Brands In Play

Episode 27 of Brands In Play, Albane Prioux sits down with Annette Lee, Head of Global Business Development at Zepeto, to unpack how the platform’s avatar-first model has created a global audience that’s majority Gen Z female. Annette breaks down the four creator types driving the economy and how each opens up a different path for brand activations. 

She explains why Hyundai, a car brand, has unexpectedly become one of Zepeto’s top-selling “fashion” labels, and how features like outlinking to real-world sites give the platform a conversion advantage most virtual worlds can’t match. 
Before the interview, Nic Hill and Albane break down a big week in immersive marketing:

• GTA and Battlefield sending strong signals toward UGC integrations
• Panda Express launching across Roblox and Fortnite simultaneously
• Snapchat, WPP & Lumen measuring attention on ad formats
• Netflix House bringing IP into permanent immersive venues in Philadelphia and Dallas

Before shifting into a real-time review where Nic explores Hyundai’s IONIQ 6 activation, jumping into custom photo and video booths, picking up branded wearables, exploring the Planet Hyundai 3D world, and testing out a mobile-friendly racing mini-game.

Watch the full episode  
#BrandsInPlay #Zepeto

Episode 27 is now live.

And hit follow on Brands in Play for weekly insights

Follow Annette Lee - https://www.linkedin.com/in/annette-lee-%EC%9D%B4%EC%98%88%EC%A0%84-6896b330/

Follow Zepeto - https://www.linkedin.com/company/naver-z/posts/?feedView=all

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Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#BrandsInPlay #Zepeto

What are the key strategies for successful media buying in gaming?

This week on Brands In Play, Albane Prioux and Nic Hill are joined by Claire Nance from Activision Blizzard Media to talk about what makes an ad campaign effective inside games. We’ll explore how to build campaigns that players actually love, focusing on mobile's unique challenges and opportunities.

We also dive into a bunch of other cool topics, like the rise of anime-inspired ad campaigns, Roblox hitting over 100 million daily users, and why new data from PwC means marketers should rethink their strategies.

And for our Real-Time Review, we're looking at the awesome move the UEFA Women’s Championship made by turning match highlights into an immersive experience inside Roblox.

Watch the full episode 

Episode 26 is now live.

And hit follow on Brands in Play for weekly insights

Follow Claire Nance - https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairemnance/

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay #ActivisionBlizzard #MobileGaming

We’ve teamed up with the Kids Media Club podcast to explore one of the strangest and most viral trends in UGC culture: Italian Brain Rot. Together with Jo, Emily, and Andy, we unpack how a chaotic wave of AI-generated characters and in-jokes became a cultural flashpoint across Roblox and Fortnite, sparking games, fandoms, and serious revenue. 

In the news:
 – Bob Ross quietly makes his Fortnite debut
 – Travis Kelce surprises fans inside Roblox
 – A Fortnite map sells to a publisher for millions
 – Meta reveals a wristband that reads micro-movements straight from your wrist

And in this week’s Real Time Review, Nic reports from Comic Con, where Supercell transformed the San Diego Bay into a life-sized version of Brawl Stars’ Star Park. From LED-rigged monorails to MrBeast x Brawl Stars chocolate bars, it’s one of the boldest immersive campaigns we’ve seen all year.

Watch the full episode  [Link In Comments]

#BrandsInPlay #KidsMediaClubPodcast #ItalianBrainrot #MemeCulture

Charles Hambro built GEEIQ before Meta even had the name. In this episode, he joins us to talk about what brand success in virtual worlds actually looks like, why Roblox shouldn’t be treated as an “innovation play” anymore, and how campaign-based activations are overtaking persistent worlds. It’s the kind of conversation that is data-backed, no fluff, and long overdue.

We also talk about Fortnite's algorithm shift to favor non-shooter creators, Roblox’s IP licensing model and its creative tradeoffs, and why Call of Duty players are rejecting cartoon cameos like American Dad.
Plus, Nic jumps into Venmo’s new Roblox game for a real-time review. It’s slick, smart, and surprisingly generous, but is that enough?

Subscribe, listen, and let us know: what questions should we deep dive into next? 

Episode 24 is now live.

And hit follow on Brands in Play for weekly insights

Follow Charles - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-hambro/
Follow GEEIQ - https://www.linkedin.com/company/getgeeiq/product/

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay #GEEIQ #ImmersiveMarketing #UGCgaming #marketingpodcast 

What platforms make sense for your brand? In this special deep dive episode of Brands In Play, Nic Hill (Sawhorse) and Albane Prioux (GEEIQ) answer the top questions brands keep asking about gaming, virtual worlds, and virtual identity.

