Microsoft Expands Xbox Chief Phil Spencer’s Role

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Phil Spencer has ascended further in the Microsoft hierarchy, assuming the position of vice president of gaming, and joining the company’s senior leadership team.

Spencer has been with Microsoft since 1988, and has led the brand’s Xbox team for the launches of the Xbox One S and X. He has previously headed Microsoft Studios and Microsoft Game Studios as well.

Josh Greenstein, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at Sony Pictures has renewed his contract for another three years. He has assisted in turning the company around, ending the company’s string of cinema missteps with his work on Spider-Man: Homecoming and Baby Driver.

“Not only has he shown extraordinary skill at the head of our campaigns, he has also been an outstanding leader in restructuring our marketing and distribution teams around the world to better align with a constantly-evolving marketplace,” Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures chairman said. “The studio is in a stronger position now than when Josh arrived in 2014, and his brilliant work has been integral to that growth. He kicks my butt on the golf course, but is otherwise a tremendous partner.”

Evan Langweiler has been promoted to senior vice president of global communications at NBC Universal, continuing his ten-year career at the company. In his expanded role, he will work with the conglomerate’s television divisions as well as continue overseeing the film marketing efforts.

Paramount Pictures has announced leadership changes in its international marketing division, as Nic Crawley, its president of international theatrical marketing, is leaving for a job as CEO at newly founded film distributor H Collective. Replacing him is Mary Daily, formerly chief marketing officer for 20th Century Fox.

“Mary’s creative business approach coupled with her campaign expertise will be integral as we expand Paramount’s content on digital and streaming platforms, on demand, Blu-Ray, DVD and the newest distribution channels,” said Andrew Gumpert, Paramount’s marketing and distribution head.

Before joining Paramount, Crawley served as Walt Disney Company’s senior vice president of international marketing.

Sanjay Sharma is leaving All Def Digital, after holding the position of CEO at the youth media startup for the past three years. Osman Eralp will assume control as interim CEO while the company searches for Sharma’s permanent replacement, though he will remain on All Def Digital’s board of directors and serve as a senior adviser.

Sharma departs the company to found his own digital media company, though no further details are currently available.

Mitú has lost its founding CEO Roy Burstin, who is resigning to make way for Herb Scannell. Co-founder and president Beatriz Acevedo will take on expanded responsibilities, leading all content production, talent development and social media strategy.

Scannell has consulted for the Latino media company for over a year, and has been a member of its board of directors since this spring.

FuboTV has brought on Yale Wang as vice president and head of North American marketing. Most recently, Wang worked at Warner Bros. Digital Networks as vice president and head of marketing.

Nick Allen has been named as the Madison Square Garden (MSG) Company’s vice president of esports, where he will lead the venue’s efforts to expand its presence in the market, focusing on Counter Logic Gaming, their recently acquired professional gaming fashion.

“Nick brings with him an extensive knowledge of esports and a deep set of relationships developed through overseeing some of the industry’s most popular events, and he has created initiatives that have continued to grow the gaming community,” Jordan Solomon, executive vice president of MSG sports.

Previously, Allen served as vice president of esports at Twitch, and beforehand led esports operations for Riot Games, developers of League of Legends.

The Indiana Pacers announced the hiring Robert “Cody” Parrent as director of esports operations for the franchise, heading their NBA 2K League team.

“Cody brings solid competitive gaming experience in many esports titles such as Halo, CS:GO, FIFA, and NBA 2K,” said Kelly Krauskopf, senior vice president for the Pacers. “He has built numerous connections in the NBA 2K community through his background in developing the 2KLab which focuses on analyzing data from the 2K video game franchise in order to give players an edge over the competition.”

Parrent has worked at Berry Plastics Corp as a business analyst and more recently as co-owner at Blue Commerce.

Groupon has hired Jennifer Carr-Smith to the position of senior vice president and general manager of North America Local.

“[Carr-Smith] is a proven leader with a strong background in growing and scaling businesses, and she’ll bring a valuable and unique perspective and an expansive e-commerce background that will help us continue to build Groupon into a daily habit,” said Aaron Cooper, Groupon’s North American president.

Previously, Carr-Smith was president of Peapod, and before that oversaw global online business for J. Crew.

Chinese search engine Baidu has appointed Herman Yu as chief financial officer, replacing Jennifer Li. Yu has previously held the same position at Weibo since 2015, and SINA from 2007 to 2015.

(Editor’s Note: This post will be updated daily until Friday, September 22. Have a new hire tip? Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.)

Job Vacancies 

Director, Marketing Razer USA, Ltd. Irvine, CA
Director, Marketing Sony Music Entertainment New York, NY
Brand Manager BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. Santa Clara, CA
Director, Product Marketing Facebook Menlo Park, CA
Sr. Product Marketing Manager AT&T El Segundo, CA

Make sure to check back for updates on our Jobs Page.

Tribeca TV Festival Helps Viewers Navigate An Ocean Of Content

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Television has taken on a very cinematic quality, with shows like Game of Thrones getting the same kind of hype and anticipation as blockbuster movie releases. With the fall premieres fast approaching, there’s no better time to celebrate the small screen, and no better way to do it than on the big screen.

That’s what the inaugural Tribeca TV Festival aims to do with a host of shows projected onto giant movie screens for attending audiences to enjoy.

The new festival, sponsored by AT&T, is spun off from the television track of the Tribeca Film Festival and runs from this Friday through Sunday. It features both season and series premieres, talks with the cast and crew and TV-related VR experiences.

Notable highlights include a conversation with the cast of Will & Grace (Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally) as they reprise their roles in a new series more than a decade after the original show went off the air.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkGn3l8wdG4

“After two successful years of Tribeca TV at our April Tribeca Film Festival, we felt like there was the enthusiasm from audiences and from networks to create a new space to platform exciting work being created, especially at a different time of year,” Cara Cusumano, director of programming for Tribeca TV, told AListDaily. “Since we began Tribeca TV, the number of shows created in a single year has surpassed what even the most dedicated fan can possibly consume, so there was a clear need for a curator to come into the space. Our track record of discovering and spotlighting the highest quality storytelling in film, VR and digital work brings a lot of value to TV audiences looking to know what is worthy of their attention and to networks needing to be sure their work is recognized.”

