Twitch names APAC head of marketing to position for regional domination

Twitch has named Sandeep Suvarna head of marketing in Asia Pacific, amidst its expansion in the region. In his new role, Suvarna (pictured) will oversee Twitch’s marketing strategies for Asia Pacific audiences, and will build and implement marketing campaigns in the region.

According to Twitch, his appointment forms a critical part of a wave of new hires in Singapore, to grow the local Twitch community and improve the service for all content creators, media partners, agencies, advertisers, publishers, and developers across the Asia Pacific region. 

Suvarna has over 15 years of marketing experience across brands such as FOX Networks, LinkedIn and Yahoo!, where he was responsible for launching new markets in Asia Pacific, brand marketing, consumer growth and retention. He was most recently VP marketing APAC - digital streaming services at FOX Networks Group. During his time there, he launched FOX+ across key markets in the region and led teams responsible for brand, product marketing, digital marketing, growth, PR and analytics. Suvarna's appointment also coincides with another addition to the marketing team, marketing specialist Amy Potter, who will be based out of Australia.

Suvarna said Twitch is redefining the way it thinks about entertainment and provides a point of connection for Millennials and members of Generation Z who visit the service to socialise with communities of like-minded individuals and creators. "I am excited to be working in this rapidly-growing region, and to engage with the burgeoning Twitch community in Asia Pacific,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sunita Kaur, the company's senior VP, APAC, said Suvarna's expertise in marketing comes at a crucial juncture as Twitch expands its operations in Asia Pacific.

“Twitch has helped connect people from across communities, markets, and regions. Seeking shared experiences - some that may normally be realised in real life - more people have discovered Twitch to be a place where they can interact with communities and entertainment. With Suvarna on board, we look forward to broadening our services, and showcasing both our gaming and growing non-gaming content, to a greater number of users across the region," she added.

Kaur joined the team as its first Asia Pacific MD in February from Spotify, to focus on supporting the growth of the Twitch community to benefit content creators, media partners, agencies, advertisers, publishers, and developers in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. She was previously with Spotify for more than six years, first joining as MD of Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Amazon recently rebranded Twitch Prime to Prime Gaming, allowing members to access free, exclusive content every month. Prime Gaming is included with Prime memberships and Prime Video subscriptions in over 200 countries and territories. Twitch Prime first launched in 2016 and includes a monthly Twitch channel subscription. Larry Plotnick, general manager of Prime Gaming, said Prime members already get the best of TV, movies, and music, and now it is expanding its entertainment offerings to include the best of gaming.

“We’re giving customers new content that makes playing their favorite games on every platform even better. So no matter what kind of games you love, and no matter where you play them, they’ll be even better with Prime Gaming," he added.

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