Reggie Fils-Aimé
Reggie Fils-Aimé | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | President of Nintendo of America |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced; long-term girlfriend Stacey Sanner |
Reginald "Reggie" Fils-Aime (IPA pronunciation: 'fiː.zəˌmeɪ) (born March 1961) is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America, the North American division of Japan-based video game company Nintendo.[1] Prior to his promotion to President and Chief Operating Officer, Fils-Aime was was Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Fils-Aime came into prominence in May 2004 when he was selected to play host to Nintendo's press conference at E³ and opened the presentation with "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass. I'm about taking names, and we're about making games." His opening words heralded a new era for Nintendo and the rest of the video game industry, playfully dubbed the "Reggilution" and calling him the "Regginator."[2]
Biography
Reggie Fils-Aime was born to Haitian immigrants who moved the United States due to the conflicting political views of Fils-Aime's grandparents.[3] He graduated from Cornell University in 1983, earning a Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics.
Early career
After receiving his degree, Fils-Aime took a position with Procter & Gamble. Following that, he took a position as Senior Director of National Marketing at Pizza Hut, where he launched the Bigfoot Pizza and The Big New Yorker.
Fils-Aime has served as the Head of Marketing for Guinness in the United States and was responsible for all brands. He also worked as Chief Marketing Officer at Derby Cycle Corporation, directing sales and marketing efforts for eight brands. Fils-Aime served as Managing Director and oversaw Derby's British operations.
He then joined the world's Chinese food service leader, Panda Management Co., acting as Senior Vice President. Later, he came on board to VH1 as Senior Vice President. He was responsible for a 30% increase in ratings by refocusing the channel's content to appeal to younger viewers.
Nintendo
Fils-Aime joined Nintendo in December 2003 as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
On May 25, 2006 Fils-Aime became the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America after former president, Tatsumi Kimishima, was moved to his new role as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Fils-Aime is the first American to hold this position.
Fils-Aime shot to fame in May 2004 with the opening line of Nintendo's E³ press conference: "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games." His theatrical antics gained a cult following soon after, when following the conference, many images of him spread across the Web. Reggie is considered by some to be responsible for revamping Nintendo's public relations in North America, leading many fans and members of the press to dub his arrival the "Reggielution" (after "Revolution", the code name for the Wii).[4]
He has attributed the success of the Wii to a marketing strategy laid out by Clayton Christensen:
First, how do you satisfy the core while still expanding appeal? And second, how do you leverage your strengths against entirely untapped audiences--to the so-called "blue oceans" in popular marketing speak? ... Provide a new product that actually underperforms on an established industry metric for "progress," and substitute an alternative that typically is smaller, less expensive and easier to use. Initially, the "core" of any industry will scoff. But if the product is right, enough new users will be attracted to form an alternative definition for progress.[5]
Personal life
Fils-Aime was previously married, and divorced. Fils-Aime is the father of three children, one currently in college at Duke University. The other two live in Florida. He has a long-term girlfriend, Stacey Sanner, whom he met at his previous career at VH1. They live in a condo on the Eastside of Seattle.[2]
Awards
- Clio Award
- AICP award for Advertising Excellence
- Silver Edison from the American Marketing Institute
- 2 Gold EFFIEs from the New York American Marketing Association
- Named one of the "Marketing 100" by Advertising Age in 1998
References
- ^ Nintendo Reggie Fils-Aime promoted to COO of Nintendo of America
- ^ a b Peterson, Kim. "Putting Nintendo back in the game". The Seattle Times.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Reggie Interviewed By San Jose Mercury News kotaku.com. Retrieved on April 2006.
- ^ Lin, John. Meet a Gamer - Reggie Fils-Aime
- ^ Perspective: Nintendo on the latest 'technical divide'
External links
- Reggie Who?, from FastCompany.com, a corporate look at what Fils-Aime adds to Nintendo.
- Surfing The Blue Ocean: Fils-Aime On Nintendo's Expanding Market, from Gamasutra (February 9, 2006)
- The Nintendo Reggie-Lution, from IGN (May 13, 2004)
- GameCube Advanced outdated biography
- San Jose Mercury News GDC 2007 Interview
- N'Gai Croal's Level Up GDC 2007 Interview Part 1
- N'Gai Croal's Level Up GDC 2007 Interview Part 2