Cusumano also emphasized how the Tribeca TV Festival is a freestanding fall event, and that Tribeca TV will continue to be featured as part of the Tribeca Film Festival in April. Both events follow similar formats, hosting premieres followed by in-depth panel discussions.

Other debuts coming to the Tribeca TV Festival include Ten Days in the Valley, a mystery starring Kyra Sedgwick; Liar, a new drama series coming to SundanceTV; and the YouTube Red police procedural parody Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television starring (surprise!) Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars; Party Down) and Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale; Orange is the New Black).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbQLFRVuDk8

VR projects include Look But With Love, a VR series coming to Within, the content platform created by film and VR pioneer Chris Milk. Additionally, there will be the Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience, the Snatch VR Heist Experience from Crackle and Timeless: Continuum Recon, which takes users back to 1969 to witness the first moon landing in promotion of the time travel show.

Although VR experiences might seem a little out of place at a festival designed to celebrate the “golden age of television,” Cusumano explains how the experiences fit in with the rest of the showings.

Look But With Love (Within)

“When we first set out to make a TV Festival, the first question we had to think about was, ‘What is TV?’ And we decided that for us, that meant episodic, regardless of how those episodes are delivered,” said Cusumano. “Our festival is inclusive of all episodic storytelling, across platforms. We are interested in the ways these kinds of traditional barriers between mediums are coming down, and think that’s an interesting space to explore. As a festival that has always embraced VR and other forms of forward-thinking new media, it was a very exciting opportunity to be able to include an episodic VR piece—and one from one of our feature film alumni (Milk), which speaks even further to how all of these traditionally separate formats are emerging.”

While television is taking its first steps into episodic VR storytelling, content on digital channels such as Netflix have already made huge impressions on the industry, as digital has quickly risen to compete with broadcast and cable channels.

“We sought to program this lineup the way people really consume TV, which includes traditional networks, digital platforms and maybe even some VR,” said Cusumano, explaining how the festival balances between different platforms. “We wanted the representation of shows to be reflective of our audience and encompass fan favorites and new discoveries in equal measure, so we were open to all channels of distribution.”

As viewers grow more accustomed to TV binging through digital channels, Cusumano shared her thoughts on whether weekly episode releases were still relevant for today’s audience.

“There’s something still appealing about watching a show week-to-week,” she said. “We get to build anticipation, formulate theories and talk with other fans about what might happen next. It brings an enjoyable communal experience to a medium which is so often enjoyed alone.”

ELeague Is Using Eye-Tracking Biometrics To Engage Esports Audiences

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Although ELeague is still relatively young, the Turner-owned esports competition has established itself as a leader in the space by finding new ways to engage with its broad audience, which includes both hardcore fans and casual ones that tune into televised games—even watching from Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants.

Robert Occhialini, vice president of esports products and technology at ELeague

ELeague has never been shy about pushing the envelope through technology, and the league has partnered with Sliver.tv to have tournaments broadcast in VR, while Dojo Madness offers advanced analytics and data visuals. Most recently, ELeague partnered to integrate Tobii eye-tracking biometrics at the ELeague CS:GO Premier earlier this month through its partnership with Alienware. In a sponsored segment called “Getting Technical,” commentators used highlights gathered from the eye-tracking technology to give audiences further insight into the gameplay and perhaps what players are thinking.

Getting Technical

Robert Occhialini, vice president of esports products and technology at ELeague, started at Turner’s NBA sports digital group, so he’s accustomed to advanced analytics for sports.

“When I came over to esports, I was really excited because a lot of the limitations of advanced analytics in traditional sports are about data capture,” Occhialini told AListDaily. “You can only do analysis on what you can capture. But with esports, the game itself is made out of data, so the bottleneck of capturing data is removed, and you’re left with this problem of analysis. So, we knew we wanted to do something with bringing more advanced analytics to Counter-Strike.”

Occhialini explained that all the technological integration, from VR to biometrics, came from months of planning and discussion. The way eye tracking works is that the device shines infrared light onto the player’s eyes while special cameras and software track their movement. It was originally developed to help the disabled, but Tobii partnered with Alienware to explore its gaming applications. The technology can be found on Alienware 17 laptops, which is the reason the high-end gaming computer brand facilitated this partnership.

“For us, working with ELeague was a factor of wanting to have an esports sponsorship that was more than business as usual with logo and hardware placements, which we do with nearly every partner in the esports space,” David Chen, esports project lead for Alienware and Dell Gaming, told AListDaily. “What we wanted to do with ELeague was find someone who had the same focus that we did in terms of creating something meaningful for the esports industry—something that would be memorable and interesting.”

“We’re very committed to continuous improvement,” said Occhialini. “So, we’re always going to be out there looking for the next thing that is going to enhance the broadcast. I think the advanced analytics and eye tracking biometrics are both ways we can enhance our broadcast and help people understand the game better—understanding why teams are good, not just that they’re good.”

Occhialini explained that ELeague wants to give its fans both self-directed and user-directed immersive experiences. For example, the VR experience has the 2D broadcast embedded in it. Therefore, audiences don’t have to give up the 2D screen to experience the tournament in VR.

“What I would say is that it’s not resting on our laurels. It’s not in our DNA to be complacent and do the same thing in the next season that we did in the one before,” said Occhialini. “With ELeague, we’re trying to be additive to esports. Esports coverage is a new thing, and it should be evolving rapidly, so that means we should be trying new things to better people’s understanding.”

Expanding Technology

David Chen, esports project lead for Alienware and Dell Gaming

By all accounts, the eye-tracking debut at the CS:GO Premier was a huge success on social media and Reddit, much to the joy and surprise of Occhialini himself, given how new and untested the technology was in an esports setting.

“ELeague tweeted some of the videos, and the fan reaction was even better than what I could have hoped for,” he said. “They totally get it, they understand how valuable it is, and they want to see more of it. That’s a home run.”

