Saikebon reaches 1M+ Gen Z viewers and increases purchase intent by 14% with Amazon Ads on Twitch

Goals

44% of Twitch viewers in Italy spend an average of 3.3 hours per day following livestreams,¹ developing a deep and unique connection in the digital landscape with their favorite streamers. It is in this context of prolonged attention and authentic engagement that Saikebon, a popular instant noodles and rice brand produced by STAR, and Havas Media agency developed an innovative campaign to reach Generation Z (18–25-year-olds), leveraging the Saikebon product in a moment of genuine connection with the gaming community.

Approach

The creative strategy leveraged the natural integration between target consumption habits and entertainment moments on Twitch, transforming a daily necessity—mealtime—into an engagement opportunity.

The choice of Twitch as a strategic channel was based on precise insights: 57% of users consume food or beverages while watching live streams, while 61% state that advertising on this channel concretely influences their food choices.²

"The choice of Twitch as a strategic channel stems from a deep understanding of Gen Z consumption habits," commented Annalisa Spuntarelli, Chief Client Officer of Havas Media. "The insights gathered allowed us to identify key consumption moments during gaming and streaming sessions, transforming them into authentic engagement opportunities. With the 'Saikebon Move' we integrated the brand into the service’s native dynamics, going beyond simple placement and creating a relevant experience for the digital community."

The Twitch campaign was developed on two levels. The first involved a media campaign aimed at the 18–25 age group; the second featured a custom project by Twitch Brand Partnership Studio with Mario Sturniolo, a reference streamer for the Italian community, who integrated Saikebon directly into his live content.

During Twitch live streams, the streamer could save precious time thanks to Saikebon, preparing a quick and tasty meal in just a few minutes.

The most innovative element was the introduction of an interactive branded functionality: the community could vote and choose the activities that the streamer would perform with the "unlocked" free time thanks to Saikebon. This mechanism transformed traditional product placement into a true co-creation experience between brand, creator, and audience, respecting the native codes of the gaming community.

"Communicating with Gen Z means focusing on authenticity and coherence between values, products, and messages. The brand's evolution passes through a contemporary and credible language, capable of inhabiting the right channels. And this is what Saikebon did with Twitch: co-creation with digital communities is fundamental to building real and meaningful relationships, evolving the brand. In this way, positioning transforms into a dynamic lifestyle, in which people recognize themselves and actively participate," declared Francesca Sansò, Marketing Director at STAR.

Results

The media campaign reached over 1 million adult Generation Z individuals, recording performance above benchmarks for both video completion rate and click-through rate, with the latter marking a 44% increase compared to channel standards.³

The livestream with Mario Sturniolo captured the attention of 30,000 unique viewers. Chat interactions doubled compared to the average of previous sponsored livestreams, demonstrating the authenticity of the engagement achieved.⁴

Finally, the Brand Lift Study conducted in partnership with Lucid finally confirmed the commercial effectiveness of the initiative: all metrics recorded positive results, with a 14% increase in purchase intention, demonstrating how emotional engagement translated into concrete impact.⁵

Sources