization process that played out across a handful of Twitch Rivals broadcasts. "The community truly embraced the opportunity, bringing their enthusiasm to designing the all-new 2025 Civic Hybrid Sedan and expressing their creativity as a collective," shared Megan Amic, Head of Media for Honda and Acura.

When Honda finally unveiled the custom vehicle at TwitchCon, the reaction from the community was electric. "For a community with such a strong yet diverse identity, this was a rewarding moment to display their collective vision, and to help send one lucky Twitch Rivals fan home in a brand-new car," Amic explained. This type of deeply collaborative, community-driven activation is exactly what makes Honda's Twitch Rivals partnership so powerful. "Honda is proud to bring this unique project to the Twitch Rivals community and to have shared the biggest prize in Twitch Rivals history," said Amic.

TwitchCon will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2025 by returning to Rotterdam from May 31-June 1 and San Diego from October 17-19. Andrea Garabedian hopes brands will continue to embrace Twitch and events like TwitchCon with an open mind. "Sometimes, the most successful activations are the last ones you might have thought of. Be open to what ‘fitting in on Twitch’ could look like for your brand,” she says. “Our Brand Partnership Studio can sit down and consult with you to help put your company's best foot forward with the community while aligning with your marketing objectives."

At the end of the day, the most successful sponsorships on Twitch and at TwitchCon are those that help deliver the livestreaming service’s unique qualities to the convention center floors.