Kiip poaches Zynga's global brand advertising head Manny Anekal as new COO

US real world rewards network Kiip has demonstrated its ambition appointing ex-Zynga global director of brand advertising Manny Anekal as its COO.

Anekal also previously headed up global ad operations at EA, and worked at in-game advertising startup Massive, which was acquired by Microsoft.

At Zynga, he led brand integration and advertising efforts with consumer brands in games such as FarmVille and CityVille.

Give and take

"2012 has proven to be a banner year for Kiip and it's only February," said CEO and co-founder Brian Wong.

"Manny is a world-class operator and networker whose deep understanding of brands helped him pioneer a different category of advertising for Zynga, while driving massive revenue growth.

"Manny's philosophy at Zynga was reciprocity, giving back to the consumer, building a deeper engagement and that's what Kiip is all about."

"Kiip is undeniably one of the world's most innovative companies with a great story to tell - it's also sitting at the epicenter of three burgeoning markets: mobile, gaming, and advertising," added Anekal.

"It's taken an angle I've never seen any company tackle with such prowess, and the growth opportunity is absolutely massive. I'm excited to help it take this to the next level."