Reggie Fils Aimé

Early life

Reggie Fils-Aimé was born to Haitian immigrants, who immigrated to the United States due to the conflicting political views of his grandparents. He was born in the Bronx and graduated from Brentwood High School in Suffolk County, Long Island and was accepted to Cornell University in 1979. While at Cornell, he was president of the school's Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity chapter. He earned a Bachelor of Science in applied economics in 1983.

Career

After receiving his degree, Fils-Aimé took a position with Procter & Gamble. Following that, he took a position as Senior Director of National Marketing at Pizza Hut, where he launched the Bigfoot Pizza and The Big New Yorker.

Fils-Aimé has served as the Head of Marketing for Guinness in the United States and was responsible for all brands. He also worked as Chief Marketing Officer at Derby Cycle, directing sales and marketing efforts for eight brands. Fils-Aimé served as Managing Director and oversaw Raleigh U.K., Derby's British operations for six months in 1999.

He then joined the Chinese food company Panda Management Co. acting as Senior Vice President. Later, he came on board to VH1 as Senior Vice President. He was responsible for a 30% increase in ratings by refocusing the channel's content to appeal to younger viewers.

Nintendo

Fils-Aimé joined Nintendo in December 2003 as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Nintendo in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. On May 25, 2006, Fils-Aimé became the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America after former president, Tatsumi Kimishima, was moved to his new role as Chairman of the Board and chief executive officer. Fils-Aimé was the first American to hold this position.

Fils-Aimé shot to fame in May 2004 with the opening line of Nintendo's E3 press conference: "My name is Reggie. I'm about kickin' ass, I'm about takin' names, and we're about makin' games." His theatrical antics, flying in the face of Nintendo's long-standing "kiddie" image, gained a cult following soon after, with many gamers calling him the "Regginator". Following the conference, many images of him spread across the Web. Reggie is considered to be responsible for revamping Nintendo's public relations in North America, leading many fans and members of the press to dub his arrival the "Reggielution" (after "Revolution", the code name for the Wii). He has attributed the success of the Wii to a marketing strategy laid out by Clayton Christensen:

On July 11, 2007, while introducing the Wii Balance Board, Fils-Aimé walked up onto the stage and stated “My body…My body is ready.” This quotation would eventually become a meme and Reggie acknowledged the phrase several times, including the E3 2012 conference and his appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

On November 5, 2007, at the encouragement of marketing professor Ed McLaughlin in the department of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, Fils-Aimé gave a guest lecture on Nintendo's marketing strategy targeted at gamers across a spectrum of demographics. Fils-Aimé is a member of the Advisory Council for Cornell's Communication department.

In 2016 and early 2017, Fils-Aimé was featured in two episodes of Deadlock, on the Game Theorists web show, debating about various Nintendo-related topics.

Personal life

Fils-Aimé is married to Stacey Sanner, his longtime girlfriend whom he met in his previous position at VH1. He has three children from a previous marriage. As of 2006 he lives on the Eastside of Seattle.

Awards