Panda Express Turns Gaming Into an 'Always-On' Marketing Channel
Updated: 6 days ago
TL;DR: After an initial campaign lifted brand recall by nine percentage points, Panda Express is turning gaming into a permanent 'always-on' marketing channel with Super League, expanding its presence across Fortnite and Roblox.
From Campaign to Channel
Panda Express and gaming company Super League said their work together has moved from a one-off campaign into an ‘always-on’ marketing platform, with an ongoing presence across worlds in Fortnite and Roblox. The partners cited full-funnel brand impact as the reason to keep the lights on rather than flight in and out.
The headline proof point: an initial campaign lifted brand recall by nine percentage points. For a category where attention is scarce and young, that is a result worth building a permanent channel around.
Why 'Always-On' Beats One-Off
Most brand activity in gaming is still episodic — a stunt, a skin, a limited event. Going always-on is a bet that consistency compounds: repeated, native presence in the places young audiences already spend hours builds familiarity that a single drop never can.
It also reflects how gaming has matured as a media channel. With measurable recall lift attached, a games programme stops being an experiment the CMO has to defend and becomes a line item that earns its keep.
Marketing Minute's Read
The real signal is the shift in mindset from campaign to channel. Brands that treat gaming as a recurring media environment — with its own calendar, creative and measurement — will pull ahead of those still treating it as a novelty.
For smaller brands, the lesson is not the Fortnite budget but the principle: find the one place your audience already gives sustained attention and show up there consistently, not occasionally. Presence beats spectacle when you are trying to be remembered.
Quick FAQ
What did Panda Express and Super League announce?
That their gaming work has become an 'always-on' marketing platform, with ongoing presence across Fortnite and Roblox.
Did the gaming campaign actually work?
An initial campaign lifted brand recall by nine percentage points, which the partners cited as the basis for going always-on.
What does 'always-on' mean in gaming?
A permanent, ongoing brand presence rather than a one-off stunt or limited-time event.
Gaming grows up the moment a brand stops treating it as a stunt and starts treating it as a channel. A nine-point recall lift is the kind of number that turns ‘let's try a Fortnite thing’ into a permanent line on the media plan. Presence beats spectacle. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Treat gaming as a channel, not a stunt: consistent presence where your audience already lives beats the occasional headline-grabbing drop.
Should every consumer brand have an always-on presence in gaming by now? Tell us.
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Marketing Dive, GlobeNewswire, StockTitan, Manila Times.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
