Fils-Aime: Grand Marketer of the Year
By Shawn on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 12:13 PM PST In Games Industry, Nintendo, Nintendo, Nintendo
Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime has been named Grand Marketer of the Year by BrandWeek magazine.
BrandWeek, a marketing magazine, gave the award to Fils Aime for The award was given to Fils-Aime “For preaching the gospel of gaming to the unconverted and turning moms and older people on to the fun of Wii, a gaming console for those of us who aren’t 18, male and counting the days until Grand Theft Auto 4 is released.”
Fils-Aime came to Nintendo with marketing experience from Procter and Gamble, Pizza Hut, VH1, and Guinness. He’s been praised for “giving the faceless Nintendo an identity beyond Zelda and Mario Bros…” and called “half cheerleader for the brand, half bully to the competition.”
The magazine attributes the Wii’s success to Nintendo’s unconventional marketing strategies for their innovative console.
“I’ve been involved in some big, audacious ideas and we needed some big, audacious ideas at Nintendo,” Fils-Aime said.
BrandWeek also recognized Ted Ward (Geico), Ann Mukherjee (Frito-Lay) and Ed Wunsch (Crocs).
Yep, thanks to Fils-Aime, I bought a Wii the first day it was released. I just wish I would play with it more, but the big name games are too far spaced.