Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from the last Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here CES 2007, Las Vegas Convention Center, North Hall Sunday, January 7th 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Track II - GP10 Advertising and Games: From In-Game Advertising to Cross Promotional & Custom Brand Extension As the games industry continues to gain momentum and consumer loyalty as well as massive sales, as with all the other mass mediums, it was simply a matter of time before the industry discovered an appropriate relationship with the advertising and brand management industries. Games are not a niche. Games are a primary entertainment medium with growing power and consumer loyalty. The combination of the greatest brands with the greatest game titles makes perfect sense. If a hit CD can be broken in a video game just as the movie industry can spawn a soundtrack hit, the relationship of games to brand extension and advertising can not be far behind. The evolution of advertising, brand extension and promotions in the games industry is at hand. Jonathan Epstein, CEO, Double Fusion Stephen Baer, Senior Global Product Manager, Atari Garry Kitchen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Skyworks Saneel Radia, Group Director, Play, a division of Denuo Nicholas Longano, President, New Media, Massive Incorporated John Needham, CFO, Sony Online Entertainment Mark Friedler, CEO, GameDAILY, div. of AOL Games, Moderator John Needham, CFO and Senior Vice President, Sony Online Entertainment: As CFO and Senior Vice President for Sony Online Entertainment, John Needham is responsible for all financial administration and business development for the company. Mr. Needham has been with Sony Pictures Entertainment since 1994. During his tenure, John has served in many positions including Director of Corporate Development, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Vice President of Finance, Telemundo Networks. Since joining Sony Online Entertainment in 2001, Mr. Needham has been focused on international expansion and the formation of Platform Publishing, the company’s cross-platform publishing, distribution and marketing label. John is a graduate of San Diego State University and began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. Jonathan Epstein, CEO, Double Fusion: Epstein brings more than 20 years of high-technology media and marketing experience to Double Fusion, and a track record of launching and building the most successful media properties that reach the gaming audience, on a worldwide basis. As CEO of Double Fusion, Epstein is responsible for providing the strategic vision and direction for the company, and for ensuring the execution of the company against its core business plan. Prior to joining Double Fusion, Epstein served as co-head of the digital media group of United Talent Agency, overseeing a wide range of transactions in the gaming, mobile, Internet and advertising technology markets and serving as a consultant to a number of leading media startups. Prior to UTA, Epstein served as executive vice president and general manager, media division, for IGN Entertainment, which was acquired by Fox Interactive Media in 2005. Epstein came to IGN with the sale of GameSpy Industries, where he served as president; while at GameSpy, Epstein established the company as a major media player and developed the companies significant subscription and middleware businesses. Before GameSpy, Epstein was the founding president and CEO of GameSpot.com, where with the other co-founders he reshaped the way by which gamers get their information. GameSpot was acquired by ZDNet (and subsequently, CNET) after which time Epstein served as EVP, International, overseeing the management and rollout of GameSpot and ZDNet sites around the world. Epstein holds a degree in physical sciences from Harvard College. Saneel Radia, Group Director. Play, a division of Denuo: Saneel Radia brings talent and fresh thinking to Denuo. With a reputation for successfully leveraging videogames as content platforms, he has forged meaningful connections between brands and consumers. Radia's digital media expertise can be attributed to his extensive client work, encapsulating both IP and gaming applications for clients such as GM, Best Buy, P&G and Miller. He continues to lead the West Coast office of Play, the cutting-edge division of Denuo that broke ground and set standards as the first consumer marketing services company focused on the video gaming industry. Radia has executed client programs for P&G brands and handles all GM gaming work including Pontiac, GMC and Saturn. In his career, Radia helped spearhead the industry's first broadband upfront at Starcom MediaVest Group, which helped establish a number of benchmarks currently used in referencing the serving, measuring and tracking of streaming ads. In 2005, he was named an Advertising Age "Twentysomething," an honor extended to a select group of individuals under the age of thirty who are driving their industries into the future. Radia graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science degree in advertising. He currently resides in Los Angeles. Stephen Baer, Senior Global Product Manager, Atari: Stephen Baer is currently a Senior Global Product Manager at Atari, Inc. In this role, he develops and executes $1MM - $6MM marketing plans for all driving and role-playing video games and oversees tactics including television, print, online advertising, packaging, PR and viral campaigns. In addition, Stephen is focused on developing relationships with licensors and licensees to create additional revenue through