KontrolFreek Scores Big With Influencer Ali-A

Video game peripheral company, KontrolFreek utilizes influencer marketing to demonstrate and spread the word about new products. Working with an estimated 450 influencers, the company reports that nearly 35 percent of all website revenue originated from its affiliate program in the second quarter of 2016. Returning for a second year is the CQC Signature Ali-A Edition thumb sticks, the perfect example of an influencer partnership gone right. Last year, the thumb sticks sold out in just two weeks, making it KontrolFreek’s best-selling product to date.

Back for a limited time, the CQC Signature Ali-A thumb sticks feature the gamer’s logo, as well as the texture and color of his choice. Since the thumb sticks sold out last year, fans have been asking for more, so KontrolFreek was happy to oblige. Since the product launched again in August, Ali-A’s signature sticks have resulted in significant increases across the board—23 percent more website sessions, 24 percent more unique users, 35 percent more revenue and an impressive 10 percent conversion rate, Matt Konigsmark VP of KontrolFreek marketing told ION.

Known primarily for his Call of Duty gameplay videos, the British streamer Ali-A has 8.5 million subscribers on YouTube and over 200,000 on Twitch. KontrolFreek thumbsticks provide an extension to existing thumb sticks on video game controllers, allowing gamers more sensitivity for shooter games like the ones Ali-A is known for. KontrolFreek also manufactures controller grips, skins and apparel.

The partnership began in 2013, Konigsmark explained, when the company approached Ali-A and encouraged him to try their products. “One thing we always strive for in our partnerships is that they’re organic and authentic,” Konigsmark stressed. “And that the folks that represent the KontrolFreek brand actually use and like the product, that’s super important.” Luckily for both parties, Ali-A was a fan and began using the company’s peripherals in his videos.

KontrolFreek doesn’t create custom thumb sticks for just anyone, and Ali-A is the first influencer to get his own. Over the three years Ali-A tried different products, he always came back to the mid-rise CQC thumb sticks. The company worked with him to custom-tailor his own version, with a combination concave and raised texture, blue color and stamped with Ali-A’s branding.

The company is now working with another, unnamed influencer to create a brand-new product from the ground up, and details will become available in the future. KontrolFreek offers its peripherals online and in a retail setting through BestBuy and GameStop, and the company plans to utilize the power of influencers for many years to come.