Brands In Play

Would you go to an AI art museum powered by a Large Nature Model (LNM)?

We did! This week, Nic brings Matt along for a room-by-room account of his visit to DATALAND in LA. We cover L'Oréal's scent collars, an immersive rainforest, and a massive robot arm painting a masterpiece inspired by biometric visitor data!

For anyone building immersive brand experiences, the question worth asking is: how do you make participation feel meaningful? DATALAND is pushing the envelope on that right now.

Also, Brands In Play won Gold and Listener's Choice in the Creativity & Marketing category at the Signal Awards. To everyone who voted, listened, and helped us make this show each week: thank you!

Follow Us:

Host:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/

Guest Host:
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay #dataland

Gaming IP is showing up in some pretty unexpected places this week, and brands are getting creative with how they use it.

This week on the news, Nic and Matt kick off the week with Xbox building XP to push its franchises further into entertainment, merch, live experiences and brand partnerships. Rivian turned Ghostbusters into an in-car Halloween activation. Street Fighter took over Times Square. 

Balenciaga made VALORANT’s Viper its first digital ambassador. And Samsung is bringing Roblox experiences into the real world. We also spend some time on the AI side of game development, with Google, Epic and Xbox all making moves, and then the NBA’s Miami Heat’s collaboration with the new GTA6 brings Vice City to the stadium. Matt created his own NBA x gaming crossovers for Nic to react to.

A lot packed into this one, but that’s the thread running through all of it: This is where culture is forming, and the smartest marketers know it. Another week of gaming, brands and some pretty wild creative ideas.

Watch or listen to the full conversation on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

#brandsinplay #xbox  #ghostbusters  #rivian  #streetfighter  #brandpartnerships 

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay

If there's one thing gamers hate, it's having their game interrupted by an ad. And when you're a brand trying to reach that audience, getting it wrong can do more harm than good.

This week, Nic Hill and Matt Daly sit down with Bryce Showalter, who leads gaming at JBL and knows both sides of the conversation, having spent years as a professional gamer and streamer himself.
We talk about how JBL is building its place in gaming through e-sports, Fortnite, Roblox, Overwolf and partnerships with creators like Clix. Bryce also makes a pretty interesting argument for why creators are becoming more valuable to brands than traditional esports sponsorships.

There's a lot here about earning credibility with gamers, knowing when advertising becomes an interruption, and why having someone who understands gaming making decisions inside a brand can change everything.

And of course, when you're JBL, there's one advantage you can build a whole strategy around: Sound Is Survival.

One last thing!

Today and tomorrow are the last days  to vote for Brands In Play in the Signal Listener's Choice Award, where we're nominated in the Creativity & Marketing category!

We're incredibly grateful to everyone who's supported the show and helped us get this far. If you've enjoyed listening to Nic and Matt, we'd really appreciate one last push!

Voting closes October 15. 

Vote for Brands In Play: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/creativity-marketing

Watch or listen to Episode 95 of Brands In Play.

Follow Bryce Showalter - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryceshowalter/

Follow Harman International - https://www.linkedin.com/company/harman-international/home/

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#brandsinplay

This week, Nic Hill and Matt Daly have a lot to unpack.
Paramount and Warner Bros. are coming together under one roof, bringing some of entertainment's biggest franchises into the same conversation.

Matt also takes us through his firsthand experience with Dune: Awakening's integration into Fortnite, while Fortnitemares is bringing another massive lineup of horror IP into the platform.

Elsewhere, KFC is turning its biggest fans into game show contestants, Reese's and Zillow are getting competitive over Halloween, Abarth is driving into Gangstar Vegas, and Volvo brought a rainforest to the Outernet in London. We also revisit Fanta's controversial AI campaign and the growing privacy debate around Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots.

One last thing! This is the final week to vote for Brands In Play in the Signal Listener's Choice Award, where we're nominated in the Creativity & Marketing category.

We're incredibly grateful for everyone who's supported the show so far. If you've enjoyed listening to Nic and Matt each week, we'd really appreciate your vote!

Voting closes October 15. Link in the comments.

Watch or listen to the full conversation on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

Watch or listen to Episode 94 of Brands In Play.

#ImmersiveMarketing #duneawakening #kfc #fortnitemares #dots 

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#brandsinplay

Mattel has some of the biggest IP in the world. Now it’s getting much more serious about building games around it.

Nic Hill and Matt Daly sit down with Sean Thompson, VP of Mattel Game Studios, to talk about the launch of Barbie DreamStyle on Roblox and the thinking behind Mattel’s broader gaming strategy.

Sean breaks down why Barbie can support multiple Roblox experiences at once, what Mattel has learned about building for UGC platforms, and why success on Roblox means playing the long game rather than betting everything on launch week.

They also get into brand safety, building for the audience already on the platform, Mattel Game Studios’ approach to publishing, and how IP like Barbie can move between generations without losing what makes it Barbie.

And ALSO - Brands In Play is a Finalist in the 5th Annual Signal Awards in the Creativity & Marketing category, and we’re up for the Listener’s Choice Award.

If you’ve been watching or listening to the show, we’d really appreciate your vote. Voting is open through October 15, and every vote counts.

Vote for Brands In Play: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/creativity-marketing

A really good conversation about what happens when a major IP owner starts thinking like a games publisher.

Watch or listen to Episode 93 of Brands In Play.

