Passion and knowledge are a differentiating factor

A past in cultural and entertainment publishing, a present in the video game sector. “All of my experiences have always been linked in some way to the world of entertainment, and Nintendo was the perfect match between professional experiences gained and personal passions in the world of video games and entertainment in general,” says Stefano Calcagni, Marketing Manager for Italy at Nintendo.

The marketing approach can change a lot from company to company. “At Nintendo, European marketing adopts a very strategic approach, in constant contact with Japan. At the Italian branch level, starting from these macro strategies at a European level, we work more vertically in the definition of local strategies and their application on the territory. All with a paranoid attention to detail and analysis, especially numerical and target," the alumnus points out.

To conduct analyses of this type, his Master in Marketing and Communication from SDA Bocconi was fundamental, "not only for the indisputable consolidated method of the Bocconi business school, but also because coming from a more 'humanistic' university it helped me to quickly complete my academic career. Furthermore, it allowed me to get in touch with lots of different companies and to prepare myself to some extent for the first complexities of even international organizations," underlines Calcagni.

The videogame sector is highly professionalized, both from the point of view of development areas and from the point of view of marketing and sales. “One of the main advantages is that of content. We work closely with valuable but at the same time entertaining content, which is part of the daily lives of millions of people and which creates and strengthens relationships and networking. However, it is a very time-consuming job,” admits the manager.

The skills needed to work in the video game industry are highly variable and depend on the area of ​​interest. “In the development field it is very important to already have basic skills and have worked on your own projects. Otherwise there are several schools and universities that have dedicated courses, but it would be ideal to already know how to get your hands dirty to be more attractive during the selection phase. For all other divisions the same training as for other product categories is necessary. A passion and knowledge of the world of video games can prove to be a differentiating factor compared to other more standard profiles," says Calcagni.