Fernando Machado talks ChatGPT creativity, social gaming and awards prestige

Machado shares what he has learned, his favorite campaigns, how AI will empower creatives and how as a gamer, the metaverse doesn’t seem so new.

What's been your most memorable moments at Activision Blizzard so far?

The gaming space has a community with real fans of the products and brands. It’s unlike anything I’ve done before, and it is a very different environment. Coming to a new culture, learning how to influence the organization and how to work collaboratively with the game teams and the rest of the company to try to reform the marketing approach has been a huge challenge and learning process for me.

Last year alone, we created some memorable pieces of work. For Call of Duty Vanguard, we brought in real war photographers to create images of the game to advertise it. We then auctioned those images to raise funds for the Call of Duty Endowment, which has the objective of placing veterans in high-quality jobs.

On top of being extremely creative and reaching the desired results that we were hoping for in terms of talk ability and conversion, it was also an activity that on top of promoting a game, was aimed to do something positive.

And in a campaign close to my heart, we teamed up Call of Duty with Burger King to run a promotion where a Call of Duty meal could be bought, offering a free in-game Operator Skin. It has been an amazing journey so far where I’ve been able to learn so much and meet some amazing people to work with along the way.

What is your view on AI’s role in creativity and would you trust it to make an ad?

When you marry technology with humans it augments our ability to do things differently and be more creative faster. Sometimes people fear that it may take their place or are skeptical that AI might block creativity or replace creators. Its potential is in pairing AI with people who can personalize the power by turning it into a powerful tool that will aid creators and help creativity.

I was blown away the first time I used ChatGPT. It’s not going to hurt creativity or human craftsmanship. If we know how to use it well, we’ll be able to do things that we never thought we were able to do ourselves.

The metaverse is still a hot topic. What is your take on it?

My first contact with Metaverse was in gaming back in the early 2000s. Second Life. It was the early days but that was our version of the Metaverse. And people really got hooked on it. Gaming has evolved from you alone in your room, playing Mario to today where people play games to connect with others. And the research backs that up. The games are social whether you play World of Warcraft or Call of Duty Warzone and even Fortnite, Roblox, or Minecraft.

When I hear everyone talking about Metaverse, it doesn’t feel like such a new concept because gaming has been playing in that space for quite some time. If people want to be successful in the metaverse, start looking into gaming, and what lessons you can draw from that.

If you could fix one problem in the gaming marketing industry, what would it be?

I’d like marketers in the gaming space to understand that sometimes we can come up with ideas that go beyond just a trailer for the game. The game teams are so creative and are the epicenter of creativity for any gaming company. People have the tendency in the industry to just focus on the product. The product is creative, so you don’t need an idea to show the product.

We can do even more and even better if we expand that concept a bit. But it’s a process, in terms of creating examples, so that people can understand. That’s why I like War Photographer so much. It’s very product-centric because of the game. But there is a bigger idea. It’s not just a trailer of the game.

If you think about properties [that originated in gaming] like Arcane, Last of Us, or Halo, the companies that understand that games can transcend beyond the joystick or keyboard, will have stronger growth. If you fail to understand that you may become a niche, in terms of the games you're trying to offer to people.

What would you like to see from the entrants of The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas?

I’m always seeing work that doesn't end up entering the gaming category and maybe that's because people don't see it as advertising. And it isn’t, maybe that's why it’s so good. I wish we could see things like The Last of Us, Sonic the Movie, or Arcane because in many cases, they helped drive sales. People sometimes don’t realize that’s marketing. It can help your franchise sometimes even more so than yet another trailer.

The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas is open for entry. The deadline for entries is March 23.