Chen said, “If you read through the Reddit threads that popped up over the [first] weekend, [you’ll find that] the community is also very excited. They’ve been super excited to see the possibilities of what this technology can do for them. There are some people who are extremely excited to see the eye-tracking replay for their favorite players. We are all approaching this technology not just as marketers and business folks on these teams, we’re also approaching as fans. We want to see what this technology can do to make an impact on the scene.”

Both Chen and Occhialini agreed that this was just the beginning for the technology, as they figure out ways to further integrate and refine eye tracking so that audiences may better understand the games. Chen joked that if there were a Dell partner that specialized in wireless heart rate monitors, haptic suits and sweat peripherals, he’d be knocking on their door to talk about esports integration.

Looking To The Future

A possible next step for the technology is to help aspiring players learn more, either by watching the eye-tracking highlights, analyzing the data or using the technology at Alienware Academy, where players can learn from the pros.

“I think the biometrics and advanced analytics adds content to the broadcast that hasn’t been there in the past,” said Occhialini. “They give fans of the game a way to understand some things they might not have before. Also, it gives people who play Counter-Strike an opportunity to understand what separates the pros from them and maybe give them an idea of how to improve.”

“If esports is solely built on a digital platform like PC, there should be an obvious next step for how all that data can be used in a practical and friendly way,” Chen added. “I think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg now, and we aspire to see how we can leverage technology like this to help esports gain more traction and acceptance.”

Chen also said that with Alienware being such a premium brand, Dell wanted to create something that audiences could think back on and hold in high regard.

“There are a lot of tournaments out there, but if you want to look for the most cutting-edge esports experience, it’s going to happen on ELeague,” said Chen. “Hopefully, it will be because of a partner like Alienware. In 10 years, I want Dell to be known as that catalyst for that kind of change.”

Although biometrics may be a great benefit to hardcore fans, ELeague also has to think about the televised tournaments on TBS, which attract more casual viewers. Occhialini explained that technologies like VR—being a separate experience—can be an addition without subtraction, while eye tracking might help both casual and hardcore fans understand the game better, making Counter-Strike more accessible. Understanding the game better will make it easier to explain it to other people

“I don’t think that any of these technologies are things that only hardcore fans will get value or benefit out of,” said Occhialini. “I do think that there’s a delicate balance between addressing the hardcore audience and making sure that you’re making the broadcast accessible, but I think we’ve been managing that since Season One.”

“The good thing about CS:GO compared to other esports is that it is the most straightforward and adjustable to a mainstream audience,” said Chen. “As it is a game that’s already more digestible, this added ey- tracking layer described by the casters in the right way will only serve to make the game and broadcast even more palatable for a mainstream audience.”

Chen explained that the eye tracking has been a very meaningful debut for Dell, as the company looks to target a broad audience of gamers.

“When you talk about the gamut of audiences ELeague will go after this year and in the future, our goal is to say Alienware [brought] innovative stuff like eye-tracking biometrics, but we also have Dell and its monitors for games like Rocket League or Street Fighter. We try to balance out the right products for the right audience as supported by what ELeague is able to do throughout the year.”

The inclusion of eye tracking was a major success, but it’s still too early to tell how far ELeague will go with the technology. Short-term goals include putting tracking on more systems to cover more players, but fans will have to wait and see if the technology will be included in other tournaments.

“We see ELeague as a very long-term partner for us, and as we talk about how we can make the data behind esports more adaptable, useful and meaningful as we present it, a lot of how Alienware and Dell Gaming are going to innovate in this space are all going to share similar tenets as far as driving innovation and production,” said Chen. “A lot of our esports partnerships are going to rely upon the core strengths of our partners so we can take it to the next level.”

“I hope that in the future, we’re seen as leaders that are adding to the space and moving the fan experience forward,” said Occhialini. “We’re looking forward to incrementally improving the stuff that we put out there.”

Minute Media’s Strategy For Engaging With The Esports Audience

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Earlier this year, sports media company Minute Media (which owns 12up and 90min) revealed that it was expanding into esports with its new platform DBLTAP. Its specialization is fan-focused video content that gives audiences an inside look at the players and what happens behind-the-scenes of major tournaments.

 

Duncan McMonagle, SVP at Minute Media and GM of esports

Although the platform is only a few months old, it has already gained immense traction by signing partnerships with the world’s leading esports organizations, including ESL, ELeague, DreamHack and Fnatic.

 

“We want to be the next best experience to actually attending an esports event in person,” Duncan McMonagle, senior vice president at Minute Media and general manager of esports, told AListDaily. “We’re very very focused on telling fan-centric stories, and being on the ground and present is key. We’re also very focused on storytelling. The tournaments do a wonderful job of organizing the events, streaming, and reporting on the live action, but what we found when looking into esports is a lack of storytelling in and around it.”

DBLTAP follows the lives of players so that fans may understand them better—answering questions like what it’s like to be in a player’s house, how these athletes got their starts and what they do in their spare time. According to McMonagle, DBLTAP generates this kind of content on a near daily basis from every event, including expos, where cosplayers are also interviewed.

McMonagle recognizes that companies like Activision, Red Bull and others are creating their own esports-related videos and documentaries featuring esports celebrities. However, he states that what sets DBLTAP apart from the rest is the near-daily stream of content.

“I think these documentaries sort of happen as one-offs,” said McMonagle. “One of the advantages DBLTAP has is our official partnerships with ESL, DreamHack and ELeague. We are following games like Counter-Strike all through the calendar year and all around the globe. Nobody else has made that commitment. Developers like Blizzard and tournaments like ESL will create their own programming, but there’s no one else that tells that narrative all through the year. That’s the commitment we’ve made. We know that no other publishers or content creators are making that commitment because we’re the only ones there every single week.”

As a result, McMonagle says that DBLTAP has developed close relationships with the teams and it is being recognized as part of the shows.

Additionally, McMonagle explained that DBLTAP works with its partners in two ways. First by taking the seeds of content that are provided at events to create highlight videos that feature DBLTAPS unique tone, and second by leveraging these partnerships for access to players so that they can be interviewed before and after matches or ahead of tournaments.

