Justin Kenna is CEO of GameSquare Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded international esports and gaming company that connects top global brands with GameSquare’s portfolio of media agencies, esports organizations, and content studios.

Subscribe to EOFire

Apple | Spotify | iHeart

Guest Resources

Game Square – Helps brands and esports play together.

Justin’s Email – Reach out to Justin.

Justin’s LinkedIn – Connect to Justin on LinkedIn.

3 Value Bombs

1) Have a ruthless pursuit of short term goals. Set short term goals that are measurable and achievable and hit them consistently and over and over and that opens up all sorts of powers to be successful.

2) There is no perfect formula for success. Each people is unique and they have their own powers but there is a common theme for people. There is no substitute for hardwork, technical skills and sacrifice.

3) The creator economy is really the consumer economy of the future.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: Acquisitions, Rebrands & Accessing Youth Culture.

[1:12] – Justin shares something that he believes about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

Have a ruthless pursuit of short term goals. Set short term goals that are measurable and achievable and hit them consistently and over and over and that opens up all sorts of powers to be successful.
There is no perfect formula for success. Each people is unique and they have their own powers but there is a common theme for people. There is no substitute for hardwork, technical skills and sacrifice.

[3:09] – Justin talks about Generational Z, how to access them and other Hard-to-Reach Audiences.

It is a huge audience especially in the gaming industry. 3 billion people play online but in reality, they are really fragmented and they consume media in different ways through different platforms that is why they are difficult to reach.
It is also an opportunity because they help publishers and brands to connect to this audience by coming up with innovative ways authentically and organically to understand the audience.

[5:41] – Justin talks how he Rebrand post Acquisition when he led GameSquare’s acquisition of FaZe Clan.

They are a publicly trading gaming company and it is a challenging market. They have been in acquisition for 3 years now. They are specific in bringing in creative assets to what they are building like the connectivity, the branding and publishing that connects to the audience.
They acquired Faze Clan before it went public for $14M stock and they cleaned it up. He brought the founders back in to lead the way and recruited a number of new talents. The fan engagement was back that is important from a business perspective.
His goal is to build the brand’s health first before he monetized it because it’s a lot easy to monetize when you take care of the brand first.

[10:49] – A timeout to thank our sponsors!

HubSpot: When you combine the power of Marketing Hub and Content Hub, you can have your best quarter, every quarter. Visit Hubspot.com/marketers to learn more!
NetSuite: Over 41,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite, by Oracle – THE number one cloud E.R.P. Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at NetSuite.com/fire!
Optimize: To chat with JLD about Optimizing your life, click here: EOFire.com/optimize.

[12:59] – Justin talks about Leadership through Innovation and what it means.

Its an exciting time for the gaming space. Covid highlighted Esportsand the evolution of streaming. Gaming is at the forefront and allowed traditional brands to spend budget in traditional sports.
It’s a new growing industry with growing pains and so with that are correction and consolidation in the market but it has a lot of opportunity.
They set up a business which is agnostic to game and they are not tied to any one game which is relevant.
Bringing in the right people and setting them up for success and putting trust to them makes them do great innovative stuff.
They drive the audience to their game. An example is Fortnite, from a game into a platform.
Leadership through innovation is building real life experiences that make the digital world alive.
Its understanding youor role, bringing the right people and skills set that you don’t have and giving them the freedom to succeed.
They build a world class team across their business who are the best creators in the space.

[17:34] – Justin talks about cryptogaming.

There’s a lot of development in the space for the last 2 years. The smart move is blockchain gaming with high growth and higher quality.
There’s more evolution of digital items and it has been a big driver of what happens in games.
The key is how to reach the audience at mass and connecting to the right audience to participate in that space.

[19:25] – Justin talks about his plans to navigate both the unknown and exciting Future.

The beauty of GameSquare is it is not only one theme but is agnostic and is able to move with trends.
They have young employees who help drive the strategy in the business.
They build their business in a way that they live in the internet and understand it. Media marketing, technology partners to blockchain gaming developers and conferences in Tokyo and they partnered with huge creators and other brands.
There will be a lot of acquisitions and organic growth in the next couple of years and it will be about landing and expanding.
NFL Superbowl will expand, there will be a next generation media partners creating custom gaming content that crosses over the traditional sports and entertainment.
We will continue to see opportunities for brands and creating experiences for them to organically meet their audience to where they are.

[23:16] – Justin gives his key take away.

Its growing. If you are a brand and you are not thinking to connect with new forms of media, you will be behind.
The evolution of products will be created by new celebrities.
The creator economy is really the consumer economy of the future.
The gaming economy is all going north, don’t be behind it.

[24:34] – Call to action.

Game Square – Helps brands and esports play together.
Justin’s Email – Reach out to Justin.
Justin’s LinkedIn – Connect to Justin on LinkedIn.

[27:43] – Thank you to our Sponsors!

HubSpot: When you combine the power of Marketing Hub and Content Hub, you can have your best quarter, every quarter. Visit Hubspot.com/marketers to learn more!
NetSuite: Over 41,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite, by Oracle – THE number one cloud E.R.P. Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at NetSuite.com/fire!

Killer Resources!

1) The Common Path to Uncommon Success: JLD’s 1st traditionally published book! Over 3000 interviews with the world’s most successful Entrepreneurs compiled into a 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment!

2) Free Podcast Course: Learn from JLD how to create and launch your podcast!

3) Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 podcasting community in the world!