Women of Influence by SheSpeaks
Join us each week on the Women of Influence podcast, hosted by Aliza Freud and presented by SheSpeaks. Each week, Aliza sits down with trailblazing women from various fields—business leaders, social media influencers, authors, speakers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders—who are using their platforms to create meaningful impact. Discover how these women harness their influence to inspire, motivate, and drive change, and gain actionable insights you can apply to your own life!
Women of Influence by SheSpeaks
Redefining Gamers: A New Era of Opportunity for Brands
In this episode, we’re joined by Aimee Baller, Head of Partnerships, West & Central at Overwolf—the engine behind the gaming creator ecosystem that’s reshaping how brands connect with modern audiences.
Aimee reflects on her path into gaming as the first female leader on Overwolf’s Brand Partnerships team, exploring the power of in-game advertising, why brands can’t ignore gaming culture, and how Gen Z is rewriting the rules of media. She also offers thoughtful insights on mentorship, leadership, and creating space for other women in male-dominated industries.
Episode Highlights
- How Aimee helps brands like Slim Jim and Smucker’s enter the gaming space with impact and intention.
- The truth about modern gamers—and why 40% of Overwolf’s audience is female.
- Why gaming is no longer niche and how brands can meet consumers where they actually are.
- What moment-triggered ads are and why they generate up to 70% brand recall.
- The rise of Gen Z as creators and why they want to shape the plot, not just watch it.
- Why Aimee believes women don’t need to wait until they feel “ready” to lead.
- How gaming can be an additive—not disruptive—space for advertisers.
Aimee’s perspective cuts through the noise—offering real-world advice for anyone navigating today’s fast-moving landscape of culture, technology, and consumer connection.
Links and Resources
Connect with Aimee Baller on LinkedIn
Connect with Overwolf on LinkedIn
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Want more from SheSpeaks?
* Sign up for our podcast newsletter HERE! *
- Connect with us on Instagram, FB & Twitter @shespeaksup
- Contact us at podcast@shespeaks.com
- WATCH our podcast on YouTube @SheSpeaksTV
believe in yourself that if you're waiting for someone else to tell you you're good enough, it's not going to happen. So know that you're good enough and you deserve the position and the role that you're in, and keep climbing.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the show. Hope you're all having a great week so far. We have an interesting episode to share with you today.
Speaker 2:I have been interested in the online gaming industry because there are billions in fact, 3.3 billion people globally are online gamers. I know not much about it. Are online gamers I know not much about it Platforms like Twitch and YouTube Gaming. These are platforms that have been becoming huge and online gamers are making money from advertisements that appear during their shows and other ways that they're doing sponsorships. And I've been interested in why people are fascinated. I remember hearing years ago about how kids will just watch other people play online and listen to them talk while they're playing and wondering what is so fascinating about it. But it's interesting because it builds community for the people who enjoy it, and the industry also has traditionally been thought of as quite male dominated, but it might surprise you to know that 45 to 48% of online gamers are actually women.
Speaker 2:Today we have a terrific guest on, amy Baller, who is head of brand partnerships at Overwolf, which is a platform that powers the user-generated content for games. Today Amy talks to me about what is gaming, who's doing it and how. In a very traditionally male-dominated industry. She's really working as a woman in the industry to change that paradigm. I really enjoyed this conversation with Amy. I'm going to let you hear it. We're going to jump right into it. Here we go.
Speaker 2:Amy welcome to the show. Yes, thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk with you because I have been fascinated with the gaming industry for a very long time. I understand that it's changing, that now there are a lot more women getting involved in the gaming industry. But let's talk first if you can just tell us a little bit about Overwolf and what you do day to day.
Speaker 1:Sure, so Overwolf is the engine behind the gaming creator system, right? So our platform enables people to build apps and websites that help people enjoy their games more than they already do, so it just enhances the experience, and it's been an absolute pleasure to work with a company. I've been here for about a year now and wildly differentiated in the marketplace, so I'm excited to be one of their evangelists.
Speaker 2:I love that, and so, as an evangelist, talk a little bit about what that means for you day to day.
Speaker 1:So day to day, I'm meeting with brands that are throughout the central region and talking to them about who are gamers right and why it's important to meet people, the cultural relevance, their ability to gain wallet, share, loyalty, things like that and just introducing them to a new space that they may not otherwise be familiar with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so let's talk a little bit, if we can, about who gamers are, because I know it's changing. But just for those people who are listening or maybe is not as familiar, give us a little bit of a like 101 on gaming and why it's a huge opportunity.
Speaker 1:That's a great question. I think that people have a misconception about a gamer being a young man in his parents' basement right and possibly surrounded by pizza boxes, but that's really not who it is. When we're talking about gamers now, especially as we tend to age down in generations, it's really almost everyone, and there's such a broad spectrum of who a gamer is. It could be someone who's playing on their mobile, who's playing on their console or who's playing on their PC. So there's quite a broad range there and we tend to focus on, with our app side, people who are in PC. So they are 18 to 34 and tend to have a higher household income. They are 18 to 34 and tend to have a higher household income. So these are people that are really important to brands and who they want to reach.
