==To access the full presentation click here http://insight.proximagroup.com/proxima-helps-activision-blizzard-achieve-sourcing-success == The video game industry is global, dynamic and ever changing. Developing and marketing of a video game on a worldwide scale can be an expensive proposition. Engaging the right partners and suppliers is crucial for success. No one knows this better than Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s largest and most successful video game developers known for franchises like Call of Duty and Guitar Hero. With pressure to control costs mounting, Activision Blizzard turned to Proxima in 2012 to better manage costs, supplier and partner relationships and sourcing efforts more efficiently. And in just over a year, the partnership yielded significant savings to the business. Activision Blizzard’s Bertrand Leroux, CIO and Head of Global Strategic Sourcing and Proxima’s John Mathew, Client Services Leader, jointly discuss the drivers behind the Activision Blizzard’s sourcing success. In this presentation you will learn: * Hear lessons learned from building a sourcing function in a highly creative no-mandate environment * Understand how the sourcing organization has enabled rather than hindered success * Learn what the wider business impact has been on Activision Blizzard

1. www.proximagroup.com
Proxima helps
Activision Blizzard
create value and
achieve sourcing
success
Bertrand Leroux, Activision Blizzard
John Mathew, Proxima
© Proxima 2013. All rights reserved.

2. www.proximagroup.com
About Activision Blizzard
The company Activision Blizzard is a leading publisher of video games and a
distributor of interactive entertainment
Revenue $4 billion+ in Calendar 2012
Employees 7,000+
Ticker “ATVI”
Did you know? Call of Duty has been one of the most significant entertainment
events of each of the last six years. Call of Duty Black Ops 2 grossed
$1b in worldwide retail sales in 15 days"
Total sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide
box office receipts for “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars” – the two
most successful movie franchises of all time
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3. www.proximagroup.com
Proxima / Activision engagement
Engagement
scope
Activision Blizzard selected Proxima in 2012 under a multi-year
engagement to provide:
• Strategic sourcing
• On site change management
• Category expertise
• Sourcing administration support for indirect spend
Major areas of
indirect spend
• Marketing
• Video production
• Media
• POS
• HR
• Information technology
• Professional services
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Aims: What will you get from this session
Hear lessons learned from building a sourcing function in a
highly creative no-mandate environment
Understand how the sourcing organization has enabled
rather than hindered success
Learn what the wider business impact has been on
Activision Blizzard
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5. www.proximagroup.com
Environment before transformation
1. Spend/ categories influenced was small
2. Responsibility for sourcing sat with
managers along with day job
1. No systematic approach to reap
innovation from suppliers
2. Little involvement in business planning
led to increases
1. Inappropriate suppliers used for
operationally critical services
2. Inability to ensure supplier delivered
contracted business outcomes and savings
1. Limited spend data visibility and
analytics
2. Lack of information in place to track and
trap requirements
Commercial
Measurement/Control
Technology Innovation
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6. www.proximagroup.com
Drivers for sourcing transformation
1. Evolution of gaming industry and price
points require quicker reaction time
2. Digital impact on gaming business
3. Integration commitments
1. Cost management a key aspect of culture
2. Improve supplier costs and service levels
3. Free up valuable resources in
Marketing, IT and HR to focus back to core
functions
1. Management saw significant opportunities
for improvement, in both financial and non-
financial terms
1. In order to maximize value, company
adopted a centralized structure
2. Management recognized collaboration
with stakeholders as key to long term success
External pressures
Opportunity
Organization impact Internal pressures
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7. www.proximagroup.com
2013
2014+
2012
• Sourcing viewed as a trusted
business partner aligned with
BU success
• Protection and enhancement of
the reduced cost base
• Openly seeking innovation from
suppliers
• Professional category
management approach through
engaging sourcing
• Suppliers become allies
Activision Blizzard target state
Extending sourcing’s
influence:
Into new categories
Across geographic
borders
Across business units
Across functions
• Significant savings
delivered and taken
to the bottom line
• Balance of power
shifted from
suppliers to
Activision Blizzard
• Sourcing activity devolved
across business units
• Undertaken in an inconsistent
manner
• Limited efforts to consolidate or
leverage spend
• Loss of value
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8. www.proximagroup.com
To view how the challenge was
answered and the results
click here
© Proxima 2013. All rights reserved.