Eric Hirshberg Moves To Activision

nofi 39 Comments

Activision Blizzard has today announced that the man behind Sony’s Kevin Butler marketing campaign, Eric Hirshberg, has joined Activision Publishing as Chief Executive Officer, starting September 7, 2010.  In the role, says the press release, Hirshberg will “oversee Activision Publishing’s operational management including its studio, product development functions and consumer marketing activities.”

“It was vital to have a leader who was a dedicated gamer, inspired creative thinker, and possessed the ability to manage and lead creative talent in a manner that produced both superior products and provided superior shareholder returns,” said Activision’s Bob Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard.

“Eric is unique in this regard. There was no one we could find who possessed the unique blend of skills that Eric brings to Activision. His experience helping to develop strategies for his clients like Sony’s PlayStation, Direct TV and HTC have given him unique exposure to video games, subscription-based entertainment and the delivery of mobile content,” continued Kotick.

What does Hirshberg think gamers will feel about his move to Activision?  “I only have my perceptions as a outsider to go on,” he told Kotaku. “I think that Activision, based on the number of great gaming experiences they have delivered, should be a more beloved brand than you would think they are by reading the core-gaming blogosphere.”

So will there be an Activision “Kevin Butler”?  “Kevin Butler was the right solution for Sony,” Hirshberg said.

Update: for clarity, the article refers to the man behind Sony’s marketing campaign, not Kevin Butler, who tells us he’s not going anywhere.  “KB is still here,” he said.  “Same elves, same magic.”

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39 Comments

  1. Not sure if this leaves Sony free to carry on with Kevin Butler, and if so how they’d manage without the genius behind the awesome ad campaigns and even the Twitter feed.

    (Potentially) RIP Kevin Butler you were the best thing to ever happen to the PS3, which was a marketing balls up before you came along!

    • Pretty sure Sony “own” the KB concept lock, stock and barrel. He worked on a campaign. It’s Sony’s campaign, however.

      • Yeah, one would hope.

        Hope they still manage to keep the standard up though

    • oi i loved the Schizophrenia inducing “play beyond” and “play in our world live in yours” adverts

      and you know what CC your started to grate on me yeah i know everyone has opinions ect ect but your just so bludy objectionable its bordering on annoying :)

      • You disagree with my opinion on Sony marketing because you like them and resort to what amounts to a personal attack?

        Nice.

        I’m not saying I don’t like them, but they achieved almost zero mainstream recognition so as a marketing campaign it’d be pretty fair to say they were a balls up

      • calm down dear twas for shits and giggles, funnily enough i agree the PS3 adverts were useless i liked(to some extent) the white room adds and the oil one was ok but none of them did anything beneficial for playstation, but really is the only way to sell anything nowadays is to use super models doped up on joker gas prancing around an ikea showroom. gaming is supposed to be a fun and creative pastime(or obsession :b) and it would be good to see that reflected in the public image. now PS2 they were some brilliant adds XBOX had a couple of crackers too, but on the whole gaming in general has become something i find difficult to recognise anymore Deamon’s Souls has reignited my interest and there are plenty of attractive games coming but for the most part it feels like the loves gone out of it or maby it’s just my imagination or a microcosm of the world we live in or maby im crazy :)

  2. in other words we hired this guy to make us look less evil

    • it’s called marketing. same thing Sony needed back in 2005…

      • I didn’t say it wasn’t a smart move, just what everyone is thinking :)

    • In the same way Sony hired his marketing company to look less inept?

  3. So it will be the opposite of Kevin Butler.

    “Gaming is about giving Activision as much money as possible”
    “Can you say Law. Suit”

    • People’s automatic slating of certain publishers is getting really tiring.

      • And judging by Eric’s last sentence… he’s well aware of the public perception of his new employers.

      • come on nofi, it’s hardly undeserved in activision’s case.

  4. I take he had nothing to do with the PSP kid version of Kevin Butler or else things could go either way for his new job.. ;)

    • I presume the PSP kid is done by the same guy, because they have featured in the same ad/viral (can’t remember what it was)

  5. At first, I thought it was the actor who was moving.

  6. What was this the job title of this guy before and was he only in charge of marketing/ PR or did his role involve other tasks.

  7. Hold on…can someone explain this to me please I don’t fully understand the whole scenario

    • Basically the guy that thought up the kevin butler adverts for the PS3 in America is now working for Activision.

      • Cheers

      • Some sites made the whole situation confusing with miss leading bullshit, I see KB IS NOT going to Activision the actor is, I think I’ve learnt my lesson and will stick to TSA.

      • The actor? No. It’s the marketing guy who dreamed up KB and executed it, right down to managing the Twitter feed… In other words every single aspect of what made Kevin Butler actually Kevin Butler is gone (or will be) except fir the actor, who’s just an actor

      • Just because he came up with the concept of KB, doesnt necessarily mean he didnt have a band of writers to come up with the dialogue…I assume KB is still in safe hands ;-)

      • Hirshberg didn’t “think it up” on his own; you’re simply basing on the fact that he ran Deutsch/LA, the advertising agency behind the Kevin Butler commercials. Their other commercials, like DirecTV and HTC, are lackluster in comparison, so I don’t really think this is worth all the tabloid hysteria.

  8. ummm… Who cares? It’s just a handful of unfunny adverts that are only shown in America.

  9. So Activision are hoping he’ll work his magic and make Activision look like the good guys again. I guess we’ve got an interesting few months ahead of us, I wonder what he’ll come up with.

  10. Oh yeah another thing the actors real name is Jerry Lambert, someone screwed up bad

    • It’s not the actor, though. It’s the guy who wrote the character of Kevin Butler up.
      For example: Hideo Kojima isn’t Solid Snake’s actor.

      • Just realised lol

      • Simply because he ran Deutsch/LA doesn’t automatically make him “the guy who wrote” Kevin Butler – advertising agencies aren’t made up of one guy who does everything on his own, sheesh. They are massive organizations these days.

      • I dont think blair literally meant the guy who invented keving butler, think he was just clearing things up for dumbass danny!

      • Yeah, was just trying to make sure that people didn’t think it was the actor :)

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