Activision's Goldstein is a Brand Gamer

Brandweek,  Oct 30, 2000  by Todd Wasserman

Tags: Activision Inc., brand

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Separating the wheat from the chaff was tough in biblical times, but try working a software licensing deal these days. That's the responsibility of Greg Goldstein, who was hired as vp-brand development for software gamer Activision a few months back.

Goldstein's responsibilities include finding new properties to put under the Activision banner.

"From a brand development point of view, we have to figure out how we can acquire properties that are not flash in the pans and aren't fads but are brands," he said. "At the end of the day, only a small number of titles become brands. Star Trek is a brand. Is Pokemon? It's hard to tell, since longevity is a big part of the picture."

With titles under the Star Trek, Toy Story X-Men and A Bug's Life brands, Activision knows the benefits of turning a successful entertainment property into a best-selling game. On the strength of its stable of titles, Activision's sales grew 71% last year, compared to the overall market, which rose 23%, per NPD Intellect, Port Washington, N.Y.

Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Activision hired Goldstein for the newly created position to expand that portfolio. He said the best way to do that successfully is to earn a reputation for making quality games. "The trick is to make the best possible games and present yourself to the brand owner as the best possible partner," said Goldstein.

A graduate of SUNY Binghamton, N.Y., with a Master's from Columbia, Goldstein formerly served as vp-licensing and product development at Inkworks, Raleigh, N.C., where he launched brands under the James Bond, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Men in Black brands. Before that, Goldstein worked at Topps where he marketed Star Wars, X-Files, Batman and Jurassic Park titles, and held management titles at Baseball Update magazine and IBM.

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