One of the most common questions I get when I talk to anyone about my streaming hobby, and even while live, is what’s with the name? The Great Steaktacular? What does that even mean?
It’s a fair question because at first glance it’s for sure a mouthful and doesn’t make sense unless you know the reference. The story and reason behind my name is two-fold. I used the Steaktacular even before I started streaming on Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation, etc. When I started my streaming journey, I knew I wanted to use it because I could run with that name and I and some ideas brewing. Before we get to those, let’s talk about the specifics of this name first.
Steaktacular.
If any of you were/are avid gamers, you might already guess where this term comes from. Back in the day, when I was younger, I was first introduced to gaming with the FPS Halo: Combat Evolved. If you for some reason have never heard of Halo, it was a Sci-Fi arena shooter from way back in 2001 where you killed aliens, operated cool weaponry and vehicles, and controlled a massive super soldier named Master Chief. Well, Halo was such an iconic pioneer of the FPS genre and it became increasingly popular, so they released Halo 2 and then Halo 3. Halo 3 was where I got invested, as it was the first time I wanted to save up for the newest gaming console, the Xbox 360, just so I could play Halo 3 online with my friends. In Halo 3 and all Halos, there was a multiplayer mode where you could “matchmake” with people from all over the world and duke it out in various game modes like Slayer, Big Team Battle, and more. While playing in these online matches, your performance was a big factor in the experience, and while playing and performing certain feats, medals would appear on screen as you did these feats. Medals like Double Kill, Triple Kill, Killing Spree, and so on. You can check out all the medals on their wiki page here: Halo 3 medals | Halo Alpha | Fandom
One of these medals was – you guessed it – Steaktacular! This medal was given to the entire team at the end of a match if you won by at least 20 kills. The game was played to 50, so this was quite a lot to win by and meant your team was doing very well. So, I thought it was a fitting name, as I always strived to put in the most effort in any task that I was trying to accomplish. So, when you hear someone say “That dude is Steaktacular!”, think “That dude is giving it his all!”
So, why am I telling you this? Who cares what your name is, it’s just some moniker so that someone can easily remember your Twitch account, right? Well, essentially, yes. The key is to get people to remember you and have something to identify you by, something that stands out.
This broil prepares us for my next topic quite nicely.
When choosing my name, I also wanted something I could easily tie into a theme. Immediately my brain went to cows. Milk, steak, grasslands, farms, mooing, bells, you name it…Cows had plenty of potential. More importantly, it can easily be marketed and remembered. Since I also had a face cam, my mind also started racing with costume ideas – cow onesie, bell around my neck, etc. I did wear a cow onesie for a while, and it was great fun (and I still do but not as often). I then immediately had ideas for a mascot, and Lil Steak was born. He had to be cute, but not too cute, and cartoony enough that he would be easy to draw over and over for things like Emotes, animations doing goofy things, holding cards, sleeping, and quickly the possibilities were a bit overwhelming. I’m still working on getting more material for the little guy as he is still in the early stages of his career (when he’s not busy drinking milk).
When someone stops by your stream, even for a second, they need something to grasp onto. What will they say when someone asks who they were watching on Twitch? Will they say some guy playing Hearthstone? Maybe. Or, they may say they were watching this guy playing Hearthstone, he had a goofy theme with a cartoon cow and milk. The key here is that they had something to remember.
These are very important marketing concepts for any content creator to keep in mind. You need to be thinking about how you stand out among the thousands of other people trying to do the same thing you are. Keep this in mind – anyone with a computer and internet connection can make a Twitch account and start playing games live, it’s not hard at all. So how do you compete with that level of accessibility? What’s also important to take away from this is that it doesn’t have to always be a goofy name or mascot, it could be something as simple as you! The way you interact with your chatters, your sense of humor, your facial reactions, anything that stands out. After all, the reason people come to your stream is for YOU. If they wanted to watch someone play a game with nothing else happening they would go somewhere else to find that, or just play the game themselves.
In the end, when someone takes the time out of their day to actively find a content creator to watch and interact with them, why are they doing it? They chose you for a reason, and it’s not because you’re like everyone else.
So go be the best you there is.
Go out there and STAND OUT!
Enjoy what you’ve read? You can support Steaktacular by purchasing some Hype swat from his referral link. They get credit for every sale!
