Former Rovio marketing director joins flaregames

Former Rovio marketing director Marja Konttinen has joined German-based mobile games publisher flaregames as its new head of brand management.

The mobile publisher has recently released Zombie Gunship Survival and Nonstop Chuck Norris, and it is hoped that Konttinen’s expertise in brand partnerships and major released will help the company’s expansion of brands.

“Marja’s experience in working on billion-dollar mobile IPs and growing them beyond gaming is invaluable to flaregames right now,” said flaregames marketing director, Mickael Bougis. “Not only has she the experience and skillset to bring our intellectual properties to the next level, Marja is also a visionary in promoting diversity in our industry and making new talents emerge.”

Konttinen has worked with many major brands while at Rovio, whose Angry Birds franchise caught the eye of Samsung, NASA and 20th Century Fox, to name a few. In between roles, Konttinen founded a visual automation start-up in her native Finland called VAU and was chief marketing officer for educational gaming start-up, Lightneer.

“flaregames has built such a diverse portfolio in a short amount of time, and that’s testament to both the in-house collective skillset and the world-class developers behind the games,” said Konttinen. “I was initially drawn to the marketing team’s philosophy of backing up creative decisions by research and numbers, and I’m excited to further build on this mindset. It’s an exciting moment for the company right now and I can’t wait to kick off the many brand expansion exercises we have in the works!”