Brands In Play
Welcome to Brands in Play - The podcast where we explore immersive marketing and the people who are leading it.
Episodes
65 episodes
Brands Are Spending in the Wrong Places
What happens when attention moves… but brand budgets don't?This week, Nic Hill and Morgan Pomish sit down with Zoe Soon, Head of Creator and Gaming at the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Zoe unpacks why outdated assumptions abo...
IGN Entertainment Generations In Play Audience Report
This week on Brands In Play, Nic Hill sits down with Karl Stewart, SVP of Worldwide Marketing and Head of IMAGINE AI at IGN Entertainment, Tate Fiebing, Senior Director of Business Intelligence at IGN, and Brent Koning, Global Head of Gaming at...
Roblox Explains the Controversial Ad Revenue Share
Episode 63 of Brands In Play goes straight to the source.Recorded live at World Builders Summit, Nic Hill and Brandon Iverson sit down with Roblox leaders Julie Piskin and Nick McLachlan for one of the clearest conversations yet on wher...
AI Is The Product. Infrastructure Is The Moat
In Episode 62 of Brands In Play Lee Kebler and Nic Hill are joined by Cathy Hackl, CEO & Founder of Future Dynamics and Futurist in Residence at Nokia. Cathy reframes the entire AI conversation away from models and toward netwo...
UGC Platforms Are Dying, Alcohol Brands Are Panicking, and Meta Just Made Its Move
On Episode 61 of Brands In Play Nic sits down with Sara Apaza, Digital Brand Experience Manager at Cosnova, to unpack how Essence built one of the most effective beauty activations on Roblox with Kingdom of Essentia.Sara breaks down the...
What Do Karl Lagerfeld and Paris Hilton Have in Common With Your Brand Strategy?
Episode 60 of Brands In Play features a conversation with Mirjam Schuele, SVP of Marketing at Karl Lagerfeld, joining Nic Hill, Val Vacante and Gigi Casimiro to break down how one of fashion’s most iconic brands is navigating innovation. From e...
The Era of Extreme Disruption
Episode 59 of Brands In Play features an in-depth conversation with Charlie Fink, one of the earliest voices shaping the XR and metaverse space. Nic and Val unpack decades of perspective across immersive tech cycles, from early VR waves to toda...
Live from SXSW: The Future of Play Panel
Episode 58 of Brands In Play was recorded live at SXSW, with Nic Hill on stage alongside Val Vacante, who hosting a panel on the future of play featuring Chris Down (EVP, Chief Design & Innovation Officer at Mattel) and Mitchel Berger Execu...
Barbie, Hot Wheels and the Future of Play
Episode 57 of Brands In Play was recorded live at SXSW at the Red Thread X House, with Val Vacante joining Nic Hill on stage for a conversation with Chris Down, EVP and Chief Design & Innovation Officer at Mattel. Chris broke down how Matte...
The Human Questions Defining SXSW 2026
This week, Nic Hill is joined by special March co-host Val Vacante for a conversation with Katie Pereira, Director of Conference Strategy at SXSW. The interview explores the ideas shaping SXSW 2026, with a focus on AI and human connection, the ...
Engagement Is Not What You Think!
Nic Hill and Aida Andersson are live this week in LA and they’re joined by Brian Ryerson, Senior Director, Digital Strategy at the USTA for a deep dive into how the US Open thinks about immersive platforms as more than a one-off activation.&nbs...
The #1 Biggest Mistake Brands Make in Fortnite (And What To Do Instead)
This week on the show, Nic Hill and Aida Andersson sit down with Matthew Zanazzo for a deep dive into the state of advertising inside Fortnite and the broader UGC gaming ecosystem.Matthew, founder of Catalyst Studios, former Head of For...
How Will Sports Marketing Survive an Aging Audience?
This week on the show, Aida Andersson and Nic Hill sit down with Joe Farren (Future Sport Co.), an award-winning sports innovation consultant who’s helped top sports brands translate immersive tech into real fan and commercial value. In the int...
The Death of the "Impression": Why Interruption Advertising is Failing
This week on the show, Nic Hill and Aida Andersson sit down with Morgan Pomish, Senior Vice President, Head of Innovative Experiences at Digitas North America. We get into how strategy falls apart when brands start with “we need to be in gaming...
It Took 3 Years to Convince the Execs... How Sam's Club Finally Cracked Roblox
This week on the show, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are joined by Leslie Shepard, Lead of Partnerships and Growth Marketing at Sam’s Club.In this conversation, Leslie breaks down how Sam’s Club thinks about gaming as an upper funnel gr...
Stop Targeting Millennials! Why Your Marketing Data is Completely Useless
It's EPISODE 50! Before anything else, thank you to everyone who’s been listening, watching, sharing, and building with us along the way. What started as a conversation has turned into a weekly ritual, and we don’t take that for granted. Your s...
Why "Living Stories" Are the Only Way to Sell
Episode 49 of Brands In Play is here and this week Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are joined by Charlie Melcher, founder of Melcher Media and The Future of Storytelling, and author of The Future of Storytelling. In the interview, Charl...
Is The Metaverse Finally Over? (Our Boldest Bets for 2026)
Brands In Play kicks off 2026 with a predictions episode. Nic Hill and Albane Prioux center the conversation around three questions brands are already grappling with:• Where people will spend time playing and socializing• Which mone...
UNBOXING Podcast | Rebroadcast
This week on Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are officially off for the holidays, so Episode 47 is a little different: we’re rebroadcasting one of our favourite podcasts, UNBOXING: Play and Profit for the Gaming Curious. Hosted by ga...
Who ACTUALLY Won Immersive Marketing in 2025?
This week’s episode is a different one: For our final show of 2025, Albane Prioux and Nic Hill press pause on the news cycle and pull together the big ideas that shaped a year of immersive marketing on Brands In Play. No guests, no real-time re...
IGN Exec: "Stop Treating Gen Z Gamers Like Millennials!"
This week on Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux sit down with Karl Stewart, SVP of Marketing & Head of the Imagine AI platform at IGN, to unpack how 30 years of gaming data is reshaping brand strategy: from Batman, Tomb Raider and M...
Why IRL Networking is the Secret Recipe for Unlocking Innovation
[NEW EPISODE ALERT] Episode 44 of Brands In Play Nic Hill and Albane Prioux are joined by Joe Condon, founder of SEG3, where we dig into how sports, entertainment, and gaming collide around next-gen fan experiences. Joe walks throu...
The Hidden Friction in Virtual Shopping (and How to Fix It)
[NEW EPISODE ALERT] This week on Brands In Play, Albane Prioux and Nic Hill unpack immersive holiday commerce in 2025. They cover everything from Target’s Alpine store makeovers and Walmart’s ambient-room shopping, to Amazon’s 3D “...
How Mattel Turned a 50-Year-Old Toy Into a Digital Juggernaut
[NEW EPISODE ALERT] This week on Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux sit down with Ron Friedman, VP of Mattel Future Lab. Ron outlines how Future Lab approaches innovation at scale: how Hot Wheels, Barbie, and Monster High a...
"Don't Try and Sell Them Sh*t!": The Ultimate Rule for Marketing to Gamers
[NEW EPISODE ALERT] This week on Brands In Play, Nic Hill and Albane Prioux sit down with Matt Kidd and Lex Alexander from GETREKT Labs. They've carved out a rare niche, building tools, formats, mini-games, and interactive overlays...
