Marianne Paskowski

Turner Ups Gregor to Marketing Chief

September 21, 2006 6:45 PM

You know who I like today? Someone I never spoke to in my life: Jeff Gregor, who was promoted to chief marketing officer for both TBS and TNT nets. Despite the muckety-muck title, this dude is in the trenches with his troops.

Marketing lingo like “brand enhancement,” “consumer engagement” and “personalization” just bounces right off his skin. Marketing to this guy is simple: It’s just “reach.” That means exposing as many viewers to a brand as possible and keeping them. “Look, you know after 15 minutes of tune-in if a show is working,” he says about justifying return on investment (marketing dollars) to his bosses.

So now the sports marketing maven for Turner is consolidating the TBS and TNT marketing and on-air departments. And in this case, that ugly, deadly word “consolidation” doesn’t mean headcount reduction, according to him. I’m sure all of you at Turner are relieved to hear that in the wake of the downsizing that took place at Court TV after Turner bought out Liberty Media and took control. Heads did roll, after all.

I talked to Gregor yesterday, brand new on the job. He was up to his eyeballs in the info-gathering stage and I was his first interview. He said to expect another dynamite marketing campaign for the NBA. Details are forthcoming. I could care less about basketball, but I’ll be watching to see what he does with non-sports-related campaigns. That’s the acid test for him.