DBLTAP has taken players outside of the tournament space, and McMonagle said that once you remove the players from their “work mode,” that’s when they relax and their personalities start to show. For example, some players have been taken to shooting ranges to see how their skills translate into the real world.

“Getting these guys away from the day-to-day really helps us get them to open up, and the fans of these teams also benefit because they get to understand that player a little better,” said McMonagle. “In a way, I think DBLTAP is helping players and teams connect in a more meaningful way with their fans.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xuSniAh5ng

There’s also a great deal of overlap between the traditional sports coverage that Minute Media usually deals with and esports. McMonagle explained that Minute Media learned about esports while doing research for Nike to create a football campaign on 90min. Nike wanted to know what football-obsessed fans were doing when they weren’t playing or watching the sport.

“We surveyed around 5,000 of our users and found out overwhelmingly (about 85 percent) that they were avid gamers, playing over five hours a week online with friends,” McMonagle recounted. “So, we knew that we had the audience for esports, and we knew that there was an enormous crossover opportunity for sports titles if they become more involved in esports. That’s something that excites us because we have over 80 million monthly uniques across 90min, DBLTAP and 12up, so this is a massive crossover opportunity. This is the same demographic. They’re broadly young males, and DBLTAP is a natural progression for us to engage with this kind of audience.”

As a result, DBLTAP has developed a range of content that engages with fans, sometimes through interactive widgets where viewers can participate in polls and quizzes. McMonagle said that the platform looks for topics that people want to discuss as they evolve, then gives its users the tools to speak their minds.

“We have a strategy of, ‘If you’re there, present, committed, authentic and creating content on a near daily basis, then you’ll grow an audience.’ That’s exactly what we’ve seen over the last month or so since we’ve been live,” said McMonagle. “The numbers of the platform are growing, and we’re already up to three-or-four million monthly uniques on DBLTAP alone. Our YouTube channel went from nothing to over 10,000 subscriptions in the space of four weeks, and we expect that to continue to grow to somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 by the end of the year.”

DBLTAP’s growth has been almost entirely organic. McMonagle reiterated that the key to making content that connects with esports fans is to be present (on-site and live), timely and informed so that you remain relevant. That, in turn, drives engagement and discussion. He also added that there is an appetite for differentiated and fun formats that take athletes out of the tournament context to show their true personalities.

Furthermore, DBLTAP’s Minute Media connections have enabled the platform to develop branded content for large global brands looking to engage with a male millennial demographic. They include Nike, Warner Bros., Paramount, Mastercard and PepsiCo.

McMonagle said that DBLTAP signed a deal with Mountain Dew to create a video series called “Doing It My Way,” which tells the personal stories of how these players became professional esports athletes.

Additionally, DBLTAP hosted a “King of the Day” event to help Warner Bros. promote the movie King Arthur at DreamHack tours in France, where the most improved player of the day was crowned on stage.

“We feel that brands like to work with us because we can credibly and authentically weave the messages and themes of their products into our existing editorial in subtle ways—ways that delight, entertain or otherwise have very a positive value exchange for the consumers and users on our platform,” said McMonagle.

‘Cabiria, Charity, Chastity’ Earned Kenzo $70K In Earned Media Value On Instagram Alone

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Cabiria, Charity, Chastity is the latest short film from French fashion house Kenzo. The independent film was written and directed by Natasha Lyonne (Orange Is the New Black) and features a star-studded cast including Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live), Fred Armison (Portlandia), Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone 2), Matt Lucas (Little Britain) and more.

The bizarre and colorful film was released to coincide with New York Fashion Week. But rather than dressing its stars with the latest fashions, Lyonne was given complete creative freedom to “reinvent” Kenzo’s Fall/Winter collection however she saw fit.

“We had designed the clothes and we knew we wanted to give a platform to Natasha (Lyonne),” explained Kenzo designer Humberto Leon in an interview for the fashion house. “We told her we had a design philosophy of what the collection was about, but which she didn’t need to incorporate. What was interesting for us wasn’t about following the commercial guidelines, but seeing what she would read in the clothes.”

Lyonne worked with Academy Award-winning costume designer Arianne Phillips (Walk The Line) to reimagine Kenzo’s bold print and color scheme into a character all its own.

https://youtu.be/e7Mtzhymj1A

Cabiria, Charity, Chastity has been viewed nearly 38,000 times after a week on YouTube, but where the campaign really shines is on Instagram, where video views are seven times higher. Facebook’s photo and video sharing app is a popular hub for fashion and beauty brands, so it’s no surprise that Kenzo’s branded content would thrive in that environment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY3UP8JA-r0/?taken-by=nlyonne

The film has earned considerable attention thanks to Instagram posts not only by the official Kenzo account but by its stars and fans as well. We calculated the earned media value from posts about Cabiria, Charity, Chastity on Instagram since its announcement in July.

“Earned media” is the value of engagements a brand receives across channels as a result of their marketing efforts. To help quantify what the value of those engagements is worth, the Ayzenberg Group established the Ayzenberg Earned Media Value Index (AEMVI) and assigned a quantifiable dollar amount for marketing gains a brand receives from a campaign or individual engagement that includes social media networks and similar digital properties. (Editor’s note: AListDaily is the publishing arm of Ayzenberg Group. To read the updated Ayzenberg Earned Media Value Index report reflecting the rapid changes in social, click here.)

Kenzo partners with talent from within the entertainment industry to promote each of its seasonal fashion collections. For the Spring 2017 line, Khalil Joseph (of Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” fame) directed Music Is My Mistress.

“The clothing is almost secondary,” said Kenzo designer Carol Lim at the Music Is My Mistress premiere in February. “That actually feels right to us because we’re not here to create a fashion film. All of the directors are proud to include the work that they do with us as part of their body of work.”

Learn everything you need to know about turning insights into data at AList Sessions, a new invite-only event series for marketers, on October 26 in Los Angeles.

Johnny Damon Hits With ‘Sparc’ By Taking On Troops In VR

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Former baseball star Johnny Damon once hoisted a World Series trophy in Yankee Stadium as a member of New York’s famous sports franchise. On Friday, he returned to the Bronx for a different kind of challenge.

