Anzu Blog

Anzu’s Caroline Manson On Life In London, Lara Croft, And The Power Of Gaming In Forging Social Connections

Written by Anzu | Mar 7, 2023 3:26:18 PM

Anzu boasts some amazing talent from around the world, with employees stretching across Tel Aviv, London, Turkey, Berlin, and the US. It’s easy to see a company as the sum of its parts. Still, it’s important to remember that behind the numbers, headlines, logos, and flashy showreels sit some incredible individuals working towards the shared goal of reaching every gamer on the planet, fuelled by a passion for all things video games!

To shine a light on some of these stars, we’ll be interviewing several Anzu employees to understand what they get up to, what drives them to come to work in the morning, and of course, what games they like to play. In this post, we caught up with Caroline, Anzu’s fantastic Marketing Director.

Who are you, and what do you do at Anzu?

I’m Caroline, and I’m the Marketing Director here at Anzu.

How would you describe your role to people outside your field?

Simply put, my job is to let the world know about Anzu. I work very closely with the rest of the marketing team to coordinate both our day-to-day and major activities — whether it’s entering for awards, attending/sponsoring and speaking at events, hosting webinars, or big PR announcements.


Where in the world are you based, and what’s the most interesting thing happening within the industry within your region?

I’m based in London 🇬🇧, but my role is global. Within the UK, I’m really excited about the growing interest in gaming. People are definitely starting to recognize what a great opportunity gaming is to reach engaged audiences that may be difficult to find through more conventional media like CTV and social media. Since joining Anzu, people are still commenting that “gaming is a great place to be”, and it’s brilliant to see that it's starting to get the airtime it deserves. Long may it continue!

Anzu is growing at an exciting rate. How long have you been with the company, and what changes have you seen happen during your time there?

I joined Anzu on November 22, 2021, so I’ve been at Anzu for over a year now and the time has flown by! Since then, we’ve added many more people to the company (including the UK office, where the numbers have doubled), and our product keeps developing to get bigger and better than ever. Our recent patent is a great (and very exciting!) example of that.

Having good relationships with my co-workers is really important, so I am very fortunate I got to take part in the company's first off-site in Israel in June 2022. It was great to finally meet a lot of my colleagues from abroad face-to-face, so I’m definitely looking forward to the next time and I’m genuinely excited to see what's coming next. 


If you had to compare yourself to a game character, who would it be and why?

Growing up, I’d say I was a bit of a Lara Croft. I’m a Brit, I loved running around exploring and discovering things… That said, I don’t think I can claim that's me anymore (especially as I’d never voluntarily put myself in the sort of danger she does)!

With over 3B players worldwide, video games are becoming more and more central to many of our lives. Why do you think this is and what makes them so appealing?

There are many reasons, but a big one is the social aspect of gaming. When you think of games back in the early ‘00s (or even earlier), they were often either a solo adventure game or a local multiplayer game with up to four people (depending on how many controllers and how much room on the sofa you had!) Now, the internet and emerging platforms like the metaverse have changed all that — people can play games and socialize with their friends from anywhere in the world across any platform. You can even make friends with people you might never meet in person but have that gaming connection in common.

What makes Anzu different from other places you’ve worked?

I’d say the culture is unlike anywhere else. I’ve worked for “global” companies before, but Anzu is the first company I’d call truly global, where I’ve learned so much about other traditions and cultures. Our HR team does a great job of making everyone feel valued throughout the year, celebrating holidays, and having great initiatives for each company-wide meeting to help us get to know each other and our cultures better.

What gets you most excited about the company’s future?

I genuinely love Anzu’s product, so I’m excited to be part of its success. Plus, if massive companies like WPP, Sony Innovation Fund, HTC, NBCUniversal, Samsung, and others see where we’re going and want a piece of the action, then who am I to argue with them?!

 

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