Steven Rummer, NBCUniversal: 40 Under 40 2024

Brands are leaning more heavily into custom partnerships in TV to capture the attention of ad-wary consumers. In that growth, in-house creative operations at media companies, such as the one at NBCUniversal led by Steven Rummer, have become crucial, both for work with major brands as well as in recent pushes to bring small and medium-sized marketers into TV. See all of Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 honorees here Nowhere was this more evident than during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Rummer, 39, head of creative for NBCU Advertising and Partnerships, and his team created custom advertising for the likes of Delta, Lilly, U.S. Army, Miller and Google, among others. With Google, Rummer’s team created a series of humorous spots featuring “Saturday Night Live” alum Leslie Jones finding wacky ways to use Google Gemini, which avoided the public backlash received by Google’s other Olympic ad. @lesdoggggg What’s the opposite of synchronized swimming? Because I think me and @Google Gemini have it mastered. #Google_Ad ♬ original sound - Leslie Jones Rummer’s work has also been focused on inclusivity in TV marketing, both in developing new production technology for SMB advertisers to more easily enter the TV market as well as creating bilingual and diverse content. For example, Rummer developed “The Foundation of Belleza” in partnership with Sephora, spotlighting the Latine community. It was an official selection of the 2024 Tribeca X Awards for a limited long-form series. “There’s a lot of emotion that goes alongside [creative work] because you’re making something that is very tangible—you thought it, and then it’s going to be on TV,” said Rummer. “It’s not just what you make, it’s how you make it. ... Our success is in the relationships that we’ve built.” If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why? I would have dinner with my future kid at 40. It would be great to meet and talk about where we are at the same age without any preconceived notions about one another. What are the top two social media sites you use on a regular basis? Instagram and Pinterest. What’s currently on your bedside reading list? “Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World” by General Stanley McChrystal, “Less is Lost” by Andrew Sean Greer, and “Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be” by Dr. Becky Kennedy. What was the last show you binge-watched? I just started binging “The Bear,” but I also promised my partner I’d binge “The West Wing” with him before the election, so we have been working our way through that. At what age do you hope to retire? I’ve had a job since I was 13 years old. At this point, it’s hard to picture myself retired. I want to continue to pursue my passions in the creative space whether that’s through my job or on my own. See all of Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 honorees here

Steven Rummer’s in-house NBCU creative agency fueled Olympics marketing

Featured Stories