Top 100 Women in Games: Amanda Farr

15 years ago, another woman on this Brit List – Lis Naylor – put Amanda Farr forward for a role at GT Interactive.

The company was looking for a marketing manager for their back catalogue of products. Suffice to say, Farr got the job and she has since gone on to work on franchises such as Driver, Unreal, Sonic, Aliens, Total War, Football Manager and Company of Heroes – amongst many others.

In between roles for games companies, Farr also operated her own marketing business before joining Sega, where she is currently European marketing director. Her team works with the studios

I feel like gaming hasbeen part of my life since I first played Candy Floss on the Oric when I was about 9 years old,” Farr says.

I think that was also an indication that I would ultimately work in a commercial role as it was a simulation game where you had to determine the price you wanted to charge for Candy Floss based on different scenarios – my sister and I spent hours lost in that game and it really was just lines of text.

My family had an independent games shop so I grew up immersed in the industry and loved the excitement of new games releases like Sonic 2sday and the anticipation of new hardware launches. I’m always excited about new technology and gaming is often at the forefront of that technology – to work in an industry where we deliver entertainment and fun to our customers is a privilege.

Farr is not just an expert on the games industry, however. She’s one of the most influential marketers working in games today.

I like to think that what I have always brought to the table is decisions based on data,” she adds. Data has become more available over the last five years and has helped to drive better decision making and I like to think that I have helped to adopt that quickly into the teams that I have worked with whilst ensuring that creative ideas remain at the heart.

I’m also proud tohave run my own company for five years using that love of data to work with companies to better understand their customers at a time when analytics in marketing was still quite a new concept.”

Farr says the secret to her success in games has been her willingness to learn.

I honestly think that the speed at which technology is moving means that being prepared to continue to learn, reconsider what you think that you know and be prepared to try new things is key to success,” she says.Experience is incredibly important, it helps make good judgments but a thirst for knowledge and a passion for adopting new ideas and technologies is so important.”