Jennifer Grubb on The Milk Cup and beyond: “We’re serious about the gaming audience, and we’re here to stay.”

The Milk Cup Finals not only showcased North America's leading women Fortnite competitors, but also provided an unforgettable experience for many players who went to their first-ever LAN. Jennifer Grubb, the senior marketing manager at MilkPEP, was one of the executives that made The Milk Cup circuit possible. Esports.gg sat down with her for an interview!

In her interview with esports.gg, Grubb shared that as a senior marketing manager, her experience of working in the gaming space has been a whirlwind so far. To her, it's a relatively new area for advertising and brand engagement — with many lessons to learn along the way. However, despite the challenges, the journey has been rewarding.

She explained that research at MilkPEP revealed a significant drop in milk consumption among kids around age 12. To address this decline, the brand decided to engage youth in ways that would resonate with them. Since a significant percentage of youth identify as gamers, MilkPEP saw an opportunity in the gaming space.

"We know that over 90% of teens and tweens are gamers, so it just makes sense," Grubb said. "There's a lot of untapped opportunity in the gaming space for brands. So that, combined with it being where our audience is, it is a no-brainer for us."

She continued, noting that the approach to marketing in the gaming space is viewed as a full ecosystem. For example, in addition to engaging with the community through esports circuits like The Milk Cup, the strategy includes connecting with gaming-specific media outlets, social media platforms, and events like TwitchCon and VidCon.

"There are many aspects to gaming, and we try to [engage with] all of them in some way wherever we're able to," she said. "Having streams with prominent gamers and creators in the space, having partnerships with endemic partners, showing up at events in an authentic way — really just trying to touch on the various different aspects of the gaming ecosystem. We're there, we're showing up, we're serious about the gaming audience, and we're here to stay."

Grubb also talked about the importance of always learning about the gaming space in order to communicate well with and provide value to MilkPEP's target audience. Ongoing conversations with influencer partners and a Discord community make it easier to do this.

"We're always talking to the gamers themselves. Part of our strategy is 'by gamers, for gamers.' So we want everything that we do to be informed by the gaming community and to make sure that what we're creating as a brand provides value to their lives and their experience as gamers," Grubb told esports.gg. "[We want to prove that] milk might nutritionally support your gaming and your performance, but [MilkPEP] as a brand is also supporting opportunities and your pain points as a gamer in general."

To her, one of the most rewarding aspects of The Milk Cup has been seeing competitors form friendships and build a supportive community that many of them lacked in the past. She added that online connections becoming in-person meetings can create bonds that last a lifetime.

"I'm a big advocate for the importance of community," she explained. "And the gaming community is not always a welcoming place for women. So having this kind of welcoming area where these friendships and the supportive environment is flourishing is really heartwarming."

When asked about the longevity of MilkPEP's involvement in the esports and gaming space, Grubb revealed that MilkPEP's goal is to establish The Milk Cup as a long-lasting, year-after-year activation. The company doesn't just want to be a brand that makes a brief splash before exiting. Instead, MilkPEP wants to be a consistent presence.

"We don't want to be one of those brands that comes into gaming, makes a splash, and then leaves," Grubb said. "We want to be a consistent presence because that's what we've seen our audience wants. So we are going to have a Winter Split. We don’t have plans to end The Milk Cup anytime soon, but we are also in talks to expand into some other well-known titles — maybe not in the same way as The Milk Cup, but in some fashion — and overall support gamers’ performance however we can."

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more interviews, news, and updates!