Instead of stepping up to the batter’s box, the 18-year MLB veteran stepped into virtual reality to play Sparc—a VR sport that crosses racquetball with tennis—against US Army soldiers stationed at Riyadh Air Base in Saudi Arabia and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Soldiers from West Point and Fort Hamilton were also at Yankee Stadium to take on the two-time World Series winner.

Johnny Damon, two-time World Series champion

“I’ve been a big gamer ever since I was a kid, I’ve always dreamed about virtual reality, and I’m also a big military guy,” Damon told AListDaily. “My dad served our country [for 20 years], and I heard that we had the opportunity to play against troops in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.”

The event was organized in a partnership headed by Pro vs. GI Joe, an organization founded by Greg Zinon and his wife Addie Zinon, which pits professional athletes against active soldiers in video games like Call of Duty and Gears of War.

The event marked the first time Pro vs. GI Joe has featured a VR game, and for Sparc creator CCP, the event further underscored the message of how it’s more than a video game—it’s a full sport that happens to be played on PlayStation VR (and it will release for other platforms in the future).

“I hope that this event will at least play a small part in helping drive VR to where it’s going in the future,” Adam Kahn, senior director of communications at CCP Games, told AListDaily. “We’re at the very beginning of VR right now, akin to where we were with mobile phones in the early 1980s, where it was a novelty and the equipment was pretty big and expensive, so not everyone had it. [CCP] has gotten on this train early, and we want to see where it’s going.”

But even at this early stage of the technology, it makes for a great experience for all those involved. Even for Damon, Sparc was more than a video game.

“The game is also a total body workout, and you could see me sweating quite a bit,” said the two-time All Star outfielder.

“It’s about boosting morale,” Pro vs. GI Joe and 514 Esports founder Greg Zinon told AListDaily. “For the last 10 years, we’ve had the unbelievable success of getting as many athletes as we get. Coming up, we have 22 NFL teams in just over a three-month period, and it’s all to boost the morale. That’s it. We just want to give the guys a little fun where they typically wouldn’t have any, like in Syria or Turkey.”

Although connecting active soldiers with pro athletes through video games has been a passion project for both Zinon and his wife, he admits that part of him didn’t think that a cross-continental VR match would be possible.

“I didn’t think it would happen,” said Zinon. “Even 10 years later, when you pull up the guys in Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Afghanistan, it’s crazy, even with the way technology is today. It’s crazy to pull out these guys and have them play online from 6,000 miles away. But it can happen. It’s one of those things you need to see to believe.”

Zinon said that the event was inspired by how the military already uses VR to train and how the organization is always looking to push the envelope when it comes to bringing online gaming overseas.

Greg Zinon, founder of Pro vs. GI Joe and 514 Esports

“The world is changing, especially on the military side of things,” he explained. “They’re using VR on their end, and what better partnership to bring in on the gaming side? If they’re going to do it for work, why not do it for fun? So, it seemed like a perfect match.”

But there are other reasons why VR holds a lot of interest for Pro vs. GI Joe.

“You make a fool out of yourself with the way you’re swinging around, and it makes for great content,” said Zinon. “It’s like when we used to play Guitar Hero—it’s funny watching these big athletes play. Same thing with virtual reality. They’re shaking their hands, and it’s wild.”

Although an online VR competition featuring Damon (who was playing a VR game competitively for the first time) at Yankee Stadium was a significant event, it was attended only by military guests and media without being livestreamed. That might seem like an odd decision, but Zinon explained the reason for it.

“What we found is that livestreaming is a matter of consistency,” said Zinon, who originally planned to livestream all the Pro vs. GI Joe events. “If we had a consistent livestream Monday through Thursday, then this would fit in. But since we don’t have other livestreams this week, and we won’t have an NFL event until October 3, consistency is broken. So, I don’t think you would have the viewership you would expect or want, even if Johnny said, ‘Watch me play Sparc’ on social media.

“It typically doesn’t work the way people think, where half the people who follow him on social media are going to watch. If we had done three events and livestreamed all of them, then we’d start picking up steam on the third, just like a typical Twitch stream. Another thing is the length of the event, which is one or two hours. Twitch feeds start picking up in viewership after two or three hours. So, having a shorter event wouldn’t be as successful as people would think, and it’s better not to do something than have it not be successful.”

However, that’s not to say that the event went unnoticed. In addition to the press, Zinon pointed out how all the attendees from West Point and Fort Hamilton were sharing their Yankee Stadium experiences on social media, bragging about how they were going to take on Damon in a VR game.

Zinon also explained how this could lead to more VR events in the future, featuring other celebrities.

“We deal directly with the athletes and celebrities,” said Zinon. “Before coming here, I had dinner with one of the top surfers in the world, one of the top skaters, some of the WWE girls and some of the top NFL guys. They always know what we’re doing, and I told them about the Yankee Stadium event with Sparc to gauge their interest and see how we can move forward.”

Meanwhile, Damon shared his thoughts about the growth of esports.

“I think this is the wave of the future, and the future is here,” said Damon. “This was a tremendous opportunity to let people know about this game and I think it’s going to really take off.”

Although no one could tell who would win the VR game competition, Damon admitted that the GIs had the initial advantage. The retired ballplayer won the first game, but the GIs were able to figure out his strategy and defeated him in subsequent matches.

“That’s good, because our troops need to know how to win and that’s exactly what they did,” said Damon. “The GI Joes definitely had the advantage, and we thank them for everything they do. I’m just glad we had an opportunity to have fun with the GIs thousands of miles away.”

StandUp Digital Enlists Kevin Hart To Make And Market ‘Gold Ambush’ Mobile Game

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Pinxter Digital and StandUp Digital have launched Gold Ambush with Kevin Hart, a free-to-play strategy game that blends the endless runner and city builder genres on mobile devices. The game is out on iOS now and will launch on Android in a few months. Kevin and his wife Eniko and kids Heaven and Hendrix are among the playable heroes in the game, which challenges players to build and fortify castles to ward off incoming enemies.

