Mischler Accepts Lifetime Achievement Award

Mike Mischler, who began his career producing promos for KSL-TV Salt Lake City then rose to marketing management positions at CBS-TV and CBS Television Distribution, received Promax BDA’s Lifetime Achievement Award Thursday.

Mishler, who retired as EVP marketing for CBS’s domestic syndication division in April, choked up once or twice as he recounted an episode that, in a matter of minutes, confirmed what he has cherished most about his career.

Sitting in a restaurant nine months ago, Mischler noticed a nearby diner staring at him. After a few minutes the diner approached and told Mischler that in 1991, he’d spent a couple of hours in Mischler’s office at Television City, getting the marketing chief’s advice.

Mischler listened while the man, who’d been a college student in 1991, described “an incredible career as a film director.”

“I got into this business because of you,” the man told Mischler.

Mischler, whose following in the industry became clear after the awards ceremony, when he spent 20 minutes getting his photo taken with former colleagues and fans, told the audience: “It’s about the people we learn from, the people we influence. It’s about recognizing creativity in a writer or director. It’s working with people you love or loathe, always with the goal of achieving the best marketing product.

“To be supportive of the creative process, even when the idea wasn’t right and to get your team back on track and to realize your colleague’s ideas are better than yours,” Mischler continued.

“To know what you don’t know. That’s the key to becoming a great marketer.”