EA’s first move in their drive to put Players First was capitalisation. Satisfied they’d conveyed the appropriate sense of import and urgency, their next was to hire on Chris Bruzzo as chief marketing officer.
Bruzzo is credited as the man who planted Starbucks’ hooks in social media – but when asked to list his greatest achievements, recalls “leading the cold-pressed vegetable and fruit juice revolution”. For which he will one day be tried at the Hague, obviously.
Bruzzo will lead an organisation within EA that combines marketing, communications, and “web and digital service”.
At Starbucks, Bruzzo oversaw record-setting Facebook and Twitter growth, as well as the Your Starbucks Idea program, which crowdsourced improvements to the coffee chain’s service. Before that, he was an executive at Amazon.
“In the past year, EA has embarked on a transformation to put our player relationships at the center of everything we do,” said CEO Andrew Wilson. “Partnering with our development and technology teams, Chris will ensure we are delivering personal and meaningful experiences for players every time they connect with us and play an EA game.”
Wilson was sure to mention Bruzzo’s games cred, too: he was a fan of Escape from Rungistan and Ultima in the early ‘80s, apparently, and a Peggle tactician. Yes, that’s a thing.
How do you think Bruzzo might go about repairing EA’s damaged relationship with the public?
Ta, Polygon.