sponsorships, promotions and special events and has generated nearly $2MM in incremental revenue in the past twelve months. Finally, Stephen focuses on product positioning, target market identification, pricing, volume forecasting and competitive analysis. Prior to joining Atari, Stephen was an Experienced Commercial Leader at General Electric, focusing on strategic marketing and sales initiatives across several GE businesses. Assignments included: o Creating a European sales force realignment strategy for NBC Universal to unify offering, drive cross-selling and ensure a revenue increase of $50MM over three years. o Completing a Latin America market assessment at GE Plastics for the transportation industry, discovering $400MM of new sales opportunities, executing a marketing blitz in Brazil and Mexico and establishing 45 customer targets valued at $13MM in sales. o Driving a brand audit for GE Monogram, focusing on positioning, price point, advertising (broadcast and print), direct and online marketing, merchandise materials, sales strategy and consumer insights. Before joining General Electric, Stephen was Director of Business Development at GCI Group, a public relations subsidiary of WPP. He managed a team focused on the agency’s marketing, client strategy, and new business development. Stephen also built a strategic planning group to conduct in-depth analysis of clients’ marketing trends, customer needs, competitive benchmarking, and ROI analysis for numerous Fortune 500 companies including Dell, Schick, Medtronic, Home Depot, and Starbucks. He was also a member of the company’s Board of Directors for North America. Stephen began his marketing career at Lowe & Partners, an advertising subsidiary of Interpublic Group. As a member of their new business team, he conducted research and analysis leading to over $300MM in new business. Stephen holds an MBA in Marketing and Management from Columbia Business School and a BA in Art History and Studio Art from Oberlin College. He is Six Sigma Black Belt Certified and has received or been nominated for several corporate awards including the General Electric Marketing Excellence Award and the GCI Entrepreneurial Spirit Award. Nicholas Longano, Chief Marketing Officer, Massive Incorporated: Nicholas has over 15 years of experience in strategic marketing and consumer packaged goods. As Chief Marketing Officer at Massive Incorporated, Nicholas oversees the company’s Business and Product Development, Creative Services, Integration, and Marketing efforts. Prior to Massive, Nicholas spent 4 years at Vivendi Universal Games as General Manager and Head of Marketing. He was the former General Manager for Calvin Klein Cosmetics Canada and Latin America operations, and head of marketing, worldwide. Nicholas has an extensive track record of launching successful franchises worldwide, and up to recently was President of MOJO Advertising in Los Angeles – where he formed a new video game division, with clients such as Atari, ESPN Games, VUG, and Groove Games. Nicholas holds a Business Degree in Marketing from the David Syme Business School, and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Garry Kitchen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Skyworks: Garry is president and CEO of Skyworks, the leading developer of sponsored online entertainment. His career in interactive entertainment spans 25 years, initially as a toy designer and quickly transitioning into a pioneer in the launch of the video game industry in the late 70s. From 1981-1995, Garry was an industry leader in the design and development of home video games, generating over $300 million in retail sales with such hit titles as DONKEY KONG (home version) and The SIMPSONS. In 1995, with the founding of Skyworks, he brought his gaming expertise to online marketing, launching the innovative LifeSavers Candystand Mark Friedler, CEO, GameDAILY : Mark is CEO and co-founder of Gigex, Inc./GameDAILY (http://www.GameDAILY.com) a leading provider of video game news, reviews, free downloads and the leading provider of trade news with the GameDAILY newsletter. He has been with the company since 1995. He has 10 years experience marketing video games online and is a frequent speaker and panelist at industry events including CES, E3, Digital Hollywood and events sponsored by Microsoft, IQPC, Jupiter Communications, Digital Media Wire and IEMA. He was chairperson for both conferences "Best Practices for Marketing, Selling and Distributing Software over the Internet" and the European Electronic Software Delivery Conference. Mark’s television experience includes several features in 2003 including NBC’s "TechNow," "NBC Today About the Bay" (San Francisco/San Jose KNTV) and "Silicon Valley Business." He is the video game columnist for the IMedia Connection newsletter and he has written for industry publications Software Business , GameDAILY and SIIA’s Upgrade. Previously, Mark was Director of Marketing at Reach Networks in New York from 1994-1995 where he managed marketing and sales of integrated services to Fortune 500 clients. From 1992 – 1994, Mark was Managing Director of Teleworld Sweden AB, a division of Philips Media. Teleworld developed and operated interactive voice and television-based online entertainment and transaction services together with MTV Europe and other major European broadcasters. From 1988-1992, he founded and operated Sweden’s first chain of cookie stores. He holds a B.A in Political Science from Hamilton College in New York and has taken graduate courses in business law, programming and network management. Mark is 40 years old and lives in the San Francisco bay area with his wife and 2 sons.