June 14th, 2022, 12:00 pm PT / Category: Interviews
The metaverse is here to stay. Here’s how to supercharge brand entry into this multi-billion dollar industry.
Ann Hand serves as CEO and Chairman of Super League Gaming. She brings to her current role over 25 years of experience as a market-facing executive across several industries, including consumer retail and sustainability.
As CEO and Chairman, Ann shapes and guides Super League’s growth-focused mission of building and operating multiple networks of games, monetization tools, and content channels across metaverse gaming platforms that empower developers, energize players and entertain fans. The company’s solutions provide incomparable access to an audience of players in the most significant global metaverse environments, fans of hundreds of thousands of gaming influencers, and viewers of gameplay content across major social media and digital video platforms. Ann’s proven track record in brand creation and her expertise working at the intersection of social impact and consumer trends and technology give her a unique perspective and ability to guide Super League’s path into the future. At her core, Ann is a retailer, operator, and builder of enduring strategic partnerships, brands, and cultures.
Under Ann’s leadership, Super League has developed deep knowledge and insights in open metaverse gaming platforms such as Roblox and Minecraft, as well as ad tech solutions that are currently deployed within more than 150 curated, brand-safe games in Roblox that reach more than 70 million monthly active players; measurable formats within the largest free Minecraft server host community in the world, Minehut;and dynamic home page placements across dozens of YouTube channels collectively boasting more than 65 million subscribers who are passionate about gaming entertainment.
Throughout her career, Ann has been honored with multiple awards and industry recognition, including “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” by Goldman Sachs, “Top 10 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs” by Fortune, “100 Most Creative People” by Fast Company, “40 under 40” by Advertising Age, along with Grand Clios and Cannes Lions for integrated marketing campaigns she developed and executed.
Prior to joining Super League, Ann served as CEO of Project Frog, a venture-backed firm whose mission is to democratize healthy, inspired buildings that are better, faster, greener, and more affordable than traditional alternatives. Previously, she held various senior executive positions with BP plc, including most notably Senior Vice President, Global Brand Marketing & Innovation, where she oversaw the entire brand portfolio of B2C and B2B brands, including BP, Arco, am/pm, and Aral. Before that, she ran BP’s Global Liquefied Gas Business Unit, which had $3B in annual revenue and over 3,000 employees worldwide.
Ann earned a BA in Economics from DePauw University and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, along with executive education at Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford Universities. Having spent a significant part of her career abroad in China and the UK, she holds dual US/UK citizenship but is a proud Midwesterner at heart.
