Earlier today, Activision Blizzard released a document detailing the appointment of Brad Jakeman as Chief Creative Officer. What does that position really handle? According to the press brief, "Mr. Jakeman will be responsible for leading global advertising, media, marketing and consumer research for all of Activision Publishing's franchises."
Jakeman was previously head of corporate marketing for Macy's. Certainly not a gaming company, but I think this illustrates a point often lost on the greater gaming public. The Video Games industry is not it's own entity, nor is it separate from the greater entertainment industry.
In it's infancy the video games industry struggled to be accepted into the entertainment industry. It was dismissed as a fad, a small blip in the growing role of home entertainment. After the slight decline of the industry in the eighties, the industry saw a great deal of change. The "for kids" image was slowly sloughed off and replaced with the more mature look of the industry today.
With this new image comes a more serious and mainstream approach to business and marketing. Games companies need marketing agents and advertising just as much as any other company. Video games may be an art form ,but they're also a product to be sold. Seeing companies hiring marketing execs from other companies is a sign of a growing acceptance of video games in the commercial world. At least, that's the way we see it.
