| Reginald Fils-Aime | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 25, 1961 United States |
| Occupation | President and COO of Nintendo of America |
| Children | 3[1] |
Reginald "Reggie" Fils-Aime ( /ˈfiːsɛmeɪ/ feess-em-ay; March 25, 1961) is President and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, the North American division of the Japan-based video game company Nintendo.[2][3] Prior to his promotion to President and Chief Operating Officer, Fils-Aime was Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He gained celebrity status among gamers following his appearance at Nintendo's May 2004 E3 press conference.[4]
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Reggie Fils-Aime was born to Haitian immigrants, who moved to the United States due to the conflicting political views of Fils-Aime's grandparents.[5] He graduated from Brentwood High School and was accepted to Cornell University in 1979.[6] While at Cornell, he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa. He earned a Bachelor of Science in applied economics in 1983.
After receiving his degree, Fils-Aime took a position with Procter & Gamble. Following that, he took a position as Senior Director of National Marketing at Pizza Hut, where he launched the Bigfoot Pizza and The Big New Yorker.
Fils-Aime has served as the Head of Marketing for Guinness in the United States and was responsible for all brands. He also worked as Chief Marketing Officer at Derby Cycle Corporation, directing sales and marketing efforts for eight brands. Fils-Aime served as Managing Director and oversaw Raleigh U.K., Derby's British operations just six months in 1999.
He then joined the world's Chinese food service leader, Panda Management Co., acting as Senior Vice President. Later, he came on board to VH1 as Senior Vice President. He was responsible for a 30% increase in ratings by refocusing the channel's content to appeal to younger viewers.
Fils-Aime joined Nintendo in December 2003 as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. On May 25, 2006 Fils-Aime became the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America after former president, Tatsumi Kimishima, was moved to his new role as Chairman of the Board and chief executive officer. Fils-Aime is the first American to hold this position.
Fils-Aime shot to fame in May 2004 with the opening line of Nintendo's E3 press conference: "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games." His theatrical antics, flying in the face of Nintendo's long-standing "kiddie" image, gained a cult following soon after, with many gamers calling him the "Regginator".[4] Following the conference, many images of him spread across the Web. Reggie is considered to be responsible for revamping Nintendo's public relations in North America, leading many fans and members of the press to dub his arrival the "Reggielution" (after "Revolution", the code name for the Wii).[7] He has attributed the success of the Wii to a marketing strategy laid out by Clayton Christensen:
First, how do you satisfy the core while still expanding appeal? And second, how do you leverage your strengths against entirely untapped audiences--to the so-called "blue oceans" in popular marketing speak? ... Provide a new product that actually underperforms on an established industry metric for "progress," and substitute an alternative that typically is smaller, less expensive and easier to use. Initially, the "core" of any industry will scoff. But if the product is right, enough new users will be attracted to form an alternative definition for progress.[8]
In July 2007, during the Nintendo E3 2007 Media and Business Summit press conference, Fils-Aime was called upon the stage to demonstrate the Wii Fit. Before stepping onto the balance board, he proclaimed "My body is ready,"[9] a phrase that spawned an internet meme.
On November 5, 2007, at the encouragement of marketing professor Ed McLaughlin in the department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, Fils-Aime gave a guest lecture on Nintendo's marketing strategy targeted at gamers across a spectrum of demographics. Fils-Aime is a member of the Advisory Council for Cornell's Communication department.
Fils-Aime was previously married and divorced. Fils-Aime is the father of three children. He has a longtime girlfriend, Stacey Sanner, whom he met at his previous career at VH1.[4]