marketing

Local TV marketers are navigating new territory so far in 2020, one few could have seen coming.  How did they respond? Fourteen local TV creative services directors shared  their thoughts and 42 examples of their stations’ marketing in the five-part  series, The New Us: Local TV Marketing In 2020.

The marketing business is going through a period of innovation as it sheds workers and tries to hold on to clients. Above: A Chipotle ad was shot in Idaho at “a fraction of what a full-blown production would have cost,” according to its chief marketing officer.

From Hamilton (duh) to obscure Polish erotica (wha?), Netflix, Disney+ and others are finding that creating an on-platform hit is more about viral momentum.

Linda Yaccarino, the chairman of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, is calling for “radical transformation” of the marketing business in the face of cultural change around racism and the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The call comes a week after the Association of National Advertisers made proposals to transform the advertising business, including the timing of the upfront.

Another top executive at Quibi has left the fledgling streamer: Megan Imbres, head of brand and content marketing, is leaving the company after a year in the role. Imbres, whose exit comes two weeks after Quibi’s April 6 launch, oversaw creative development for all of the short-form streaming service’s brand and content marketing executions, including its Super Bowl LIV ad.

I wanted to know how a TV station’s creative services/marketing department could function when each member of its staff had to work from home. I know this is how things are being done now, but I couldn’t imagine how it is accomplished. So I reached out to a couple of station marketing directors to hear how they were managing working from home. In addition, I asked each if they would allow their staff to pen a few lines about their experiences working from home.

Local broadcasters are coming together across markets, groups and even competitors to inform and reassure viewers during the pandemic.

The global trade organization ramps up efforts to keep entertainment marketers connected during the pandemic.

CBS EVP Marketing Anne O’Grady is leaving after more than three decades at the network. Her last day is today. O’Grady’s departure is believed to be her decision and not part of the recent second round of layoffs at the newly re-merged ViacomCBS. It comes amid a changing of the guard in CBS’ marketing department.

The Tegna marketing expert is tapped to oversee audience and brand development at the group’s Indianapolis NBC affiliate.

Mike Benson will succeed George Schweitzer as the head of marketing at CBS, a transition that will see Schweitzer, who has been with CBS since 1972, take on the role of chairman of marketing at CBS and transition in the spring into an adviser to the company.