King raids Snapchat to hire Brian Ames as ad president
Mobile games developer King has snapped up former Snapchat exec Brian Ames as its president of advertising to bolster its revenue raising powers.
Brian Ames (pictured)
Ames joins from Snapchat where he served as director of revenue product strategy and analytics where he looked to monetise the app’s sizeable audience. He will fulfill a similar remit at King, ensuring the portfolio of games, including Candy Crush, Bubble Witch and Farm Heroes, offer suitable ad products to brands.
On the whole, he will handle the entire advertising business including product, sales, marketing, strategy and operations.
Riccardo Zacconi, chief executive of King, said: “Brian is an experienced and accomplished leader, and we are thrilled to have him join King to lead our advertising business. We have one of the largest and most engaged mobile gaming networks in the world and are excited about the opportunity advertising offers. We are committed to attracting the best talent in the industry to deliver an advertising platform which not only enhances our players’ in-game experience, but also delivers significant value to advertisers.”
Ames added: “King’s portfolio of games offers one of the largest untapped opportunities for connecting marketers and consumers. I’m excited to join the King team to lead the beginning stages of monetizing one of the largest addressable audiences in the world.”
A Snap spokesperson told The Drum: "We are very excited for Brian and wish him all the best.”
King says it has 342 million monthly active users.