On this episode they explore the challenges brands are facing with fragmented audiences in gaming and provide insights on how brands can best plan their strategy to only reach audiences that are relevant to them with content that is relevant to each platform.

They also discuss some most recent case studies from Maybelline’s Roblox experience powered by Amazon Anywhere API., Unilever and Minecraft ice cream partnership. Swarovski’s crystal Minecraft collectibles, and Warner Bros' Superman skin in Fortnite.

Plus, in our Real-Time Review, Nic and Albane compete in an AI-powered ad challenge using Veo 3, creating a fictional KFC x F1 campaign in under 5 min. It’s chaotic, creative, and a sign of how fast content production is changing.

Subscribe, listen, and let us know: what questions should we deep dive into next? 

Episode 23 is now live.

And hit follow on Brands in Play for weekly insights

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay  

This week, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are joined by Joe Pace, VP of ASICS Ventures, to unpack how the legacy fitness brand is building an entirely new virtual sport, from scratch. DISC is now live on MetaQuest, and it's not a one-off campaign, it’s a long-term strategy rooted in movement, community, and real brand equity.

We explore what it means to build a branded game with long-term goals: not just awareness, but community, revenue, and cultural credibility. Joe shares how ASICS involved real players in development from day one through Discord, why DISC fills a gap in the fitness-meets-gaming market, and how the brand aligned innovation with brand authenticity every step of the way.

Plus, we break down the latest moves from YouTube’s AI content crackdown, Meta’s investment in Luxottica, the rise of streamer-led brand identities, and the launch of GodMode, a cosmetic brand targeting female gamers.

And for our Real-Time Review, Nic jumps into the ASICS DISC game to battle renowned capture artist Keric Warton in a live VR face-off. What starts as a friendly match quickly turns into a full-on showdown, highlighting just how competitive and physically demanding this new eSport really is. With Nic out for redemption and Keric bringing pro-level precision, it’s a firsthand look at DISC’s gameplay, intensity, and potential as a real sport in the immersive space.

Episode 22 is now live.

Try DISC on MetaQuest now
And hit follow on Brands in Play for weekly insights

Follow Joe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephpace/

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#BrandsInPlay #MetaQuest #ASICS #Disc

In episode 21 of Brands In Play Albane Prioux & Nic Hill put the spotlight on Nate Spell, founder and CEO of Barrier Four. His team rebuilt the entire Squid Game Season 3 recap video inside Roblox shot-for-shot. Every dorm bunk, every merry-go-round frame, every contestant mask, using the platform’s own animation tools. Nate explains why they insist on filming inside the engine, how DevCam and frame-by-frame motion keep trailers honest, and what happens when you give the Roblox audience something that actually looks and feels like the games they play every day.

Nate recalls the staged police chase that made a Roblox trailer go viral and ultimately launched his studio, shares numbers from a Care Bears booth drop that cleared twenty-thousand dollars in its first week, and lays out simple rules for any brand thinking about native content: stay in-platform, respect the blocky aesthetic, and never promise visuals you can’t deliver in-game.

This week’s news roundup kicks off with Puma entering Fortnite with the nostalgic SpeedCat shoe, an iconic silhouette now finding new Gen Z love. KreekCraft, one of Roblox’s biggest influencers, launched IRL plushie merch through Catalog Avatar Creator, backed by Shopify and Lootbloc.

IAB’s new gaming measurement framework also dropped, and we break down why it’s finally giving marketers the KPIs they need to trust platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and Bitmoji. Oh, and Coca-Cola and Star Wars launched a fan campaign with scannable cans. With an Interesting immersive twist.  

And for our Real-Time Review, Nic and Albane jump into the Squid Game: Final Game Roblox experience, developed by The Gang as a nod to the episode’s guest and a hands-on look at how cinematic and gameplay activations are starting to meet. 

Episode 21 is now live.

Follow Nate - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spelled/

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay  #BarrierFour #netflix #squidgame #squidgame2 #squidgame3 #marketingpodcast #marketingdigital #roblox #trailers

In episode 20 of Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux sit down with Gino Roy, Art Director at Sawhorse. He’s behind the visual direction of some of the best-looking branded games on Roblox like Beetlejuice, Wicked, Kung Fu Panda, Tommy Play, and most recently, How to Train Your Dragon. But this conversation goes deeper than art.

