THQ games fills two top UK marketing positions

Videogames publisher THQ has beefed up its marketing department with two appointments as it seeks to intensify its efforts in the battle against rival publishers Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft.

It has appointed Paul Marcantonio as head of sales for the UK and Ireland and Mike Eglington as marketing manager for the UK. Marcantonio moves from rival Ubisoft, while Eglington moves from Blast where he was European marketing manager. Both appointees will report to THQ UK marketing director John Webb.

THQ is looking to ramp up its marketing activity in the increasingly competitive videogames industry, which was valued at £1.6bn in 2006 and is growing as the games sector seeks to broaden the target market.

Earlier this year it restructured its marketing department moving UK marketing chief Richard Williams to head European marketing and appointing John Webb to head UK marketing. Webb, a former Yahoo! marketer, was poached from Eidos where he was global brand director.

THQ publishes a variety of titles across children, entertainment and more conventional “shoot ’em up” categories. Titles include Finding Nemo, Disney Cars, Destroy All Humans, racing game Juiced 2 and the WWE SmackDown franchise.

The company has been increasing its marketing efforts and earlier this year struck a deal with Viacom Brand Solutions to sponsor the MTV shows Pimp My Ride and Base as it sought to boost brand awareness.

THQ is looking to gain ground on rivals, having last week reported a second-quarter loss of $7m (£3.4m) compared to a profit of $12m (£5.9m) for the same period last year.