Big In Print
Special: cannes09
Elizabeth Herbst, Universal Domestic Television
The art of the deal drives Elizabeth Herbst. From her New York office the exec VP-ad sales at Universal Domestic Television oversees the sale of national barter advertising for Universal's first-run series. (Studios USA Domestic Television last month finalized its merger into Vivendi Universal Entertainment to become Universal Domestic Television.)...
Catherine Bension, Select Resources International
Advertising reviews often were a sullied process. Then review consultants came along, provoking mixed responses from both clients and agencies. But one woman is moving to change that. Catherine Bension last year bought the controlling interest in Select Resources International, a West Hollywood, Calif.-based consultancy working to offer clients a r...
Linda Thomas Brooks, General Motors Mediaworks
Linda Thomas Brooks decided early in her early 20s to be "a doer, not a viewer." That resolve turned out to be prophetic. Since February 2000, the Chicago native has been exec VP-managing director of General Motors Mediaworks, Warren, Mich. The unit of Interpublic Group of Cos. is dedicated to buying media for the nation's largest advertiser.Ms. Th...
Carol H. Williams, Carol H. Williams Advertising
Carol H. Williams, one of the few African-American women running her own ad agency, built her career on the line "Strong enough for a man." Literally. Ms. Williams, who studied biology at Northwestern University, went to an American Association of Advertising Agenciesconference and landed a summer job in 1969 at Leo Burnett Co. Thanks to her tagli...
Marianne Gambelli, NBC
Marianne Gambelli's time at the seemingly always-hot NBC could mean Never Been Cold. "Our demos are so strong-no one comes near us," says Ms. Gambelli, 42, exec VP-prime time and sports, who's No. 2 behind NBC President of Ad Sales Keith Turner. The General Electric Co.-owned network has been No. 1 during virtually her entire 12-year tenure there-...
Hanna Gryncwajg, Bravo
Back in the heady days of 1998, the U.S. economy had an unmistakable theme song: the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up." MBA candidates grappled with whether to go to class or work on a business plan, and the Internet seemed like the quickest avenue to wealth since a California stream 150 years before. It was during that rush that ad veteran Hanna Grync...
Deborah Wahl Meyer, Toyota Motor Sales USA
Although she vowed as a teen that she'd never work in the car industry again, Deborah Wahl Meyer as an adult is carving out her niche as an auto marketer supreme. Ms. Meyer grew up in a Detroit area automotive supply family and worked in the business at age 14. Carrying out her duties in the newly created position of corporate manager-marketing com...
Eva Dillon, Jane
As publisher of Jane, Eva Dillon has developed an uncanny ability to present what she calls Editor in Chief Jane Pratt's "dog whistle" sensibility at a pitch advertisers can hear. Ms. Dillon's next job may be helping them listen to Ms. Pratt's latest reinvention-a Jane for fortysomethings with the codename "Elizabeth," currently percolating in Ms...
Linda Sawyer, Deutsch
Contrasting against her colorful, sometimes controversial boss, Linda Sawyer is not widely known among the industry's rank-and-file. But one comment from Donny Deutsch, chairman-CEO of Interpublic Group of Cos.' Deutsch, puts her importance in perspective: "Linda manages me better than anyone else in the world. We are really frank with each other....
Rebeca Johnson, Frito-Lay North America
Heading frito-lay North America's year-old multicultural team as VP-ethnic and urban marketing, Rebeca Johnson has made a very Latin impact. For years, Frito-Lay and PepsiCo sibling Pepsi-Cola Co. did point-of-purchase promotions together in the general market. At Ms. Johnson's initiative, Fritos and Doritos last summer kicked off "Reventon de Sabo...
Kary McIlwain, WPP's Y&R Chicago
Having the agency she runs be recognized by Advertising Age's Creativity as one of the hottest creative shops in the country, let alone Chicago, was a gratifying moment for Kary McIlwain. But when the president-CEO of Y&R Advertising, Chicago, accepted a Chairman's Award, the most prestigious vendor recognition presented by retailing giant Sears, ...
Mary Moudry, DDB Worldwide, San Francisco
Mary Moudry's colleagues at DDB Worldwide, San Francisco, like one thing about her most: She does everything, from interfacing with parent company Omnicom Group to handling DDB's third-largest worldwide account, to even picking up a hammer and fixing things as needed. "I'm the red phone" people call for help, says Ms. Moudry, 46, recently named pr...
Lee Ann Daly, ESPN
Lee Ann Daly, 40, ESPN's energetic senior VP-marketing, has delivered critical acclaim, awards and ratings for the sports network since she arrived in 1997. As anchor Dan Patrick would say, "You can't stop her-you can only hope to contain her." Ms. Daly oversees a staff of 35 and is responsible for the development, direction and implementation of a...
Anne Martin, Procter & Gamble Co.
When Anne Martin came to Procter & Gamble Co.'s cosmetics unit in 1995 as marketing director for Cover Girl, it wasn't a plum assignment. Cosmetics had been losing market share since P&G entered the business in the 1980s. The Baltimore area unit could be a hard place to be noticed. But Ms. Martin, 40, wasn't the typical P&Ger. Quebec-born and educa...
Esther Lem, Unilever
Years of men in a male-dominated package-goods industry managing brands sold mainly to women have yielded to an odd turnabout for Esther Lem. As VP-brand development for anti-perspirants and deodorants for Unilever in North America, she finds herself presiding over one of the biggest men's personal-care launches in U.S. history. Unilever in August ...
Denise Benou Stires, Nasdaq
Taking stock has a whole other meaning for Denise Benou Stires. As exec VP-global marketing and investor services at Nasdaq, she's in charge of promoting the stock exchange with investors, marketers and the public. That's a tall order in this economy, but she's quick to point out the name recognition can't be beat. "I feel like I've inherited one ...
Dana Allen, Brown-Forman Corp.
Dana Allen may be a one-company woman, but she's no one-trick pony. Currently VP-global brand director for Southern Comfort, Ms. Allen has been with Brown-Forman Corp. since 1981, when she graduated from Vanderbilt University's business school. A corporate vagabond who's moved seven times for the company, Ms. Allen started out making sales calls at...
Katie Lacey, PepsiCo's Pepsi-Cola North America
Katie Lacey is looking to give Pepsi-Cola an encore performance. As VP-marketing for colas at PepsiCo's Pepsi-Cola North America, she's steering the launch of the company's newest offering, Pepsi Blue, with hopes of emulating the raging success of another recent Pepsi hit: Mountain Dew's Code Red. Since joining the company in 1993, in addition to r...
Cindy Syracuse, Burger King Corp.
Make burger king the setting for "Survivor," and Cindy Syracuse would be the one walking away with a cool million. Just passing her ninth anniversary at Burger King Corp., she has outlasted, outwitted and outplayed seven CEOs, a slew of marketing directors, and flourished alongside Global Chief Marketing Officer Chris Clouser and his cronies. In f...
Brandon Holley, Elle Girl
Brandon Holley understands teen readers. In part because she sneaked underaged into rock shows in Washington, thanks to convincing the likes of Peter Zaremba, frontman of the Fleshtones, to put her on the guest list under the nom du rock of Lisa Farfisa. "Sometimes we'd write notes to teachers excusing [Ms. Holley] from classes," Mr. Zaremba recal...