We get into how to make cinematic worlds that actually run well on Roblox’s engine across all devices, why performance budgets matter more than showy assets, and what it means to design for “fun” instead of “friction.”

Gino also talks about the jump from traditional visual effects and animation design to interactive gamified design, and what it’s like experiencing your own work in VR.

This one’s packed. Twitch makes a rare move by partnering with Dress to Impress on Roblox. Fortnite quietly dropped Blitz Royale, a new mode designed entirely for mobile players. And then Squid Game. We talk about how Netflix and The Gang dropped the official Roblox experience just as Season 3 arrives. There’s a surprising amount of in-game marketing across UGC gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite. We barely saw anything off-platform.

𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 SIDE 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸. We jump into Universal’s new “How to Train Your Dragon” game on Roblox to experience flying dragons, dodging obstacles mid-air, and spotting where the cinematic world-building really lands. 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁.

So how did they make a Roblox game look like a AAA game? Watch on YouTube and Spotify or listen on your favorite podcast app. 

Follow Gino: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gino-roy-254b0bb/

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay  #roblox  #howtotrainyourdragon 

On Episode 19 of Brands In Play, Albane Prioux and Nic Hill speak with Uri Marchand, CEO of Overwolf, discussing how his company serving 100M+ monthly users is being leveraged by brands to engage with notoriously hard-to-reach gaming communities.

Founded in 2010, Overwolf's mission is to empower creativity in gaming and help in-game creators make the best games even better through user-generated content. The company provides creators with infrastructure, professional support, and tools across multiple UGC platforms, supporting 178,000+ creators across 1,500+ games. For brands struggling to access audiences in games like League of Legends, World of Warcraft, or The Sims, this ecosystem offers an alternative entry point.

The Platform's Scale and Reach

Overwolf's numbers reflect deep engagement with premium gaming audiences:
100M+ monthly active users
178,000+ active creators
Integration across 1,500+ games
Focus on AAA titles where direct brand access is limited

Tune in to this episode to find out more about Overwolf, their audiences, and how brands are already seeing success in engaging with their community.

Follow Uri:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/urimarchand/

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay  #overwolf  #core #games #marketingpodcast #marketingstrategy #marketingtips 

This week, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux take us to AWE 2025, where Nic hosts a live panel about marketing with augmented reality, joined by three standout voices shaping the spatial future:

🔸 Raag Harshavat, AR Developer Relations at Snapchat. Raag works at the intersection of AR technology and creative enablement at Snapchat, helping developers and brands bring their AR ideas to life through Snap’s Lens Studio and AR platform. With Snap logging over 6 billion AR interactions daily, Raag shares how Snap is building tools for both utility and entertainment.

🔸 Dana Ware, Chief Creative Officer at ARound. Dana is the creative force behind large-scale AR experiences that bring stadiums and live events to life. At @ARound, she’s led immersive brand campaigns for partners like Uber Eats and Disney.

🔸 Brett Perloff, CEO at Prism AR. Brett leads Prism AR, a startup building monetization infrastructure for AR, with a focus on context-aware spatial ads that respect user immersion. His vision draws from mobile gaming economics and applies it to spatial computing, creating seamless in-world advertising models for mobile AR and headworn devices.

From Coca-Cola’s Paris Olympics campaign to Disney’s stadium castle, the panel unpacks the tech stacks, creative risks, and business realities behind meaningful AR marketing. They break down what works, how to measure success (beyond just metrics), and why engagement time in AR crushes traditional ads.

We Also Cover:

– LEGO’s Bluey ice cream shop in Brisbane
– Adidas’ Minecraft UGC world
– JoGo’s record-breaking Fortnite x XXXTentacion activation
– Google Play’s loyalty-driven Roblox game with The Gang

𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 SIDE 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 - Nic takes us to the show floor at AWE to review the latest immersive tech . 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁.

Watch or listen to Episode 18 now and get ready for next week where we speak to Uri Marchand, CEO of Overwolf!


Follow Panelists:
Raag: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raag-harshavat/
Brett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettperloff/
Dana: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-ware/

Follow Us:

Nic Hill -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-hill-6553873/
Albane Prioux -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/albaneprioux/
Edward Regue -   https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-regue-%C2%A9-44b0421b2/

#brandsinplay  #AWE2025 #MarketingWithAR