Speaker 2:They also tend to use ad blockers when they're outside of the gaming ecosystem, so they're difficult to reach elsewhere. Yeah, how would it work if I'm in a game? How does it work in terms of how I might see an ad pop up for me, using the work that you do?
Speaker 1:Sure. So if you're on your PC and you're gaming in any number of popular games right, this could be Fortnite, league of Legends, ark Survival we have an app store that allows people to pop it open and it will make recommendations for what types of apps are going to be most useful for you.
Speaker 1:And these apps could be just about anything. They overlay the game or they sit adjacent to the game. If they're overlaying the game, this could be something like a badge that sort of pops up when you do something great like win, or you help your squad in some way, or you help your squad in some way, or it could just be on a secondary screen and we have great banner ad placements or videos, something like that. The key to us is that we don't intrude upon the gaming experience. Instead, we want brands to be there and enhancing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if I think about the audience and you said that it's not just these teenage boys that are gamers, what are the demographics? Just so we understand. What does that look like?
Speaker 1:So, with our own internal research, we found that we have about 40% female. Okay, and I think that that's that's higher than I would have thought. Yeah, it's so important to realize that what's different is the types of games that women tend to play versus the types of games that a male would play, right, so a female may not be playing a first-person shooter, but she may be playing a simulation game, and these are the types of differences that brands need to understand when they're jumping into the gaming ecosystem.
Speaker 2:So, for those who are listening, I think we all understand what a first-person shooter game might be. What is a simulation game?
Speaker 1:Like the Sims, oh okay. Or Krafton is coming out with a new one called Enzoi, and that one promises to be great.
Speaker 2:Interesting. Is it going to be similar to the Sims?
Speaker 1:Similar to the Sims, but with enhanced graphics, and I think that the storytelling and the role playing will be enhanced as well, and that's something that people, especially Gen Z, tend to dive into a lot more. They don't want to just watch a storyline, they want to hijack the plot. So I think that it'll be huge for that generation.
Speaker 2:I love that. And speaking of generations, so you said 18 to 34. Is that sort of the range of the types of people who are engaging and using these gaming platforms?
Speaker 1:It depends. Those are the ones that we tend to see on our platform. So we reach a really enthusiastic gamer when they're engaging with the apps and they want to help get leveled up If they're beyond play.
Speaker 2:the gaming industry is much more male dominated but it sounds like 40% are female, which is like way higher than I would have expected. But can you talk about how you've approached that and kind of breaking those barriers for yourself?
Speaker 1:Well, first you always have to find your allies right. So if you identify someone that understands your career objectives, knows you're passionate about this space and they open a door for you, I think that those are the people that you tend to stick with, and that's one of the things that I like about being a leader is that I also like to hold the door open.
Speaker 1:Someone once told me, if you get a seat at the table, kick back a chair. Yeah, oh, I love that. So I like to bring other women along with me, and I also think it helps brands to see a female out. Yeah, oh, for sure. And as somebody who I have daughters, they play.
Speaker 2:The Sims. But to your point earlier, it's just about which games should they choose to play? Yes, but it's interesting too that you noted that this generation, that you're talking about, this younger generation I guess Gen Z that they really seem to like to hijack the plot, basically to put their imprint on it. Now, does that go for both young men and young women?
Speaker 1:Yes, that seems to be generational Interesting and if you think about it, it makes sense. They grew up with Minecraft, with Fortnite, with Roblox, all places where they could have a say in how it goes Wow. So it's the choose your own adventure, that sandbox that really gets them so excited and, if you think about it, that's even how TikTok really took off in popularity, because this is the participatory generation.
Speaker 2:Yes, for sure, and it's interesting because I remember TikTok when it was Musically back in the day and what I think young women liked about it was that they could easily make this content and it was cool, like they were able to make a piece of content that was way cooler than they could on Instagram, because the editing tools were just so much better. And now Instagram and Meta are trying to really kind of catch up and push those out. But it is so interesting that this generation I think you're right that they really do like to feel like they have created something and that there is output there, and maybe for generations before them they just didn't have that capability.
Speaker 1:That's true? Yeah, that's true, and I guess you always wanted to be the CEO or something, and now you can be a CEO of something that you're so passionate about.
Speaker 2:That's really what the creator economy lets people do For sure, and it's kind of unbelievable how the barriers of entry have just gone down so significantly. It used to be so much harder to tilt up a business, and creators I mean I think creators, ultimately the good ones think of themselves as business owners. They think of themselves as entrepreneurs, that they're building an audience, that they are going to find ways to monetize that, and the tools are so strong right now in the creator economy for any of these creators to say, okay, now I've built an audience, how can I monetize this? What can I do with it? Because there's so many options for them, so many options. Do with it. Because there's so many options for them, so many options. So you have helped position Overwolf in a very competitive US market and led a charge to help brands like Slim Jim and Smuckers to really kind of dip their toe in the water of gaming and get involved in gaming. How do you go about framing gaming for brands?