Pinxter Digital started four years ago as an Android and Apple app development company focusing on “apps as a service,” which Pinxter Digital CEO Sergei Dubograev told AListDaily is a different way of creating dynamic apps.

“After partnering with major brands like Bud Light all the way down to small startups, in the last year we have transitioned into the celebrity gaming space with StandUp Digital,” Dubograev said. “Kevin Hart is a perfect example of an authentic one-to-one celebrity who not only has a loyal fan base, but is all-in with the project. He’s not just a face that’s going to tweet about it. He’s been involved from every aspect from marketing to product development.”

Dubograev pointed out other similar celebrities that have that have one-to-one engagement levels, including Hart’s co-star in the upcoming Jumanji film Dwayne Johnson, and singer Taylor Swift.

“In looking for these celebrity influencers, StandUp Digital wants people that are very dynamic and see this as a long play,” Dubograev explained. “They see this as a medium where they can entertain the consumer, not just sell to their base. In addition, we want to work with true brands, corporations, that see their base in the same way and want to provide a great service and a great environment for everybody to connect in a very authentic way.”

Brandon Miller, co-founder and CMO of StandUp Digital, told AListDaily that gaming is another platform for these brands and celebrities to connect with people.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re Kevin Hart, Geico or Nike, creating a game gets you exposed to a much larger audience,” Miller said. “And taking the apps as a service approach, which is how we partnered with Kevin, allows us to use his brand and authenticity. While we’re the ones driving this partnership with him, he’s doing just as much as we are.”

The game has been designed with Easter eggs that Hart’s fans will connect with, including a bad raccoon that attacks him (a raccoon story is part of the Kevin Hart: What Now? movie).

“Kevin’s not only helping with the marketing plans, but he’s the voice on user acquisition,” Miller added. “He filmed a commercial for the game. He’s been involved in every aspect from digital to offline, and I think the plan marries all of that together to what Kevin is good at.”

“When we talk about the DNA of the influencer, Kevin, being integrated into the game, that means his comedic value is in the game,” Dubograev explained. “If you play the Kevin Hart game, it’s no different than going to the Kevin Hart stand-up or the latest Kevin Hart movie.”

Miller said Hart had been pitched many game ideas over the years, but this opportunity made sense both in the quality and in the approach.

“He loved that it was family-oriented and had a positive African American lead role,” Miller added.

Before launching Pinxster Digital, Dubograev had been in the development world for five years and watched studios release poor game concepts by slapping a brand on top of it.

“Brands would get screwed because people didn’t advise them that the correct way to design apps was as dynamic and always changing experiences,” Dubograev explained. “What we’re seeing now is brand celebrities taking a step back and introducing their DNA and authenticity into an app that inspires consumers to drive action. We take a brand’s approach and come in at the concept stage, rather than just bidding on an RFP. And because our focus is apps as a service, we stick with you after launch.”

The company has plans to expand this franchise beyond mobile. Dubograev said the company is talking to Hart about doing a virtual reality version of Gold Ambush.

“From the marketing perspective, we think there’s a lot to be said in working with the brands and integrating with the brands in an authentic way to drive people to different things, very much like what Pokémon did with Pokémon GO in augmented reality,” Dubograev said. “We think that AR play could have a really good piece, and VR is another platform that provides another way to engage people and grow the brand.”

Office Depot Names New CMO; Verizon, NBCUniversal Announce New Corporate Programs

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Jerri DeVard has joined Office Depot as their new chief marketing officer and executive vice president. Most recently, she held the position of senior vice president and CMO of security provider ADT.

“We are excited to welcome Jerri to Office Depot, as her leadership and fresh perspective will be instrumental in driving a more integrated omnichannel marketing approach that builds brand loyalty and positions the company for growth,” said Gerry Smith, Office Depot’s CEO.

Verizon’s chief marketing officer Diego Scotti has followed up on a letter to agency partners on the lack of diversity in the advertising field, starting up a diversity fellowship program of its own. The program, called Ad Fellows, will allow 20 college graduates of diverse backgrounds to rotate through a variety of positions at Verizon and its agency partners.

“As one of the country’s top five advertisers, Verizon sees it as our responsibility to lead the conversation on diversity and take action to promote broader industry change,” Scotti told Business Insider. “We want our company, as well as our agency partners, to reflect our customers, and to make that happen we need a pipeline of diverse talent.”

NBCUniversal has created a new division devoted to unifying the network’s research efforts across all their platforms and partnerships, transferring Kavita Vazirani to lead the team as executive vice president of strategic insights and analytics.

“NBCUniversal continues to push the envelope in advanced advertising, content development and distribution strategies to best serve our viewers and our advertising partners’ ultimate sales objectives,” said NBCUniversal’s executive vice president of business operations Krishan Bhatia. “Now more than ever, we need someone who can unify the innovative consumer and marketing insights and analytics taking place at our company.”

Vazirani has been at NBCUniversal for 20 years, most recently holding the position of senior vice president of media strategy and sciences. Prior to her term at NBC, she held a variety of senior roles at Comcast.

Allstate chief marketing officer Sanjay Gupta, who has helmed the post for the past five years, is no longer in that role, according to a report by AdWeek. The former Ally executive recently sold $1.44 million in Allstate shares. The publicly held insurance company has not officially announced the move yet.

TiVo is undergoing executive changes this week, losing chief marketing officer Ira Bahr and gaining Ted Malone, who is signing on as vice president of consumer products and services.

Before joining the TiVo team, Malone was head of Ericsson’s IPTC portfolio, and prior to that worked at Microsoft as principal product planning lead for their IPTV platforms. Bahr has joined medical technology firm AliveCor as their chief commercial officer.

Netflix has brought on Melissa Cobb as vice president for kids and family, who will oversee creation and acquisition of family-friendly content.

“Given the creative freedom offered here and the global audience, there’s a huge opportunity for talented creatives across the industry to create the world’s best kids and family series and features for Netflix,” said Cobb. “My goal for this team is to offer a diverse slate of great, powerful and timeless family entertainment with global appeal.”

