Last week’s announcement of the finalists for the 2015 PromaxBDA North America Promotion, Marketing and Design Awards kicks off seven weeks of anticipation and speculation among marketing teams and creative agencies ahead of the industry’s biggest night on June 11, when the winners will be revealed at the JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE. If there’s one man who may have an inkling about who’s walking away with a trophy, it’s Frank Radice. And his lips are sealed—at least as far as who made the winner’s list. On a whole host of other topics, Radice, who chaired this year’s North America Jury, is more than happy to talk.

The 40-year network television veteran has held positions at each of the Big Three broadcasters, but is most well-known for his long stint at NBC, where he held several senior marketing posts. He later served as President and CMO of NATAS, before landing his current role as Expert in Residence at Definition 6, a digital marketing agency with offices in Atlanta, New York, and London.

He chatted with Brief ahead of last week’s finalists announcement.

BRIEF: You’ve probably seen more of the marketing, promo, and design work from our industry in the past year than anyone else. Any top-level takeaways? What’s your first impression coming out of the judging process?

RADICE: I think we’re looking at another golden age of media right now—like that golden age that existed when radio became television, when black and white became color, when film became files, and when files become streams. We’re in one of these transitions right now. What excites me being a former journalist and a marketer is how these things can work together, and how really great talented promo professionals can tell stories in a short periods of time.

BRIEF: What’s the biggest challenge facing the entertainment marketing industry today?

RADICE: Trying to figure out how to make pre-rolls work—it’s finding the creative way to use that 5 seconds of pre-roll time before someone clicks off.

BRIEF: And how do you do that?

RADICE: Comedy. That’s the one thing that I’ve seen work—and delivered by good comedians. I’m thinking of one that was done for black-ish that had me in the first three seconds and the next thing I knew it was over. It was the exact thing I’m talking about—that combination of marketing and promotion and being able to sell content that’s also promotional.

BRIEF: What would you like people to know about the judging process you just completed?

RADICE: We had the absolute honor and privilege of looking at the best of the best of the entries for the year. And I had the privilege of working with the best of the best to vote on those pieces.

BRIEF: Without revealing any of the specific questions that may have come up, what sorts of things does the jury discuss when they’re considering individual entries?

RADICE: There are a couple of specific things we have to look at: whether it has an effective message, whatever the message may be. And that’s a conversation we have on almost everything. And overall creativity. Creativity as you know is very subjective—but you know it when you see it. But those are just the obvious things that we talk about. Unless somebody says ‘that promo just didn’t do it’—then we move on. We got very critical we felt.

Members of the 2015 North America Awards Jury

Frank Radice, Expert in Residence, Definition 6
—2015 Promotion, Marketing, and Design Awards Jury Chair

Kenetta Bailey, Managing Partner & Chief Brand Strategist, MAXUS North America

Andy Baker, SVP/Group Creative Director, National Geographic Channels

Elaine Cantwell, Executive Creative Director, Houndstooth

John Colette, Chair of Motion Media Design, SCAD

Andi Delott, Partner, Head of the ABC Network Account, BLT Communications, LLC

Michael Engleman, EVP, Marketing, Digital & Global Brand Strategy, Syfy & Chiller

Ann Epstein, Partner, Be Creative Management

Susie Fogelson, SVP, Marketing & Brand Strategy, Food Network and Cooking Channel

Stephanie Gibbons, President, Marketing, Digital Media Marketing and On-Air Promotions, FX Networks

Fred Graver, Global Creative Lead, TV, Twitter

Dale Lanier, EVP, Broadcast Advertising, Ignition Creative

Kay Madati, EVP & Chief Digital Officer, BET Networks

T.J. Marchetti, CMO, AwesomenessTV

Oswald Mendez, EVP & CMO, MundoFox

Jon Pearce, EVP & Global Chief Creative Officer, Hudson Rouge

Billy Pittard, Department Chair, Electronic Media Communication, Middle Tennessee State University; Founder & Former Chief Creative Officer, Pittard Sullivan

Darren Schillace, SVP, Marketing Strategy, ABC Entertainment Group

Niels Schuurmans, EVP, Viacom Velocity Creative Content Solutions, Viacom

Jimmy Smith, Chairman, CEO & CCO, Amusement Park Entertainment

David Stern, Owner, Create Advertising Group

Will Travis, CEO and Global Senior Partner, Sid Lee USA

Michael Vamosy, Chief Creative Officer, Stun Creative

Jenny Wall, SVP, Head of Marketing, Hulu

PromaxBDA is the publisher of Brief. Interview edited and condensed.

See who walks away with gold at the 2015 PromaxBDA North America Promotion, Marketing and Design Awards, June 11 at the JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE, hosted by Chris D’Elia.

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