The Best Marketers
Gold
TONY & JOE'S:Joe Rooney, Tony Maldonado
Joe Rooney's recent promotion to Cox's CMO cemented his position as one of the top marketers in the cable business. It also proved that Cox is wholly serious about upping the marketing ante in the face of tough telco and DBS competition. As always, Rooney could easily occupy this Faxie all by himself. But we know him well enough to understand that he would rather share such honors with those who help him make it happen every day. So we figured why not also single out vp, acquisition marketing and sciences Tony Maldonado, who has wowed everyone around him with his creativity, knowledge and expertise. As seasoned leaders, both help Cox's top-notch marketing team find success. Can you tell we like these guys?
Silver
MANIC MONDAYS: Katie Lacey
ESPNs Katie Lacey no doubt used her past experiences at Pepsi to add fizz to the marketing that surrounded last years Monday Night Football premiere on cable. The debut performed exceedingly well1 telecast delivered the largest audience in ESPN history and the 2nd largest in cable historyand Laceys campaign to drive anticipation played a huge role. The multi-platform initiative carrying the tagline Is it Monday Yet? was seen across ESPN nets, in pubs like the Wall Street Journal, online and in arenas like Yankee Stadium, and heard on the radio and in elevators across the country. Lacey pushed for larger MNF audiences and she delivered a touchdown. Now her attention likely turns to marketing a new MNF talent cast, a crew that lost Joe Theismann and added Ron Jaworski.
Bronze
TRUMPED: Geof rochester, peter clifford
Wrestling rarely gets its due. At least it gets a Faxie. The $7 million integrated marketing barrage that Geof Rochester, Peter Clifford and now former chief marketer Kurt Schneider unleashed for WrestleMania 23 should be studied at CTAM U. Radio, print, TV, broadband, outdoor and guerilla tactics insured 23 was a hit weeks before it was held, appropriately, on April 1. It grossed more than $50 million in PPV revenue and a record 80,000 fans paid $5.4 million for tickets to see Vince McMahon and Donald Trump try to scalp each other. Besides marketing alliances and 100,000 WWE pizzas for the press, what made this hirsute onslaught a cut above the rest were the fun bits, like the tasteless orange Trump toupees WWE sent to us and the 8 lucky (?) fans who won the privilege of shaving the words 'WrestleMania 23' into their scalps.
Honorables
Susie Fogelson, vp, marketing at Food Network
Adam Sanderson, svp, brand marketing at Disney-ABC Cable Networks Group
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