Rovio Strengthens Advertising Teams with New Hires - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 15 February 2013 / 3,245 Views
Rovio, the developer behind the hugely popular Angry Birds, is strengthening its Brand Advertising Partnership team with several new hires. This is ahead of the release of its first entry into the cartoon business.
"Our new Brand Advertising Partnership Team in the U.S. will enable us to now partner directly with other lifestyle brands," said Head of North American Brand Advertising Partnerships Michelle Tobin. "The model of simply placing standard display ads in online and mobile properties is not necessarily strategic for the majority of tier one brands, and that model was in need of disruption. Rovio´s fan-first approach and engaged audience creates more native, integrated advertising experiences that more closely align to brands’ overall marketing goals."
Rovio has hired two new senior employees in the US, Betsy Flounders Novak and Matt Pfeffer. Novak joined Rovio as the companies director of the West and Midwest. Over the course of her 20 year career she has worked at MTV and ESPN doing TV, mobile and digital advertising. Pfeffer will be running the East Coast operations in New York. He has worked for Millenial Media, one of the biggest mobile advertising companies on the US.
Rovio has also hired two new ad executives in the EMEA and Asian regions, Todd Tran and Raphaell Tripet. Tran will be the Head of EMEA and APAC Brand Advertising Partnership team. He was the former EMEA General Manager of Apple’s mobile advertising business. Tripet is joining the same team and has previously worked at inMobi.
"The company has previously only offered advertising through third party networks for standard display," said Tobin. "Now, the new team will not only offer mobile/online display opportunities, but they will feel more native and will provide deeper fan-first integrated ad experiences. For example, the new team can offer in-game advertising as well as integrated brand partnerships leveraging characters outside the game. McDonald’s used them in their television commercials, point of purchase, etc."
Rovio is currently working on a series of Angry Birds animated shorts. Also Angry Birds has had more than 263 million monthly active users, as of December 2012. The franchise has had more than one billion downloads.
