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PromaxBDA will honor NBCUniversal marketing executive John D. Miller with its 2016 PromaxBDA Lifetime Achievement Award.
Miller, currently chief marketing officer, NBC Olympics, will receive the honor at PromaxBDA: The Conference 2016, taking place from June 14-16 at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel.
Previous PromaxBDA Lifetime Achievement winners have included producer Brian Grazer, filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Betty White.
“John Miller’s groundbreaking work at NBC and NBC Sports has defined best practices for entertainment marketing and influenced the entire PromaxBDA community for decades,” said Steve Kazanjian, President and CEO, PromaxBDA. “John is a true pioneer, a master showman and an inspiration to so many of us who have had the pleasure of working with him over the years and seeing first-hand the talent, passion and integrity he brings to his work and to his life. There is no one more deserving of this recognition and it is our honor to present John with the Lifetime Achievement Award at The Conference in June.”
Miller called the award an extraordinary honor.
“It would not be possible without the creative collaboration of hundreds of talented professionals I’ve had the honor of working with over the years,” he said. “I’ve been in television – now media – marketing for over 40 years and a member of PromaxBDA for the entire time. PromaxBDA has undergone three or four name changes during that time – I’ve marketed 12 Olympics – so call it even.”
RELATED: Q&A: NBCU’S John Miller, TV’s Marketing Dean
Miller was appointed CMO, NBC Olympics upon his 65th birthday in October 2015. He made the personal decision to transition his role from CMO of NBC Sports Group to this newly created position to focus solely on the Olympics. Miller leads the Olympic marketing efforts for Rio 2016 and co-leads for Pyeongchang 2018 with NBC Sports Group CMO Jenny Storms.
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He is also chair of NBCUniversal’s Marketing Council, which includes the marketing leaders from every NBCUniversal division, and oversees all cross-company promotional opportunities and marketing initiatives known as “Symphony.” Miller reports directly to Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group, for the Olympics, and to Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal, for the Marketing Council.
Previously, Miller served as Chief Marketing Officer of NBC Sports Group from 2011 – 2015, overseeing all marketing and branding for NBC Sports Group assets, which included NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN, Golf Channel, the 10 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and NBC Sports Digital. He also led The NBC Sports Agency, which uses NBC Sports Group marketing resources to produce campaigns for group partners the Premier League, PGA TOUR and NHL.
Before joining NBC Sports Group, Miller co-founded and led The NBC Agency from 1999 to 2010. The NBC Agency was the industry’s first full-service advertising agency comprised of an award-winning in-house unit that quickly established itself as one of the country’s top creative commercial firms.
Under Miller’s direction, The NBC Agency built on the NBC Advertising & Promotion Department’s long tradition as a television industry leader with innovative marketing, promotion and branding concepts, and campaigns. Miller has also overseen the creation of successful franchise campaigns, such as the now ubiquitous “Must See TV,” and helped to develop and strengthen the network’s brand identity.
Miller joined NBC in August 1982 as vice president, affiliate promotion services, West Coast. He was promoted six times between 1982 and 1993, in various executive marketing, advertising, promotions and programming roles throughout NBC Entertainment and NBC TV. In 1993, Miller became executive vice president, advertising and promotion, a position he held for six years.
Miller began his career in freelance productions in 1972. A year later, he joined NBC’s WMAQ Chicago. He was named became promotion manager at WBBM Chicago in 1978. In March 1980, he was named director, affiliate promotion services, CBS-TV, West Coast, and moved to New York in July 1981 to become director, advertising and promotion, CBS News.
Miller has been honored by his peers on many occasions including being inducted to the Promax Hall of Fame in 1991. Promax also named Miller and The NBC Agency co-president, Vince Manze, the Marketing Team of the Year in 1995, and honored Miller as the Promotion Executive of the Year in 1996. In 1999, Miller, Manze and their NBC colleagues received a Primetime Emmy for outstanding commercial for an advertisement promoting the internet portal service Snap.com. The spot also received the World’s Best Commercial award from the IBA.
Miller was also honored with a Campaigns of Distinction award by PromaxBDA in 2006 and 2007. Miller has been named Entertainment Marketer of the Year four times, and was named Sports Marketer of the Year by Cynopsis in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
A native of Chicago, Miller graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University. He and his wife, Sharon, have four sons.
See Miller accept the award LIVE at PromaxBDA: The Conference, June 14-16 at the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel. Register now.
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