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Last April, Activision Blizzard hired former Restaurant Brands International Chief Marketing Officer Fernando Machado to spice up marketing efforts as the gaming giant competed in an increasingly competitive market with COVID lockdowns spiking an interest in gaming.
But roughly four months into the job as CMO, Machado is confronted with a challenge of a much different kind: helping to restore consumer trust in a company whose reputation has been hurt by an internal scandal. The largest independent U.S. game maker, known for popular games like "Call of Duty," "World of Warcraft" and "Candy Crush," has been shaken by a sexual harassment lawsuit, which has led to an employee strike, calls for a boycott online, shareholders suing the brand for withholding information and the exit of two executives: J. Allen Brack, the head of Blizzard, who was singled out in the California suit for enabling sexual misconduct, and Jesse Meschuk, head of human resources at Blizzard.
As CMO, Machado will be called on to help reposition the brand in the minds of consumers, which will not be an easy feat.
Not to mention brands. As of last Friday, major sponsors had begun pumping the...