Expert Voices: Zynga’s VP of Brand Sales & Partnerships shares how mobile gaming connects brands to consumers

Headshot of Gabrielle Heyman with the text

As part of tms’ Expert Voices series – showcasing industry leaders’ insights on the evolving loyalty and partnerships landscape – we sat down with Gabrielle Heyman, VP of Brand Sales and Partnerships at Zynga. 

Hosted by Craig Heiter, Associate Director of Engagement Strategy at tms, the conversation explored how mobile gaming has become one of the most powerful platforms for brands to connect with consumers. 

Gabrielle shares how Zynga’s decentralized studio model, deep audience insights, and innovative ad formats – like playable mini-games and interactive videos – are helping brands advertise to Millennial and Gen X consumers. Throughout the interview, Gabrielle dispels common misconceptions – such as “men make up the majority of gamers”, or “advertisements disrupt users’ experiences”. 

One of the biggest misconceptions that I hear brands say is ‘don’t interrupt the gamer. That might be true in a $70 console title where somebody’s paying a lot of money to play this game, but you want to remember that mobile gaming is free to play, so the advertising model is very well establishedin exchange for getting this free to play game, you’re going to see ads.

Gabrielle Heyman
VP of Brand Sales and Partnerships at Zynga

The conversation further dove into Zynga’s strategy to stay ahead of the competition, best practices to engage with brand partners, and additional tactics to better target key audiences.  

Watch the full interview to hear more of Gabrielle’s expert insights.