Gina Degnan Hughes Appointed Vice President, Advertising for AMC Marketing
Alison Hoffman Appointed Director, Advertising for AMC Marketing
Hughes and Hoffman to Steer Programming Initiative of
AMC's First-Ever Original Movie Event, 'Broken Trail'
NEW YORK, NY, December 7, 2005 – AMC announced today the appointments of Gina Degnan Hughes to Vice President of Advertising and Alison Hoffman to Director of Advertising, further strengthening and expanding the network's marketing team and infrastructure. Hughes and Hoffman will be charged with developing and implementing consistently innovative marketing and brand campaigns that support the network's initiatives and strategic positioning among consumers and within the marketplace. Today's announcement comes at the end of a record-breaking year for AMC, with 2005 pacing to be the network's strongest year ever in primetime ratings, Household delivery, as well as A18-49 & A25-54 deliveries. Both Hughes and Hoffman will report to Linda Schupack, Senior Vice President of Marketing for AMC.
"Gina and Alison both bring a significant depth of experience that will be a huge asset as we continue to grow the AMC brand," said Linda Schupack, Senior Vice President of Marketing for AMC. "After a tremendous year of ratings success for the network, creating a group with this kind of strategic and brand talent is an important and exciting next step. With AMC's first original movie, Broken Trail, premiering in 2006, having a strong marketing team in place will be essential."
In her new role, Hughes will be responsible for developing and producing strategic and effective advertising that delivers tune-in and ratings and establishes AMC as a preeminent television brand. She will also be responsible for smartly positioning the network's programming and overseeing the AMC website as a promotional tool for the network. As Director of Advertising, Hoffman will work closely with Hughes and additional team members in effectively positioning AMC's programming initiatives. She will supervise the strategic development and execution of AMC advertising and media buying, as well as direct creative development of all consumer-oriented messaging, both internally and externally for the network.
In conjunction with today's personnel announcement, Hughes and Hoffman revealed plans for their first major initiative which will support AMC's first-ever original movie event, western-themed Broken Trail, with Oscar® Winner Robert Duvall, Oscar® Nominee Thomas Haden Church and Emmy-Winning Filmmaker Walter Hill, scheduled to premiere in June 2006. The campaign for the movie will include advertisements in top-tier print, broadcast and radio outlets; a comprehensive online presence, including a Broken Trail mini-site; and a variety of strategic targeted partnerships. Currently in the planning stages, it is ramping up to be one of the largest multi-tiered initiatives in the history of the network.
Prior to her post at AMC, Hughes was Director of Advertising at The History Channel where she developed marketing and media strategies for the network and directed the creation of consumer marketing campaigns. Hughes has also held positions with Horizon Media Inc, where she managed the development of media marketing strategies for various accounts including GEICO, The History Channel (domestic and international), and Jos. A Bank, and Lowe & Partners/SMS where she was a Broadcast Buyer. Hughes received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Hofstra University.
Hoffman comes to AMC from Agency212, where she was the Account Planning Director devising brand strategies and guiding the development of creative concepts for her clients. While at Agency 212, she worked on initiatives for HIT Entertainment brands (Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends, among others), PBS Kids, Comcast and MediaEdge. Previously Hoffman held positions with the brand consultancy, Vivaldi Partners, where she was a Senior Consultant working with clients including Bertelsmann (Random House and BMG), and the Thomson Corporation, and with Mitchell Madison Group where she was an Associate Consultant. Hoffman received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Brown University.
About AMC
AMC, a division of Rainbow Media's Entertainment Services, which also includes WE: Women's Entertainment and IFC Companies, is a 24-hour, movie-based network, dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 86,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and a critically-acclaimed slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. Over the past three years, AMC has garnered many of the industry's highest honors, including 14 Emmy awards. AMC is "TV for movie people."