BillMyParents Inc., an online payments company, said Thursday that the former marketing executive of the publisher of the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty video games is now running its own marketing operations.
Evan Jones is serving as the San Diego company's vice president of marketing and has been working with BillMyParents' management team all year to develop campaigns to drive awareness of its Spend Smart prepaid card.
In addition to the MasterCard Inc.-branded prepaid card, which is promoted by skateboarding star Rob Dyrdek, BillMyParents sells a payments system to online merchants that allows kids to click a button next to items they want to buy, sending a message to their parents to approve or deny a purchase.
"We are about to launch parent-focused campaigns that will complement what we have already done in the teen demographic," Jones said in a press release. "Responsible spending habits need to be a two-way conversation between parents and teens, which is why we have worked so hard to develop the right messages and have aligned ourselves with best-in-class agencies to spike awareness and buzz."
Jones previously was the vice president of global marketing at Activision Blizzard Inc., a Santa Monica, Calif., video game publisher whose titles include Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, Tony Hawk and World of Warcraft. He also held positions at DC Shoes, a subsidiary of apparel maker Quiksilver Inc., and at Nike Inc.
