Listen First, Pitch Later: Building Gaming Partnerships in Automotive - Anthony Cliquot, AirConsole EP24

Under The Hood: Automotive Storytelling

🎮 WHEN STORYTELLING MEETS GAMING & AUTOMOTIVE

In this captivating episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Anthony Cliquot, CEO of AirConsole, to explore how listening first became the foundation for transforming vehicles into social entertainment hubs and building partnerships with BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, and Audi.

🎯 KEY INSIGHTS

Tech Meets Tradition: The Cultural Bridge

Anthony reveals how he convinced traditional automotive engineers to embrace gaming by telling a universal story about childhood car games – creating emotional resonance across procurement, engineering, and product teams in Japan, Germany, the US, and France.

The Experience-First Strategy

Discover how AirConsole solved the in-car gaming challenge by treating the car as a unique device rather than an "iPad on wheels" – integrating smartphones as controllers, leveraging immersive sound, and even syncing ambient lighting with gameplay to create memories, not just features.

The Autonomous Future: Passengers Over Drivers

Learn why the shift from driver-centric to passenger-centric experiences will redefine brand differentiation in the next decade, and how OEMs can own their entertainment ecosystem before big tech companies dominate their screens.

💡 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS

• Listen Before You Pitch: Understand what your audience wants AND needs to hear before crafting your narrative – AirConsole's automotive pivot succeeded because OEMs told them the story first
• Lead With Emotion, Not Features: Create consistent stories about memories and experiences that resonate universally rather than drowning stakeholders in technical specifications
• Solve Experience, Not Technology: Build seamless user experiences that feel effortless – the hardest problems to solve become your most valuable differentiators
• Think Beyond Your Industry: When multiple customers from a new vertical knock on your door with the same story, listen deeply and evaluate the pull versus push dynamic

🌟 ABOUT YOUR GUIDE

Anthony Cliquot brings experience spanning financial services, consumer tech, and automotive innovation. Starting at Credit Suisse where he pioneered big data projects for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, he became a serial entrepreneur founding companies including Autodrop before leading AirConsole's remarkable pivot into the automotive industry. As CEO of AirConsole, he secured partnerships with BMW (launching in 18 months – "one of the fastest products we've launched"), Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche, while partnering with gaming giants like Mattel (Uno) and Hot Wheels. His passion lies in creating meaningful experiences that turn technology into stories people remember.

Ready to discover the stories behind the steering wheel?
#UnderTheHood #AutomotiveStorytelling #InCarGaming #AirConsole #AutomotiveInnovation #SDV #CustomerExperience #B2BStorytelling

"Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" – Where technology meets narrative, and mobility's future is told through visionary voices.

"Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" uncovers the human narratives driving innovation in an industry that impacts lives worldwide. Hosted by Stéphane Lagresle, this podcast explores how the power of storytelling ultimately connects technology to humans.