Tom Russell

About Tom Russell

I\'m a career media and marketing strategist, currently in my 8th year at CNBC, where my core competency in customer acquisition has been pivotal in generating thousands of high-revenue subscribers for two DTC products, CNBC Pro and CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer. My current role includes leading CNBC\'s paid media investment strategy and utilization of owned media assets across multiple TV, streaming, and digital platforms. I am the primary owner of our external agency relationships and I partner closely with the internal creative and finance functions to generate quantifiable ROI from each media investment.

Experience

1. VP, Media Strategy and Planning

   Cnbc

   Dec 2016 — Present · Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US

   Developed effective marketing strategies, media plans, and external partnerships to support numerous CNBC priorities, including TV programming, brand messaging, DTC subscription products (CNBC Pro and CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer), executive networking club (CNBC Councils), CNBC Events, digital products (newsletters, podcasts), DEI campaigns, sponsored sales commitments, and barter relationships. • Oversaw customer acquisition marketing, driving lead generation and paid subscriptions to CNBC Pro and CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer. Maximized incoming volume while consistently achieving cost per acquisition goals. Generated 12k paying subscriptions in three years, representing $5MM in revenue. Evolved practice from internal startup to mature, always-on paid media practice. • Served as primary CNBC representative within senior cross-company Marketing Council, creating custom marketing programs to drive engagement with the company’s top “Symphony” priorities including Olympics, major films, Sunday Night Football, Universal Parks, and 2024 elections. • Utilized numerous media formats including programmatic display and OLV, SEM, affiliate marketing, email, OOH and digital signage, sponsorships, print, national and local TV, DRTV, CTV, and experiential marketing.• Partnered closely with internal finance, creative, research, sales, content distribution, and product teams to execute marketing programs.• Served as primary relationship owner to multiple external agencies, managing KPIs, annual SOWs, and performance evaluations.• Directed internal scheduling team to strategically deploy promotional allocation of TV and digital inventory across key priorities.• Developed robust target audience profile for forthcoming CNBC+ streaming service, informing creative agency brief.• Liaised with creative partners to communicate asset needs and timing requirements. • Developed attribution programs to quantify ROI of media investments.

Education

• Keene State College

  BA