Follow Sean Thompson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-thompson-ca77/

Follow Mattel.Inc - https://www.linkedin.com/company/mattel/posts/?feedView=all

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#brandsinplay

Brands In Play is a finalist in the 5th Annual Signal Awards in Creativity & Marketing, and we’re also up for Listener’s Choice award. We need your vote. Please cast a vote for us before October 1! https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/creativity-marketing

This week, Minecraft has been one of the biggest creator platforms in gaming for years, but Mojang and Microsoft have never made it as easy for brands to play there as Roblox or Fortnite. That door now looks like it’s starting to crack open.

Nic Hill and Matt Daly also talk Rockstar Games turning GTA VI into a full entertainment release, the spillover into Roblox, Best Buy building a media business around its stores and customer data, Crunchyroll and Venum putting Jujutsu Kaisen on real fighting gear, Vogue and Unitree Robotics sending humanoid robots down the runway, and OpenAI making a very deliberate shift toward normal, everyday use cases.

Watch or listen to the full conversation on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

Watch or listen to Episode 92 of Brands In Play.

#ImmersiveMarketing #vogue #GTA6 #minecraft #brandintegrations #jujutsukaisen 

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#brandsinplay

Artists are starting to face a lot of the same questions brands are.
Where are your fans spending their time? How do you show up there without forcing it? And what can you give them value that goes beyond just another piece of content?

Nic sat down with Connor Hachey, SVP of Global Digital Strategy at Virgin Music Group, and got into how his team is figuring that out across gaming and immersive experiences.

There are some great examples in this one. Joji turned an album release into a robot cage fight. ZEROBASEONE went into Rec Room, interacted with fans and drove more than 15,000 new U.S. Spotify followers. And sometimes Virgin finds the opportunity by looking at what fans are already making around an artist on platforms like Roblox.

Check out Connor’s point about experimentation. There isn't always a benchmark for this stuff. Sometimes you have to understand the artist, understand the audience and take the swing.

Because the platforms will keep changing. The harder question is knowing where your audience is going next and what they’ll want from you when they get there.

Watch or listen to Episode 91 of Brands In Play.

Follow Connor Hachey - https://www.linkedin.com/in/connorhachey/

Follow Virgin Music Group - https://www.linkedin.com/company/virginmusic/

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#brandsinplay

Rockstar has started drawing the boundaries around its creator ecosystem, including restrictions on advertising, product placement and sponsored content inside mods specifically. Nic and Matt get into why Rockstar might be keeping such a tight grip on this from the start, and whether those walls eventually come down.

Elsewhere, Pokémon has somehow made it to outer space. Apex Legends is taking a very different approach to IP integration with Street Fighter 6, going beyond product placement to actually changing the way the game is played. 

Toys “R” Us is opening 120 new US stores while experimenting with creator studios And Oprah is taking AHA to the Sphere in Las Vegas?!

GTA 6, Pokémon in space, Street Fighter inside Apex, the return of Toys “R” Us and Oprah at Sphere. Also Nic’s quick report from Meta Connect 2026! A weird week, but a good one!

Watch or listen to Episode 88 of Brands In Play.

#ImmersiveMarketing #GamingMarketing #GTA6 #BrandIntegrations

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#brandsinplay

Matt spent the week in New York at the IAB PlayFronts and GamesBeat ‘Brands & Games’ event, and one idea kept coming up: gaming marketing needs to get more boring. Not boring creatively. Boring in the way media teams understand it. Clear objectives, real measurement and an answer when someone asks, “What’s my ROI?”

Nic and Matt break down why gaming still gets stuck in the innovation bucket, why “the gaming audience” is probably the wrong way for brands to think about players, and why reaching someone through ‘Call of Duty’ should be treated like reaching them through any other media channel.

They also get into GTA VI, Rockstar’s tight control over Vice City, and whether the more interesting opportunity for brands could eventually sit on the UGC side instead.

Plus, Matt asks people at IAB one question: what’s the most valuable thing to measure in game marketing?

Thanks to everyone who rocked the mic and gave valuable insights:

Andrew Martinson - Media and Strategy H&R Block

Michael Arzt - Experience Center Director at IAB

Jean-Baptiste Godinot - Executive Vice President, Gameloft for brands

Olivier Moingeon  - Co-Founder & CEO Exclusible 

Bryce Showalter  - Head of Gaming JBL Professional

Matt Sharpe - Creative Director, Advertising Zynga

Shahar Sorek  - CMO Overwolf

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#brandsinplay #iab #gamesbeat

In Episode 88 of Brands In Play IKEA put a walking, talking KALLAX shelf inside Skyrim and somehow it makes perfect sense.

Nic Hill and Matt Daly get into how Candy Crush is using Shania Twain and Zedd and the very different ways Fortnite and Roblox approach IP on their platforms. 

They also cover Duolingo’s Fashion Week stunt, SEGA’s new film adaptation with Netflix, and Nic’s biggest takeaways from the Roblox Developer Conference 2026.

Brands keep finding new ways to get people to participate in their stories. What’s next?

Watch or listen to Episode 88 of Brands In Play.

Follow Us:

Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Matt Daly - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalymatt/

Producer / Editor 
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

Website: https://www.brands-in-play.com/

#ImmersiveMarketing #GamingMarketing #brandpartnerships 

#brandsinplay