What do Gillette’s Venus, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Skittles have in common? They have all successfully used virtual worlds and game play mechanics to engage players online. Social games, in particular, continue to be a growing form of entertainment, reaching nearly one out of every two Internet users and offering a unique platform for marketers to reach a specific target audience. However, social games always face the challenge of engaging players in a meaningful way without annoying them or detracting from the online experience. This session shares case studies from leading companies and discusses practical ways that brands have turned to social gaming to develop immersive campaigns that actually engage users and keep within a game’s narrative – and the serious risks of doing it wrong.
Manny oversees the development and sales of Brand Sponsorships for Zynga’s network of games. He focuses on creating high impacting ad integrations, which provide immense ROI to brands through the reach of TV, the measurability of online, and the most engaging advertising products.
Before joining Zynga, Manny ran Global Ad Operations for Electronic Arts, which managed advertising across online properties, in game dynamic and static ads for Xbox 360 and PS3, mobile and social networking.
Prior to that, Manny spent 2 years at Microsoft/Massive Incorporated, developing new in game advertising technology and worked with the world’s top game publishers and developers to drive advertising revenue.
Manny has also held positions at The Nielsen Company, Time Warner, and Accenture.
Manny holds an International Finance and Marketing degree from the University of Miami and graduated with Honors.
Mike is CEO of Gaia Interactive and oversees the company's strategy and vision.
He is the creator and sole developer of the popular Facebook application (fluff)Friends, which he later sold to Social Gaming Network after attracting millions of users. Prior to that, Mike was the lead on Google's Gmail Frontend team. He started his career at Electronic Arts working on The Sims Online.
