Brands In Play

“The algorithm doesn’t make or break a game. The game makes or breaks the game.”

At RDC, Nic Hill sat down with John Ciancutti, Chief Growth Officer at Roblox, for a conversation about one of the hardest problems on the platform: helping the right game find the right player.

John explains why Roblox has moved away from optimizing discovery around short-term signals and toward what it calls “lasting value.” In simple terms, the platform wants to reward games people return to, spend time in, share with friends and choose to spend money on. John explains that this is much better than encouraging developers to chase the latest algorithm trick.

That becomes especially important as Roblox pushes further into adult gaming. John sees deeper games and an expanding older audience feeding into each other: better content brings in different players, and a broader player base gives creators a reason to build more sophisticated games.

But showing up does not automatically mean building another branded world. Roblox is built around communities already playing, creating and sharing together. John points to Bruno Mars entering an existing Roblox game as a more interesting model for how brands and talent can participate.

As John puts it: “Roblox, it’s not a place where culture is consumed. It’s a place where culture is created.”

Watch or listen to the full conversation on Brands In Play.

#rdc2026 #roblox  #brandstrategy #growthstrategy 

Follow John Ciancutti - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jciancutti/

Follow Roblox - https://www.linkedin.com/company/roblox/posts/?feedView=all

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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/

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Episode 86 of Brands In Play covers another busy week of brands experimenting with gaming, IRL experiences and new ways to reach audiences.

McDonald’s opens an immersive butcher shop in London to challenge perceptions around its food. WWE returns to Clash of Clans with a new campaign built around finding John Cena’s hidden base, while Dr. Squatch is putting $1 million into a nine-week audience challenge in partnership with creator IShowSpeed.

Nic Hill and Matt Daly also discuss e.l.f. and Levi’s push into state fairs. We then do a double take on e.l.f.’s venture into AI styling with fashion and virtual closet app Alta. The NFL partners with Nex Playground to introduce younger players to flag football, while new research looks at whether in-game advertising makes brands more relevant to gamers.
Brands keep finding new ways to get people to participate in their stories. What’s next?

Watch or listen to Episode 86 of Brands In Play.

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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

You already use Canva to make ads. What if you could run them inside games from the same place?

In Episode 85 of Brands In Play, Livewire’s Indy Khabra explains how its Canva integration lets marketers choose an audience, set a budget and launch ads across mobile games.

The conversation covers targeting, brand safety and measurement, plus Indy’s argument for making gaming part of the everyday media plan. What does it take for brands to get comfortable spending there?

Watch or listen to the full episode, and subscribe for more Brands In Play.

#canva #livewire #brandstrategy 

Follow Indy Khabra - https://www.linkedin.com/in/indykhabra/

Follow Livewire - https://www.linkedin.com/company/livewiregroupintl/posts/?feedView=all

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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

Episode 84 of Brands In Play features Red Bull’s Wings Cup, bringing EA Sports FC players into real-world football challenges. 7-Eleven teams up with Forza Horizon 6, while The Doux puts textured hair and self-expression at the center of its Roblox salon game.

Nic Hill and Matt Daly also discuss Street Fighter’s playable YouTube trailer, Baskin-Robbins’ Genshin Impact collaboration, and a Rick and Morty-inspired AI stream that raises questions about control over IP.

Watch or listen to the full episode, and subscribe for more Brands In Play.

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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  #redbull  #7eleven  #thedoux  #forzahorizon6  #easportsfc  #roblox 

#brandsinplay

Episode 83 of Brands In Play features Joshua Rubin, writer of the Black Mirror Experience, on turning the series into a world you can walk into.

Joshua joins Matt Daly to explain how the team preserved Black Mirror’s unsettling tone, made the VR headset part of the story, and used AI to give visitors an experience that gets personal.

For brands building their own immersive experiences, there’s plenty to take away: choosing technology that fits, earning an IP owner’s trust, and giving people a reason to care once they’re through the door.

#BrandsInPlay #blackmirror  #ImmersiveMarketing #experientialmarketing  #brandexperience  #virtualreality  #interactivestorytelling 

Follow Joshua Rubin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarubinwriter/

Follow Subverse Narrative Consulting - 
https://www.linkedin.com/company/subverse-narrative-consulting/

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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

Episode 82 of Brands In Play features Nic Hill and Matt Daly covering a busy week of brands telling stories through gaming and IRL experiences, along with major interactive platform updates. Subway is giving ARC Raiders players in-game loot with qualifying meals. Adidas enters Toca Boca World with free sports items aimed at encouraging confidence, while DAISE brings its blind-box collecting mechanic from Roblox to Walmart.

Across platforms Roblox faces another child-safety test in Australia, TikTok reportedly allowed paid advertisements selling illegal drugs through its own ad system, and Meta agrees to major product restrictions designed to protect younger users. 

Outside of gaming, Poppi turned their New York billboard into a peel-and-win situation with a product reveal. Then we get right back into it with Discord moving its Quests product deeper into gameplay with PlayQuest+, rewarding players for completing specific actions inside the games they play. McDonald’s brings food inspired by XBOX IP Fallout 76, Halo, Forza Horizon 6, Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush onto its UK and Ireland menus, alongside Xbox rewards. 