Speaker 1:So if a brand is uncomfortable with gaming because it's new to them and we all have bosses right and we all have to prove what we're doing is effective, you don't necessarily have to have a gaming strategy. You just have to have an audience strategy. This is where this generation is spending the most amount of time. It's their preferred outlet for entertainment. As long as you understand that, then I think that we can help them along.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's interesting. So it's really ultimately saying look, you want a brand, you want to be where attention is, and this is where attention is. As long as you can make the case that this is where attention is and there's some brand safety things, but there's brand safety things all over social media.
Speaker 1:So what's really nice about Overwolf is that we don't necessarily have a lot of chat functionality right, so there isn't that concern. And if brands are concerned about the types of games, that we can have them focus on specific genres or we can even pull out specific titles for them, so we can make this all very palatable to anyone from the most branded safety conscious person, to someone who's really willing to just test it and see where it goes. The brave brands.
Speaker 2:Yes, so what are triggered ads and creative campaigns inside? Just so we understand it.
Speaker 1:So a moment triggered ad is when the player achieves something, and that could be any number of things. They could score a last minute win, they could help their squad. They could earn gold. They could, you know, die in the game, whatever it is, and when they respawn and this pops up kind of like a badge. So this is something that gamers are inherently used to seeing and we found really great brand lift results when we have these types of ads on the game.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's not intrusive and a lot of times brands use it to celebrate and that's really such a step further, right You're? Not just there, but you're there with me in the moment and encouraging me. And that's why you know players really love that so much. That's why brands get so much out of it. I love that.
Speaker 2:Are you able to track like brand lift from that, like what the favorability is? Yes, that's amazing and I'm assuming the favorability numbers are like off the charts.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, when you're associated with something that has, like a heightened emotional moment, brands can see up to a 70% lift in recall and favorability. Wow, okay. And If it's something tied to achievement 4X, remembering, that's amazing, it's outstanding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, certainly for ad recall. That's unbelievable. I can't even think of other channels that allow you to do that, that have that kind of multiple on the brand recall.
Speaker 1:I can't, I can't either, and what's so funny is that when you're in websites, it was always disruptive. We want to be disruptive. And the key to getting attention inside gaming is not disruption but enhancement. I love that.
Speaker 2:So you are also very committed to mentorship and opening doors for other women, or kicking back a chair, as you said, in the gaming and advertising space. Why is that important to you, and can you give some advice to the next generations of leaders who are kind of coming up right now?
Speaker 1:Sure. So it's so important because, while you might be remembered for being the first one through the door, the important thing is to hold that door open and to make sure you're not the last one through, so I like to be a trailblazer, and I have two daughters as well. I want to see them represented in boardrooms as well. So I think that that's really something I'm so passionate about. Women control 80% of the budgets in this country. We make all the decisions right. Yes, we make all of the purchase decisions.
Speaker 1:And so when we're not in the boardroom, men really don't understand, truthfully, how they should be speaking with us. So it enhances everything to have women in the room. I'd like to see more women represented in boardrooms and I would say don't wait until you feel like you're good enough. Even if you're worried, put one foot in front of the other and no one needs to know. Not every boardroom was designed for you to be there. So show up with authority and be proud to be in the moment.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, what's so interesting is that I remember in my days in corporate America that all the women especially women who had, you know, risen up the ranks, we would all kind of joke with one another that we were so worried that at some point someone was going to come up behind us, tap us on the shoulder and say we figured it out. Now You're not nearly as good as we thought you were, and it's just this thing that was with us. Yeah, you were, and it's just this thing that was with us. And I love that advice that you said just don't be afraid, just kind of put one foot in front of the other and just maybe we can use a little bit more of what men have, which is just assume you belong.
Speaker 2:Assume that you are there and you belong there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're good. You have all the skills that you need right now to lead. And women just need that encouragement. You have to find it within.
Speaker 2:I love that. So this podcast is called Women of Influence. What does influence mean to you?
Speaker 1:Does influence mean to me? It's not about the number of people that know my name but about the number of people that are in a better position because of me. Oh, my God, I love that and I really like to think that I'm helping bring other women along.
Speaker 2:Oh, my, that is. I'm going to cry. Your daughters are lucky to have you as a role model. Thank you Well, my last question, which maybe we touched on a little bit already, but if you could go back to your younger self, who was just getting started, what would you want to say to?
Speaker 1:her? That's a really great question. Of course, there are things like you know enjoy the journey, but I guess more so, believe in yourself that if you're waiting for someone else to tell you you're good enough, it's not going to happen. So know that you're good enough and you deserve the position and the role that you're in, and keep climbing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love it. Well, Amy, thank you so much for spending this time with us. I really enjoyed the conversation and I'm excited to see how you are going to help change the gaming industry for women. Thank you so much I appreciate it.