Before signing on with Netflix, Cobb was chief creative officer and studio head for Oriental DreamWorks, where she led all collaborations between the China office and its domestic counterpart.

Pete Hawley has joined Telltale Games as CEO, replacing Dan Connors, who will assume an advisory position once Hawley begins work on September 18.

“Pete Hawley is widely regarded as a forward-looking executive with a strong grasp of where the interactive entertainment business is heading,” said Jon Feltheimer, Lionsgate CEO and board member of Telltale. “We at Lionsgate look forward to working closely with Pete, John and the rest of the Telltale team.”

Previously, Hawley worked at Zynga as senior vice president and general manager.

Yellow Pages has appointed David Eckert to the position of president and CEO.

“David has a keen understanding of our industry and a proven track record of improving business performance,” said Robert MacLellan, chairman of the board of directors at Yellow Pages. “As a CEO, David has demonstrated his ability to devise and execute on strategic plans to deliver results. David is the right person to lead Yellow Pages as we focus on stabilizing and growing the business over the long-term.”

Eckert has also served as CEO for Hibu Group, among numerous other international companies.

SeaWorld has elected Yoshikazu Maruyama as their latest chairman of the board, replacing David D’Alessandro, who will be stepping down from the board entirely. Furthermore, the board has appointed Donald C. Robinson as lead independent director.

“Our Board is committed to continuing to advance its governance standards and independence, and we believe that by establishing these two complementary roles with clear responsibilities, we can enhance the rigorous and independent oversight of the company and the Board,” said Robinson.

Maruyama, in addition to his role on SeaWorld’s board of directors, is president of Zhonghong Group America, a major shareholder in the theme park. Prior to his promotion, Robinson had worked at SeaWorld as a director since 2016, and before that was executive vice president of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Twitter has poached Kay Madati from BET, appointing him as their latest head of content partnerships. He replaces Ross Hoffman, who quit the company in May.

Before signing on at BET in 2014, Madati worked at Facebook as head of entertainment and media global marketing solutions, and before that was vice president of audience experience at CNN Worldwide.

Comedy Central has promoted Shawn Silverman to the position of senior vice president of brand marketing, where he will oversee all off-channel advertising, as well as promotional events and experiential marketing.

Before entering his elevated role, Silverman was vice president of brand marketing and events, working on campaigns for The Daily Show, South Park and Key & Peele, among many others.

National Geographic is expanding its digital media executive staff, bringing on David Miller and Kyle Christensen as general manager of the brand’s website and vice president of social and digital strategy, respectively.

Miller previously served as vice president of product management at AOL. Christensen joins National Geographic from Netflix, where he was marketing and social manager for the company’s original films and series. While at the streaming service, Christensen won a Cannes Lion and Facebook’s grand prize for best TV social campaign for his campaigns promoting Narcos.

Jennifer Garner and John Foraker have signed on as co-founders of Once Upon a Farm, another company joining in on the fast-growing organic baby food market. The two will hold the positions of chief brand officer and CEO, respectively.

Before joining the new brand, Foraker led organic-food company Annie’s as president for 18 years, departing after negotiating its $820 million sale to General Mills. Garner has been an ambassador for Save the Children for the past five years, and has appeared in numerous critically and financially successful films over her 21-year career.

Flaregames has recruited Marja Konttinen as their latest head of brand management, where she will work with the mobile games publisher on promoting their Zombie Gunship and Nonstop franchises.

“Flaregames has built such a diverse portfolio in a short amount of time, and that’s testament to both the in-house collective skillset and the world-class developers behind the games,” said Konttinen. “I was initially drawn to the marketing team’s philosophy of backing up creative decisions by research and numbers, and I’m excited to further build on this mindset.”

Previously, Konttinen worked at Rovio, holding the title of marketing director, overseeing the launches of Angry Birds Space and partnerships with NASA, Samsung and 20th Century Fox.

Tom Schmitt has joined advertising software provider VideoAmp as chief financial officer, which recently raised $21 million in funding. Alongside this announcement, Krista Thomas has joined the company as well, holding the title of global head of marketing.

“VideoAmp is aggressively pursuing our go-to-market strategy around becoming the key operating system technology that unites the linear TV and digital video markets,” said VideoAmp’s chief strategy officer, Jay Prasad. “A key part of our approach is to clearly communicate to clients, partners and the market the value that is realized using these product.”

Schmitt most recently was CFO and COO for Freewheel TV, while Thomas joins VideoAmp from her previous role of vice president of product marketing for Rubicon Project.

iThrive Games has promoted Heidi McDonald to the position of senior creative director, where she will lead the nonprofit’s partnerships with game developers to create prosocial projects.

McDonald has been with the company since 2015, where she spearheaded iThrive’s design guide and game jam programs. Prior to joining the organization, McDonald worked as a designer and writer for Schell Games.

The Branded Content Marketing Association has expanded, opening a new chapter in Canada. Heading the new division as president will be Kaaren Whitney-Vernon, with Walmart, Shaftesbury, SGS International and KPMG as founding members.

“Canadian brands and marketers have really embraced the impact and potential of branded entertainment,” said Whitney-Vernon. “Our mission is to create an engaged and active community for branded content professionals throughout Canada and to work towards building a standardized tool for measurement.”

Whitney-Vernon led branded entertainment agency shift2 for the past three years, and before that was president and CEO of Youth Culture Group.

Txampi Diz has departed KCD Worldwide after 15 years at the PR firm, joining Balmain as its first-ever chief marketing officer, though he will remain an advisor for his former employer’s executive board of directors.

Boutique investment advisors ValueSetters has recruited Coreen Kraysler as their latest chief financial officer. In the role, Kraysler will work to further the firm’s partnership with Netcapital.  A chartered financial analyst, Kraysler has most recently held the position of senior vice president and principal at Independence Investments, where she served on their investment committee.

ValueSetters has shaken up its full executive team this year, having hired a new CEO and CTO earlier in the summer.

Starwood Retail Partners has brought on Michael P. Glimcher as CEO, succeeding Scott Wolstein, who will assume an advisory role for Starwood Capital Group.

