This Hollywood exec knows her way around a warzone
From Will and Jada to Call of Duty, Laura Mesones has deftly navigated through everything the entertainment industry could throw at her. Here are her tips for staying cool on the frontline.
Laura Mesones has taken her marketing talents all over the Los Angeles basin.
She helped lead brand strategy and inclusion efforts for NBCUniversal’s E! Entertainment. She worked on Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Shark Tank and One Day at a Time. She also worked for Meta’s Red Table Talk, hosted by Jada Pinkett-Smith. (And, yes, she was there for the show’s most notable—and controversial—moments, but you’ve heard all about those already.)
Needless to say, Mesones has seen it all and then some.
At game publisher Activision, which she joined about a year ago, Mesones took on a new mission. As director of global consumer marketing for the military action game series Call of Duty, Mesones found herself navigating rapidly evolving storylines and an endless well of new ways to connect with—how should we put it?—a very passionate fanbase. (She currently works on the Crash Bandicoot franchise.)
We asked her how someone can make their mark in gaming even if they’ve never written code in their life, and what role storytelling has in someone’s career.
Here’s what she said.
To a lot of people, “marketing” is kind of a vague term, and often confused with advertising. Tell us about something you worked on that went above and beyond, say, promoting a game trailer.
Let’s talk about the Call of Duty Warzone “Legacy” project.
One of the product managers told me it was the most complicated project he’d worked on in seven years. We were essentially celebrating Warzone's community. We did a look back at players’ highlights and their own personal “hero moments.” From that, we curated two-minute videos of the player stats and their squad mates who they played with, ending with a thank you for being a part of the community.
We had to comb through the entire Call of Duty user base. It was 125 million user-based stats! And it was a global push, so it wasn't just the U.S., so then localization with different languages came into play. It was a beast. But in the end it was really cool and different and something that had never been done with Call of Duty before.
What was the community response like?
I remember we saw one tweet from a player who was in the military, and one of the squad mates who appeared in his video had passed. They thought it was a great way of honoring him: “This is such a cool memory, that we did this together.” That was an amazing, incredibly touching moment.
It can be hard to please such a big and diverse community. Wins like that must feel extra special.
There's such a sense of ownership here, across the board: community, employees, developers, anybody involved with any part of Call of Duty. There's this pride in being a part of it that I think is really cool. I also love seeing it expand to broader culture—like seeing a Ghost pendant in a Cardi B music video, or seeing Ghost memes organically pop up on Instagram or TikTok. There's a lot of sincere love for the brand.
During your time at Meta, you worked on Red Table Talk with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. What was that experience like?
The whole idea of that show was centered around vulnerability, realness, and real talk. Red Table Talk was produced by Jada and Will's production company, Westbrook, so they were very hands-on with a lot of it. Yes, I was there during the Oscars incident. I will say, they hired really smart, capable people and you had to be on top of your game. You had to ensure everything was done with thoughtfulness, and there was a real need for collaboration and communication. A lot of cross-functional quarterbacking.
I was there for the “entanglements” episode, and then the Will episode with Jada about their marriage. There was just a lot of really interesting stuff. But Red Table Talk did make a point to really look at different, multi-generational perspectives. It really focused on speaking your truth and having a little bit more of that kind of understanding.
My hero moment was their Emmy win. As long as Red Table Talk had been around, it had been nominated, but it never won. So this was a really cool moment. Even [Meta CEO] Mark Zuckerberg nodded to it in one of our all-company updates. That was really neat.
If someone is interested in a career in gaming, the first thing they should do is…
Be thoughtful and do your homework. Regardless of where you’re starting, when you’re exploring a new business, industry, or the media, the first thing you need to do is to understand it. What has it done? How has it evolved? Where is it headed? Just as important is having the self-awareness to understand your own strengths, areas of development, experience, “wins,” and contributions. Then ask yourself, “Do I add value?”
This will help you craft your story. It will also help you determine the transferable skills that are not just desirable but needed for the business you’re interested in. Be proactive about connecting the dots—it will set you apart. Change can be tough in a fast-growing industry. The first year can have its moments of imposter syndrome and doubt with a new environment and new people. But fostering a sense of ownership using your experience, perspective, and value with the clarity of your company’s long-term plan will keep you focused and centered.
Reach out. Talk to everyone. Observe, listen, and learn. As you’re collecting information, talk to everyone who can share honest insight. Ask people who have experience with the company or in the industry. Tap into friends, mentors, colleagues who know you and your strengths—they support your growth, career, and wellbeing, and that can help you understand whether it would be a good fit or a good next step. Gather all the information and evaluate it.
And finally…just go for it. “You don’t ask, you don’t get.” Don’t be afraid of rejection—sometimes we can hesitate in reaching for a goal or aspiration when we doubt our “readiness,” experience, or competence. If you’re sincerely interested in something, do your homework, prepare, and just go for it. Explore it, take the step, and open the conversation.
What is something you now know about the gaming industry that you wish you knew at the start?
There’s a need for constant innovation as the industry continues to expand and develop, so you have to get used to the pace of adoption. New ideas take a village and require buy-in from everyone. A good idea can be too early or too late, and that could hurt its chances, even if it’s innovative. You have to find that “sweet spot.”
What skills do you think are essential for being successful in this industry?
Agility. The only consistent thing in this industry is change. Gaming is one of the most exciting industries because of how culture, entertainment, and technological advancement shape it and its future at scale. I had a boss who would tell me brands need to “innovate or die” and that remains a constant truth.
What are some common misconceptions you find when talking to people about your job?
That the gamer audience is one-dimensional. Gamers are much more diverse than some may think, and the total audience is growing. It will be increasingly important to create diverse and representative marketing to land authenticity.