Dunaway shares disappointment with E3 showing

Nintendo of America's 'queen of marketing', EVP Cammie Dunaway, shared Nintendo's collective disappointment with their showing at E3, the annual electronics and entertainment show turned 'business summit'.

"We were disappointed with our performance at E3," Dunaway told VGChartz. "There were titles like [Wario Land: Shake It!] which we think will be really fun titles that we should have showcased."

Perhaps the most exciting announcement to come out of the conference—the revelation of a Pikmin sequel—had to be pried out of celebrated developer Shigeru Miyamoto at a developer roundtable.

"We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming," Dunaway added. "It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage. But, we think it was a good recognition for us that we care for our core fans, and not just the new people who are now discovering Nintendo."

It's interesting that the game developer was the one to announce (or let slip) the news about the game, and not Marketing. Dunaway's comment sounds more like a cover-up for the slip.


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Cammie Dunaway

Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing - Nintendo of America

Cammie Dunaway is responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada and Latin America, filling the position vacated when Fils-Aime was promoted to his current positions in May 2006.

Dunaway has more than 20 years of marketing and sales experience, most recently as chief marketing officer for Yahoo!, where she was responsible for leading Yahoo!'s worldwide branding efforts and driving the company's product-marketing initiatives.

"Cammie Dunaway is the perfect choice to drive the next phase of Nintendo's business," Fils-Aime says. "She is a tremendous leader and will help continue momentum behind both Wii and Nintendo DS."

"Being able to further shape a leading brand like Nintendo is a tremendous opportunity," Dunaway says. "I'm looking forward to building on Nintendo's industry-defining reputation as a disruptor, as the company continues to prove that everyone's a gamer."

Dunaway oversaw Yahoo!'s tremendously successful 10-year anniversary campaign, which earned a 2006 Gold Reggie Award from the Promotional Marketing Association. She was named one of the 100 Top Marketers by Advertising Age and led Yahoo! to widespread industry recognition, including Clio Awards, Obie Awards, the Promo PRO Awards and the DMA Marketer of the Year Award for 2006. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Dunaway spent 13 years at Frito-Lay, supervising prominent brands.

Dunaway holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Richmond and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She serves on the board of directors of Brunswick, Inc. She is also on the board of Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley, and was recently elected by her peers to the board of the American Marketing Association.

NY Times:
Until last week, Ms. Dunaway, 45, had been chief marketing officer at Yahoo in Sunnyvale, Calif., which she joined in 2003. Before that, she spent 13 years at the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo, overseeing brands like Doritos and Lay’s.

“I’ve heard Nintendo say that everyone is a gamer,” Ms. Dunaway said yesterday in a telephone interview, adding that her experience in marketing the Yahoo Web site as a mainstream portal “will prove helpful as we seek to make gaming relevant whether you’re 5 or 95.”

Particularly with the success of the new Wii console, Ms. Dunaway said, Nintendo has helped prove “that video games are not a niche market” dominated by boys and young men.

“My 8-year-old son plays with it,” she added, “and my 76-year-old mom is using Wii for the bowling game.”

Still, Ms. Dunaway said, “there are still a lot of people to be converted” to the habit of playing video games.

Nintendo of America is to formally announce today the decision to hire Ms. Dunaway. She will be based in a Silicon Valley office that the company is opening in Redwood Shores, Calif. Nintendo of America is based in Redmond, Wash.

Part of the sales and marketing team with which Ms. Dunaway will work will be in an office in New York.

In leaving Yahoo, Ms. Dunaway joined a lengthening list of senior managers who have been seeking the exits as Yahoo seeks to reverse a financial slump. At Yahoo, Allen Olivo, vice president for global brand marketing, is assuming her duties for the time being.

Ms. Dunaway said her departure from Yahoo was unrelated to the changes that company has been undergoing.

“It was not a decision to leave Yahoo,” Ms. Dunaway said, “it was really a decision to join Nintendo.”





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