Before joining Starwood, Glimcher was CEO and chairman of Glimcher Realty Trust from 2007 to 2015 and at WP Glimcher until 2016. He is also an executive board member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

PDL BioPharma has appointed a new president in Dominique P. Monnet, who will oversee the company’s efforts to acquire other businesses in the industry.

“Dominique’s proven track record of achieving significant commercial success with other biopharmaceutical companies will benefit the current products that Noden has on the market in addition to growing the business through acquisitions,”said PDL BioPharma CEO John P. McLaughlin.

Previously, Monnet served as senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and she has held senior-level positions in the biotechnology field for over 30 years.

Marketing and customer experience optimizer Optimizely has hired Carl Tsukahara as CMO, where he hopes to expand the company’s platform to make experimentation simpler. Tsukahara also reports plans to recruit new executives for Optimizely’s 400-person team.

“Corporations across the world are trying to figure out how to get better at working with new customers and prospect behavior,” said Tsukahara. “I really think the time is now to take data science and apply it to these hard problems.”

Tsukahara has held CMO positions at five different companies—Birst, Monitise, Clairmail, Dun & Bradstreet and Aim Technology—and has held senior-level marketing positions in the Bay Area for almost 25 years.

(Editor’s Note: This post will be updated daily until Friday, September 15. Have a new hire tip? Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.)

Job Vacancies 

Director, Marketing Razer USA, Ltd. Irvine, CA
Director, Marketing Sony Music Entertainment New York, NY
Brand Manager BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. Santa Clara, CA
Director, Product Marketing Facebook Menlo Park, CA
Sr. Product Marketing Manager AT&T El Segundo, CA

Make sure to check back for updates on our Jobs Page.

‘Voltron’ Blasts Its Way Into VR Game Series

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Voltron, the children’s animated series that started in the 1980s, saw a great revival when DreamWorks Animation and World Events Productions brought Voltron: Legendary Defender to Netflix in June last year. Now on its third season, the show that centers on five Paladins who pilot robotic lions that combine to form a giant robot to fight the evil Galra Empire has led to comic books, action figures and now a VR series that debuts for PlayStation VR on September 26.

DreamWorks Voltron VR Chronicles is a joint project between visual effects studio Digital Domain (which also launched an original VR series called Monkey King in August) and Universal Brand Development, which announced a strategic focus on games publishing in May. In it, viewers become Paladins and go on adventures through time and space alongside the show’s characters Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, Shiro, Allura and Coran and fight the villain Zarkon by solving puzzles and beating challenges.

“Digital Domain has been an innovator in the entertainment industry by creating content that fans want to consume,” Wayne Kennedy, Digital Domain’s director of creative development on Voltron, told AListDaily. “The team decided to collaborate with Universal Brand Development to develop Voltron VR Chronicles and create a new level of interactive storytelling, allowing fans to step inside the Voltron universe for a completely immersive VR experience.”

Kennedy said that Voltron was the ideal IP for a VR experience because it was exciting and that it was a chance for fans to interact with their favorite characters and experience the robotic lions at their true scale.

“The size of the Voltron lions, the vastness of space and the overall grandness of the Voltron universe makes for an incredible VR experience,” Lalie Fisher, senior producer for games and digital platforms at Universal Brand Development, told AListDaily. “We’re able to bring the huge iconic world of Voltron: Legendary Defender to life in an immersive 3D experience that allows fans to virtually step inside an episode, and that is something really special. The users are able to view their surroundings in a full 360-degree setting, giving them a definitive and up-close look at the environments and the Voltron lions themselves. This simply would not be possible to do in any other medium.”

Fisher said that Voltron VR Chronicles has its own story and acts as an extension of the show. The VR experience will be promoted across all the Voltron social channels. Meanwhile, Kennedy made it clear that Voltron VR Chronicles isn’t a promotion VR experience for the show.

“It’s a complete experience unto itself that allows fans to step inside the world of Voltron: Legendary Defender and partake in their own memorable adventure,” he said. “This interactive narrative experience allows us to creatively extend the series’ storylines, putting fans in the center of the action.”

To that end, Kennedy explained that Digital Domain worked closely with the showrunners, who provided some of their writing expertise and knowledge of the Voltron universe to ensure authenticity.

“Fans of the show will be excited to learn that the TV show’s voice actors lent their voice talents to the experience,” said Kennedy.

One-Third Of Your Video Ads Aren’t Being Seen, Says Google

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DoubleClick has released a report on video-ad viewability for 2017, registering a massive disparity between YouTube and other sites’ figures. Their research, using Google’s Active View measurement technology, found that 95 percent of ads on YouTube were “viewable,” while only 66 percent of ads on other platforms met the same requirements.

Their study uses the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Media Rating Council’s definition of “viewable,” which requires at least half of the ad to be in view for at least two continuous seconds. Ads playing on separate tabs or ones that the user scrolled past too quickly were not counted.

Their data also found that desktops offered significantly lower rates than mobile and tablets for all sites and apps, including YouTube. On average, desktop viewability was 5 points behind other platforms for YouTube and 11 points behind for the rest of the web.

Although the figures look low, DoubleClick’s viewability figures have been trending modestly upward, increasing 10 percent over the last three years. YouTube’s own metrics have gone up, too: DoubleClick claims that only 93% of ads on the video platform were viewable last year.

Breaking up the data by region, DoubleClick’s report found that consumers in France, South Africa and Hong Kong were the savviest at avoiding video ads, reporting viewability figures of 59, 59 and 57 percent, respectively.

Google’s report does not offer analysis of its findings, but the ready availability of tabbed browsing and prevalence of inconspicuous autoplay ads likely explain the marked difference between desktop and mobile platforms, and YouTube’s shift to six-second ads makes consumers less likely to switch tabs to avoid messaging.

Despite recent controversies around brand safety and anti-competitive behavior, YouTube’s impressive viewability statistics may bring advertisers, perhaps reluctantly, back into the fold. Earning $26 billion in ad sales in the second quarter 2017, Alphabet is still the industry leader for digital advertising: many brands simply may not have a choice.