Episode 112: Former SEGA Europe Marketing Director Giles Thomas

The Dreamcast Junkyard DreamPod

In this episode of the DreamPod, regular hosts Tom and Andrew are joined by former SEGA Europe Marketing Director Giles Thomas. During his time at SEGA Europe, Giles oversaw the European launch of the Dreamcast after effectively being headhunted by SEGA from his role at MTV.

In this episode Giles explains how he was pursuaded to join SEGA, his vision for the European TV advertising campaigns, meeting the SEGA Japan hierarchy, being grilled by Anne 'Weakest Link' Robinson on the BBC's consumer affairs show Watchdog, the European Dreamcast launch event, the influence of Sony's PlayStation, Robbie Williams, blue swirls, PAL game cases, how the delay of the European launch affected sales of the console, SEGA Europe's relationship with the US and Japanese arms of the business, and also what - if anything - he would have done differently if given the chance to launch the Dreamcast all over again.
Huge thanks to Giles for joining us to chat about all things Dreamcast. Giles now runs the branding consultancy MIMO Brands, who work with many of the most well-known companies around, so we really appreciate the time he took out to speak with us.

Looking for more Dreamcast Junkyard goodness? You can check out our blog, join our community on Discord, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also donate to help us with hosting costs using Buy Me A coffee. Thanks!
More from DCJY:

• The Top 200 Dreamcast Games (2023)
• The Top 25 Dreamcast Indie Games (2024)

The outro music from episode 114 onwards was created by our friend Pizza Hotline! You can stream or purchase Pizza Hotline's latest album "Level Select" on all major music platforms by clicking here.