MAD//Fest Speaker Interview: Electronic Arts Marketing Director On Why Brands And Gaming Should Collaborate More
20 May, 2022
We sat down with Electronic Arts (EA) Global Marketing Director, Robbie McCawley, to discuss why brands should embrace gaming and the Metaverse and why he's a fan of Crocs and Lego, but not buzzwords.
1. 2022 is the year of?
Nothing. I like to keep my years as buzzword free as possible
2. Who is your hero from the marketing and advertising world? Why?
Belinda Smith, CEO of mSIX for the Americas. Belinda was my previous boss at Electronic Arts and she is cutting edge, unapologetic and passionate for diversity – all of which we need more of in Marketing and Advertising.
3. What was the last ad your saw that made you buy something?
I’ve been trying to buy my clothes from ethical and sustainable fashion brands, and I’ve discovered some great brands on Instagram both through Creators and in-feed ads.
4. What’s your all-time favourite advert/campaign and why?
This campaign demonstrated a brand that new what they stood for, who also understood what mattered to their customers and who had the courage to defy convention and short-term sales to drive long-term brand growth. How awesome.
5. If you had to choose which one would it be - day WFH or day in the office?
WFH
6. What keeps you awake at night?
Bad decisions I made in my rugby career and habitual marketing
7. 2022 is the year of the Metaverse, (apparently) - will you be an early adopter or a cynical onlooker?
I’m not a fan of buzzwords so I try not to say the ‘M’ word. If you’re asking if I think people are looking for shared experiences? Yeah, they always have. If you’re also asking if I think the cross over between digital and IRL is going to start happening more? Yeah, its 2022.
8. Which brand, apart from your own, inspires you?
I like to see brands really owning who they are and having fun with it. I think Crocs is a brand that looks like it’s fun to work on right now, and they’ve really found a unique voice as their popularity has risen. Lego is another brand I’m excited about as they’re really jumping into entertainment and digital spaces even though their main product offering is built around physical play.
9. What’s the biggest opportunity in marketing and advertising right now?
The same ones that have always been there.
10. Which (emerging) trend or innovation of 2021 will have the greatest impact on the industry in 2022?
I don’t think it’s an innovation, but I’m loving more brands embracing gaming and getting better at integrating themselves into that space. A lot of the discussion is about how we stick traditional advertising into games, but what is really exciting to me is how brands and gaming intersect because it resonates more with players.
11. What would you most like to change about the ad industry?
More creative risks. Habitual marketing where we often rely on the results of the past is never going to drive growth in the future.
12. What are you speaking about at MAD//Fest in July?
Failing fast! I think there is an inherent fear of failure that’s getting worse in Marketing, especially with the short job tenure of most CMOs, and I’d like to shed some light on how failure has been our greatest opportunity at Electronic Arts.
Robbie will be speaking at MAD//Fest on the Creativity Stage on 5 July.
Over 7,000 brands and agencies are expected to attend MAD//Fest London 2022, 3,000 more than 2021 when MAD//Fest was the only UK industry festival to take place in physical form. Other speakers for the 2022 edition include Rachel Waller, Global VP Innovation, Burberry; Cristina Diezhandino, Global CMO, Diageo; Tina Koehler, Global VP Marketing, Deliveroo; James Brown, MD, BrewDog; and Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder & CEO, S4 Capital.
Earlybird tickets are available here.