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Client Situation
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The Executive Vice President and President of Network Sales were seeking a change agent to assume leadership and enhance revenue efficacy across the TV Networks’ sales offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and Chicago.
Filcro Media Staffing was first charged with New York and asked to identify a Vice President and Director of national advertising sales. This case history profiles the identification, recruitment and attraction of the Vice President that took place, subsequent to Filcro Media Staffing recruiting the new Director of National Advertising Sales, also for the East Coast Region..
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Solution
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Based on Filcro Media Staffing’s prior experience recruiting for each individual media platform and also for integrated TV Network media platform executives, Tony Filson as Officer in Charge of Search opted to start with digital revenue goals associated with each channel / or multiplex channel for the Networks and initiate universe compilation based on the revenue objectives of the Network EVP of Sales.
Tony Filson directed Filcro Media Staffing’s recruitment research to break down New York markets based on the advertising agency and direct client spends across the business and industry verticals relevant to the demographics of each of the Networks’ channels associated with each digital platform.
Combining these agency and direct client numbers offered many challenges as in some instances mobile and online numbers were integrated as were TV / Digital ad spend dollars that sometimes overlapped with OTA, MSO and Satellite. Some dollars were also stripped out of Network On-Air spend. Deriving social networking numbers “as drivers” was also a challenge as many of these metrics were in non-rated environments. There was also a shared revenue component where TV Network and Digital Ad Sales competed for the same dollars.
Tony Filson opted to look at the new VP as a player coach and separate the numbers accordingly to coincide with the Network sales budget and Network revenue goals while maintaining weighting towards genre and revenue gaps the EVP wanted to fill from an agency and direct client perspective. As the East Coast Region was the largest from a revenue perspective, we also alloted for a tier of candidates who were just coaches, if the EVP opted to weight the search accordingly.
As the firm had also been retained to recruit in Los Angeles and Chicago we opted to identify the New York Director of National Advertising Sales first and Filcro Media Staffing brought forward an exceptional Director that represented “substantial revenue”, a strong “cultural match” with a noted history of building esprit de corps.
Based on the proximity of the firm’s executive offices, the advertising agencies and the higher expectations of revenue budgets from New York, this was logical and proved to be highly effective from a process perspective even if we had to relocate the National Ad Sales Director to New York. The EVP appreciated the fact that the firm did not miss this opportunity and seized the moment.
Monetization was no doubt Filcro Media Staffing’s primary focus here but the Vice President also needed to build an esprit de corps that would require immediate attention. The Director could not do it alone. The EVP made it clear that the work environment should be one that attracts sales professional based on a positive reputation in the industry that rewards success. Soft skills here would be paramount.
With the multitude of B2B, B2C & C2C offerings we needed a Vice President who could hit the ground running as they would have to hire additional staff as Sales Managers, Directors, National Account Executives and Sales Support staff once initial budgets were met.
With so many opportunities for traditional digital ad sales and sponsorship revenue for the TV Network and Digital tentpole events it was essential that this Vice President of Digital Sales was able to recognize opportunities that most advertising sales executives would not capitalize on based on the need to establish strategic partnerships with senior level executives at the advertising agencies and direct with clients on the CMO level. This Digital Sales VP would need to create opportunities and work cohesively with TV Ad Sales in a manner that benefited On-Air and On-Line budgets in a reciprocal manner.
VP’s as player / coaches in each geographic (East / West / Midwest) Vice Presidents in this firm have to work with ideation, RFP response, traffic, inventory, sales budgets, training, sales planning, upfronts and research resources that all needed to be utilized and constantly optimized based on market conditions.
The internal relationships could be complex with TV, Motion Picture, Music, Radio, Entertainment and other sister companies that could offer revenue opportunities. The Vice President in New York had to understand the importance of building solid relationships so each platform, ad agency, client and the consumer were involved in seamless assimilation and dissemination of everything required to drive a successful world class sales organizations’ business goals.
One concern of Tony Filson was the optimal mix of clients and agencies to support the diverse offerings of the TV Networks and not overlap with the current Director and Account Executives. As examples: CPG, QSR, Automotive, Beverage, Adult Beverage, Travel, Apparel, Entertainment, Footwear, Telecom, Electronic, Financial, Big Box and Gaming would lean towards specific genres and in some instances, day parts and rotations with different media contacts at each agency.
The Digital music offerings had their own challenges too and would no doubt offer individual challenges and advantages. The broad mix of entertainment, music, movies, scripted series, special events and curated content had be packaged and presented to optimize revenue. Finding an executive with the right agency and client mix, without conflicts, would be essential.
Filcro Media Staffing’s recruitment experience directly related to this search was the catalyst in bringing the search to fruition. The firm completed the search ahead of the proposed schedule and the EVP was very pleased.
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The New
Vice President
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The new East Coast Vice President of TV Network National Digital Advertising Sales recruited by Filcro Media Staffing was hired by the EVP from an initial pool of 42 candidates, placed into 3 tiers, with 3 candidates ultimately making it into the first tier based on 18 variables.
With 20 years of combined media sales work experience the new Vice President was a well honed advertising sales executive with exceptional leadership skills and a rain maker by any standards in the industry. He was much more of a coach than a player coach.
Tony Filson as officer in charge of the search had recruited other executives from the same firm in the past and was drawn to the environment knowing the O&D charting of the sales organization, culture and budgets. This was a distinct advantage for the EVP and the Network in meeting the firms’ deadlines. Filcro Media Staffing had no conflict of interest nor was the new Vice President employed at a firm that had retained Filcro Media Staffing within the past year.
Most currently the new Vice President worked for one the largest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world and his client / agency roster was a perfect match as was the revenue he managed to meet the TV Network Digital revenue goals for the East Coast.
Coming from a multi-billion dollar media and entertainment brand the firm’s EVP and the new Vice President had a great deal in common with their revenue expectations and the process to accomplish their revenue goals. There was a tactical and strategic meeting of the minds that would form a strong foundation to exceed budget expectations the first year. The two firm’s corporate cultures could not have been more diametrically opposed. However, the two firm’s “sales cultures” were spot on. Knowing nuance and personal contact with many executives from the targeted company wee key here.
What pleased the EVP was the unique fit this new Vice President was from so many perspectives. Not only had he worked in OTA, Cable and Satellite, his Online, Mobile and Social Networking integration was outstanding. It was also the “sales organization cultural fit”. Even with stellar references on four different levels and industry accolades, the EVP made the new VP prove and justify the autonomy he would be granted was warranted. This is a demanding environment.
This was a fun and rewarding executive search for everyone involved. Even with the busy schedule of the EVP and the President of Network Sales, Filcro Media Staffing managed to bring this search to fruition at the cadence promised and 3 weeks ahead of schedule.
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