Dentsu welcomes Brent Koning as EVP, Global Gaming Lead
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Former Electronic Arts (EA) executive to accelerate dentsu’ gaming offerings through strategic investment, partnerships and integrated growth solutions
Dentsu today announced the appointment of Brent Koning as Executive Vice President, Global Gaming Lead. The role will see Koning lead all aspects of dentsu gaming and integrate capabilities across dentsu to deliver interconnected brand experiences that fuels clients’ growth. In addition, Koning will lead strategic investments, partnerships and innovation to help brands capture the attention of more than 3 billion gamers around the world.
Koning joins dentsu with two decades of experience in the gaming, entertainment and esports industry. In his recent tenure with EA as VP of Esports, Koning managed a global portfolio comprised of EA SPORTS FC (formerly EA SPORTS FIFA), Apex Legends, and MADDEN NFL Football. Notably, Koning and his team successfully launched the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series in 2017 and grew its participants to more than 20 million players across 60 nations. Prior to EA, Koning held leadership positions at Ncompass International, Microsoft and Roundhouse overseeing various aspects of advertising, product marketing, account management, events and partnerships.
“Brent has a unique portfolio in the gaming industry. Not only has he partnered with some of the world’s biggest publishers in EA and Xbox, he also has valuable experience working with global brands and delivering marketing solutions. I’m thrilled Brent is joining the dentsu family to accelerate the existing success of dentsu gaming which brings decades of gaming expertise from Japan to the rest of the world, and helping our clients engage with their audience beyond traditional media channels,” said Masaya Nakamura, Chief Integrated Solutions Officer, dentsu.
“Gaming is evolving at lightning speed with innovation and technology expediting consumer adoption. I’m excited to be on a journey with dentsu to create, enhance and invest in authentic gaming experiences for our clients in publishing, creator worlds and esports,” said Brent Koning, EVP of Global Gaming Lead, dentsu.
Launched in 2021, dentsu gaming brings together extensive gaming heritage and expertise from dentsu Japan and capabilities across the global network for brands seeking to connect with and navigate the gaming ecosystem. As the race for attention and loyalty continues at pace, dentsu gaming provides brands with access to specialist strategy, activation and original intellectual property development in this high growth sector. Dentsu recently launched exclusive gaming data and insights capabilities through the fusion of the dentsu Consumer Connection System (CCS) research panel data with specialist gaming data from GWI across 21 markets. A 42-page report was released to help brands explore six unique gaming archetypes by understanding their behaviours and motivations on and offline to forge more differentiating interactions with gamers.
“Creating new value and sustainable growth for our clients is a key pillar to our one dentsu future. Dentsu gaming is truly an integrated growth solution. By bringing together innovations, capabilities and expertise across our network and that from our partners, we will unlock never seen before opportunities for our clients,” adds Nakamura.
Press contact
Cherry Ye
Communications Director, Solutions, dentsu
+44 7773665907 / cherry.ye1@dentsu.com
About dentsu international
Part of Dentsu Group, Dentsu International is a network designed for what’s next, helping clients predict and plan for disruptive future opportunities and create new paths to growth in the sustainable economy. Dentsu delivers people-focused solutions and services to drive better business and societal outcomes. This is delivered through five global leadership brands - Carat, Dentsu Creative, dentsu X, iProspect and Merkle, each with deep specialisms.
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