The IRL section looks at Gorillaz, Clash of Clans, Peaky Blinders and Jumanji extending their worlds into physical experiences, while brands like Takis and Crocs built an experience from no established entertainment world.

Finally, Fanta introduces its own AI-created Halloween characters, Lacoste turns its crocodile into the star of a series of animated shorts, and Gap continues building its “fashiontainment” operation with former Walmart executive and past Brands In Play guest Justin Breton.

A lot happened. We have opinions.

#brandsinplay #marketing  #ImmersiveMarketing #brandactivations  #experientialmarketing  #arcraiders  #xbox  #tocabocaworld  #roblox 

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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

In Episode 81: Mattel is building a game studio, Netflix is closing two, Sony launches a glossy PS5 campaign and the comments turn it into a protest over physical game discs. A viral hit born on Roblox gets officially licensed into Fortnite. Then Battlefield adds Top Gun and, against all odds, its players are actually into it.

Nic Hill and Matt Daly get into the common thread: gaming companies want more mileage from IP, but the audience still decides what belongs. When an integration respects the game, players accept it. 
When it doesn’t, the comments section takes over the campaign.

#BrandsInPlay #GamingNews #ImmersiveMarketing #fortnitefunny  #Roblox #Battlefield6 #TopGun #Mattel #NetflixGames #PlayStation 

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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

Episode 80 of Brands In Play features Josh Pool, Partner Manager and Entertainment Lead at Xbox Media Solutions. Ever wonder how Xbox helps brands activate? Josh talks Nic Hill through Xbox’s work with advertisers, from Hershey’s and KitKat to Monster Energy’s Call of Duty partnership and Predator: Badlands. 

He explains how the team finds the right audience and builds campaigns around the way people already play.

EVERY brand has gamers as part of its customer base. The challenge is understanding where they play and earning the right to meet them there.

#BrandsInPlay #Xbox #GamingMarketing #BrandPartnerships #ImmersiveMarketing

Chapters:
Intro - 00:00 
Xbox Media Solutions Interview - 01:20

Follow Joshua Pool - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshrpool/

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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

Episode 79 of Brands In Play with Nic Hill and new guest co-host Matt Daly features David Sheldon-Hicks, CEO and co-founder of creative studio Territory Studio.

David takes us inside Territory’s work across Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Need for Speed and the new 007 First Light. He explains why a cutscene should never feel like filler, how Territory approaches game cinematics differently from film, and why forced product placement quickly loses players.

For brands, his advice is to get closer to developers and stop treating gaming like another media format. The interesting work happens when brands create something custom, strange and specific to the game.

Nic and Matt also cover GTA VI’s Netflix premiere, Payday’s move into Fortnite and film, a new movie campaign built as a playable Discord game, and the unofficial KFC UGC gaming content that attracted over 70 million visits on Roblox! 

#BrandsInPlay #GamingMarketing #BrandIntegration #AAAGaming #TerritoryStudio #GameDevelopment #ImmersiveMarketing 

Chapters:
Intro - 00:00 
Announcements - 02:19
News - 05:58
Live Nation | Livewire Interview - 21:50
Subscribe - 45:17

Follow David Sheldon-Hicks
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-sheldon-hicks/

Follow Territory Studio - https://www.linkedin.com/company/territory-studio/

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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

Episode 78 of Brands In Play, hosted by Nic Hill and Ely Santos, features Anubhav Mehrotra of Live Nation and Ryan Dow of Livewire, who break down the strategy behind Music Festival Tycoon on Roblox.

The persistent game lets players build stages, book artists and create festivals of their own. Its latest integration introduces Lollapalooza as the game’s first real-world festival and CORTIS as its first featured artist.

As Anubhav explains, the team “built the fun before we added the fame.” They focused on creating a game people wanted to play before introducing major artists, festival IP and brand partners. The result is what Anubhav describes as a publishing strategy rather than a marketing strategy. An established experience that brands can enter without needing to build and maintain their own Roblox game.

In this week’s news, Nic and Ely also cover Disney opening its IP catalogue to TikTok creators, the privacy backlash facing Meta’s smart glasses, Netflix’s new branded mini-golf game and Apple’s reported focus on fitness for its future glasses.

#Roblox #GamingMarketing #ImmersiveMarketing #BrandedEntertainment #SmartGlasses


Chapters:
Intro - 00:00 
Announcements - 01:24
News - 03:00
Live Nation | Livewire Interview - 16:24
Subscribe - 41:16

Follow Anubhav Mehrotra - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anubhav-mehrotra/

Follow Live Nation Entertainment - https://www.linkedin.com/company/live-nation/

Follow Ryan Dow - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rrdow/

Follow Livewire - https://www.linkedin.com/company/livewiregroupintl/

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Co-Hosts:
Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Ely Santos -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ely-santos-tech/

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

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

#brandsinplay