Hi all,

In this thread you will get the chance to ask the brand manager from Ubisoft UK questions about how the business here in the UK is run.

Please note this is strictly for business type questions. All questions will be considered but not all will be answered.

To start off here is a quick introduction:

What exactly is your job role and how does it relate to The Tom Clancy Franchise?

My job role is to champion the Tom Clancy franchise within the UK – internally and externally.

Internally this means coordinating a well balanced Marketing campaign/timeline across all departments including Media, Trade, PR, Sales and Community through the positioning of the product, setting the objectives and managing the budget to achieve those objectives. Basically all this is honed to maximize sell in & buzz at launch to drive sell through. It is imperative that each department has the tools to achieve this and an important part of the role is to act as the go between from the head office in Paris and the UK office.

Externally the role means maximizing opportunities with partnerships and supporting departments in external activities such as road shows, event participation, retail presentations/conferences, community tournaments, guerilla marketing etc…


How did you get to where you are today? What courses do you recommend for those wishing to follow a similar career path?

My path was one of hard graft.

Although I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at 18, when I finished my A-Levels, I got a job at the 2nd Game store which opened in Birmingham in 1990. I had loved games since the age of 10 and it was jsut natural to want to work in something I loved. After 9 months as a shop floor assistant my passion & knowledge of games was noted and I became the Games Department buyer – the largest in the UK. Those were the days of Monkey Island, Turtles, Kick Off 2, Red Storm Rising, Dizzy this, Dizzy that, Master System, NES, Amstrad GX 4000 anyone, with the 16-bit machines just about to break – hugely exciting times. But the real love was to get into publishing and since then I have climbed the ladder through Merchandising, Sales and now Marketing, learning along the way within publishers including US Gold, Acclaim and now Ubisoft.

I would recommend securing a Degree at University and these days there are gaming specific degrees available but there is nothing wrong with taking this alternative route as long as you’re willing to put the hours in. In fact the experience I have under my belt from the shop floor to the heady heights of Senior Brand Manager has really set me in good stead and offered a real understanding when communicating to all levels of people about games from the consumer to the boss.



Describe a typical day at work

Always different really. No day is typical either so a difficult question to answer.

Some key activities today included…

Morning
-answer emails from Sales, Trade, Community, God, PR, EMEA.

-meeting with INTEL & PIPEX to discuss partnership at Multiplay i31 & Fuse 07, communicate this to European Brand Manager and ensure attendance by GRAW2 PC Producer

-confirm dates for meetings with Free Radical Design (Haze developers) including Sony, Trade and their attendance at EIEF

-read through an interesting Bloomberg article saying Ubisoft are basically the dogs…

-check the release schedule and that all my products dates are correct and request final confirmation on Settlers 6 release date from Paris

-read through the latest Frag Dolls newsletter / update on forum discussions


Lunch

-Chicken and Sweetcorn baguette, Cheese and onion crisp, Snicker, Cola – really healthy I know.

-Pro Evo



Afternoon

- check emails and answer answers to this mornings answers.

- update Naruto Mktg plan and budget breakdown, with the latest media plan and ensure departments have updated their parts

- arrange meeting with Marketing Director to run through Naruto and Settlers 6 media plan and get approval to book

- confirm meeting with GamerTV in a few weeks for update on what they are doing


- call Warfighters to arrange for army camo netting, ammo boxes and sand bags to go to Multiplay i31 as discussed this morning, to dress the GRAW2 PC demo stand

- request banner assets from Paris to promote the 2nd August launch of the GRAW PS3 demo on PS Store – brief media agency with budget to target PS3 gaming channels online

- check back of box including text, age ratings, specs etc… for Settlers 6 and change where applicable

- setup up internal meeting with GameStadium – a new concept for a gaming arena in Bournemouth

-Export wish us to present in a couple of weeks to their Greek distributor so confirm date and time

-Andy the sales guy needs Naruto code for Play,com meeting tomorrow so sign out

So get your questions in and once a week they will be answered and the replies will be added to this thread

-what is your role on the community side of splintercell?
-how do you get into contact with splintercell gamers?
-as brand manager, do you have influence on the direction the series takes, or is that up to the game designers/story writers?
-in hindsight, what things could have been done better with scda's marketing/distribution/positioning nd (how) will errors, if any, be corrected for scc?
-who should i contact if i want to organize a large scc tournament with prizes?

Are releasing community development tools for games (like level editors) an important decision making process at Ubisoft? Do you guys spend much time (if any) considering a release of an SDK or level editor for a game before it's release? How important are community development tools to Ubisoft in general? What are the odds of getting development tools post launch for games like Splinter Cell?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Iservealot,

1) does ubisoft read the communities suggestions
2) will we ever see a return of spy vs. merc
3) there is a new splinter cell game made every year. but even though each game has been developed for like three years, shouldn't each game be released every 2 years or more? his way we can have some time to be excited for the next game,also to give youu more time to polish the game?

1)when we are see new screns,gameplay videos Splinter Cell Conviction about 10-15 min?
2) Konami on side PS3 and take MGS4 only exclusive on PS3,and you on side X360? You take SCC only exclusive on X360 (and PC)(i wish coz i owner X360 and PC)?
3)How your love part Splinter Cell?
Wait answer

Do you know if you make a PlayStation 2 version of SCC and if you are or going to when will it come out (for the PS2 version).

lol how come are questions arent being answered?

quote:

Originally posted by kevin8998:
lol how come are questions arent being answered?

Brand Managers are usually pretty busy persons!

It was said the questions would be answered once a week. This thread was only created four days ago.

Ah patience….

what will i do for a week!!! *turns on youtube* COCOLATE RAAAAAIIINNN!!!

This is my golden opportunity ! Ok Here's the big question :

If Ubisoft is so confident and proud about Conviction's innovation, fun and quality..... then why not do away the Splinter Cell name for this game and do away with the Sam Fisher character ?
Why not start this game as a new franchise titled "Third Echelon Ghost | Conviction" ? ( SC DA's ending is open as open can be and Conviction could easily star another character from the 3rd Echelon universe )

Splinter Cell Double Agent Xbox1 could have been an honourable end. So again i ask you, Brand Manager ; Why not start a clean slate with Conviction in name, instead of milking out that trademark/copyrighted Splinter Cell name ?

quote:

Originally posted by Knot3D:
Why not start a clean slate with Conviction in name, instead of milking out that trademark/copyrighted Splinter Cell name ?

An excellent question that I would also like to know the answer to.

1.Does the fact that EA has 20-25% of voting rights change anything or might change the way things are run with splinter cell.

2. Any reason for making the multiplayer worse in Double Agent and as it looks like in less of a focus in Convictions.

what are the cinematics going to be like?gameplay engine or like a movie type kind.i like it both ways ,most of the time

If they change the name then no one would probably be intrested in it. If there is anything that the creators and those who helped with The Splinter Cell games is how to be patient.

its been a week........

quote:

Originally posted by Stealth_chill:
its been a week........

Ya i was gonna say that too...its been a week..

Did you guys not see his daily schedule?..now doing this every day for a week..probably doesn't leavve him much time to answer questions - just be patient.

is the scc going to be as laggy as splinter cell D.A mutiplayer