Interview with Coo of Ea
J A N UA RY 2 013
b u s i n e s s
t e c h n o l o g y
o f f i c e
Getting into your customers’ heads: An interview with the COO of Electronic Arts Labels
The success of Electronic Arts—known for games such as Battlefield, Madden, and The Sims—once hinged on managing relationships with retailers. Today, with online gaming on the rise, the company is learning how to use technology to get closer to the gamers themselves.
Krish Krishnakanthan
Gaming-platform innovations have opened up a whole new world of offerings in the interactive-entertainment industry over the last five years. The barriers for entry have come down, and small game developers can get their products in front of large audiences almost instantaneously through digital channels. Whereas Electronic Arts (EA) used to play against peers operating in a retail setting, it now must also master new platforms such as social networks, mobile phones, and tablets. In this interview, Bryan Neider, COO of EA Labels, talks about his company’s digital transformation, technology as an enabler of customer insights, and the role of the CIO.
McKinsey: What was the starting point of EA’s digital transformation? Bryan Neider: When John Riccitiello became CEO in 2007, he presented a vision to his senior-leadership team that showed our business through the analogy of a burning platform. You’re in the middle of the ocean on an oil platform that is on fire; your options are to hold fast and ride it down or jump off and face the unknowns of the ocean. John was anticipating the fundamental shift in our industry away from the packaged-goods model that made us successful and toward the digital delivery of games made possible by greater bandwidth and connected devices. It was a shift that, at the time, we were fundamentally unprepared for.
Yvetta Fedorova
2
Takeaways
Communication and collaboration are critical to success, says Bryan Neider of Electronic Arts, particularly when the environment is
b u s i n e s s
t e c h n o l o g y
o f f i c e
Getting into your customers’ heads: An interview with the COO of Electronic Arts Labels
The success of Electronic Arts—known for games such as Battlefield, Madden, and The Sims—once hinged on managing relationships with retailers. Today, with online gaming on the rise, the company is learning how to use technology to get closer to the gamers themselves.
Krish Krishnakanthan
Gaming-platform innovations have opened up a whole new world of offerings in the interactive-entertainment industry over the last five years. The barriers for entry have come down, and small game developers can get their products in front of large audiences almost instantaneously through digital channels. Whereas Electronic Arts (EA) used to play against peers operating in a retail setting, it now must also master new platforms such as social networks, mobile phones, and tablets. In this interview, Bryan Neider, COO of EA Labels, talks about his company’s digital transformation, technology as an enabler of customer insights, and the role of the CIO.
McKinsey: What was the starting point of EA’s digital transformation? Bryan Neider: When John Riccitiello became CEO in 2007, he presented a vision to his senior-leadership team that showed our business through the analogy of a burning platform. You’re in the middle of the ocean on an oil platform that is on fire; your options are to hold fast and ride it down or jump off and face the unknowns of the ocean. John was anticipating the fundamental shift in our industry away from the packaged-goods model that made us successful and toward the digital delivery of games made possible by greater bandwidth and connected devices. It was a shift that, at the time, we were fundamentally unprepared for.
Yvetta Fedorova
2
Takeaways
Communication and collaboration are critical to success, says Bryan Neider of Electronic Arts, particularly when the environment is