Multicultural Marketing’s Heroes of the Cable Industry by Brianna Hernandez - NAMIC Blogger

In keeping with the Diversity Rules theme of the 23rd Annual NAMIC Conference, it was befitting that the co-hosts of this year’s Excellence in Multi-cultural Marketing Awards were crowned King and Queen of the EMMAs ceremony. Presiding over the 2009 awards presentation were NAMIC Multi-cultural Marketing Committee members, “King” Phillip Polk, director of segmentation marketing, Cox and “Queen” Vicky Free, vice president of consumer marketing, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.

Joining Phillip and Vicky in officiating the awards program was Seth Arenstein, assistant vice president and editorial director, Cable Broadband Group and Access Intelligence LLC. Serving as moderator, Seth opened the awards program with a stellar panel discussion featuring Brenda Freeman, chief marketing officer, animation, Young Adults and Kids Media, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.; Sam Howe, executive vice president & chief marketing officer, Time Warner Cable; Katie Lacey, senior vice president, Marketing, ESPN; Lucinda Martinez-Desir, vice president, Acquisitions and Multi-cultural Marketing; and Kent Rees, senior vice president, Marketing, IFC. Seth introduced the impressive group of panelists as “all stars that are willing to take the tough questions.”

Brenda Freeman said that a huge chunk of her network’s recent growth in both the kids and young adult markets come from African American and Latino audiences. Freeman said: “the younger the audience, the more diverse” and a recent study conducted by her network proved that not only is the market eminently diverse, but that kids are surprised that adults might think otherwise. “Kids really do define themselves,” said Freeman.

When Seth asked the panel members if they were redefining the mainstream market, Sam Howe responded: “I think the mainstream is redefining the market. I’m hoping the mainstream redefines what the market does.”

ESPN’s Katie Lacey noted that in sports, geography is really more important than ethnicity, and always has been. Lacey also added that the growing popularity of soccer has added another dimension and multi-cultural sensibility to sports.

Kent Rees said IFC is all about “insurgence stories” – for instance IFC original programs focused on Nelson Mandela and Josephine Baker. Rees touted IFC’s coverage of film festivals from around the world, which he said IFC did “way before multi-culturalism was sexy.”
HBO’s Lucinda Martinez-Desir pointed out that the phenomenon that many programs produced in Spanish are being picked up by English-language networks.


At the conclusion of the thought-provoking panel discussion, “King” Philip and “Queen” Vicky presented EMMAs to the 2009 winners. As this year’s best in multi-cultural marketing received their trophies and formed the “royal court,” I watched as the final awards were presented. As everyone delighted in a champagne toast, I was truly impressed by the camaraderie shared by this illustrious group of honorees. And, it became increasingly apparent that the NAMIC EMMAs are not just about the competition – or which cable company, network or supplier places first, second or third. However, at the end of the day after the judges have had their say – the votes have been counted and the awards presented, it’s about this group of colleagues celebrating one another for contributing to excellence in multi-cultural marketing for the collective good and advancement of our industry.




Brianna Hernandez - NAMIC Blogger