Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment Promotes Audrey Marco to Vice President And General Manager of Studio's Online Marketing and Promotion Unit

PRNewswire
CULVER CITY, Calif.
02/28/2001

Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment (SPDE) today announced the promotion of Audrey Marco to Vice-President and General Manager of the SPDE business unit set up to expand the marketing and promotional role upon which the original Columbia TriStar Interactive (CTI) was founded. The formation of this organization within SPDE enables marketing efficiencies through online production, creative services, database outreach, partnership marketing, eCommerce and auctions all in support of Sony Pictures Entertainment's (SPE) motion picture, television and Pay Per View properties. As Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment expands its reputation as an innovative provider of online entertainment, Marco will provide online expertise as the division's primary liaison between SPDE and the studio's various marketing entities.

"Audrey Marco brings an intimate knowledge of the marketplace combined with an insider's perspective on the studio's lines of business," said Patrick Kennedy, Senior Vice President of SPDE, a division of SPE. "With her successful track record of high profile strategic alliances, Audrey and her team consistently demonstrate that the Internet is a powerful tool for marketing campaigns that generate significant audience awareness through online activities."

"With the expansion of SPDE, this group is now positioned to draw upon a fuller range of talent and technology. Our innovative strategies combined with SPDE's overall presence in the online arena creates exciting opportunities for us to explore," said Marco. "We have assembled a dynamic resource of professionals aiding in the creation of integrated marketing campaigns for the studio's properties."

Over the past six years, Marco has produced many award winning sites and has led the way in creating online promotions and integrated marketing campaigns with traditional consumer brands such as Pepsi, Yahoo! Inc., and AOL. She recently secured the studio's participation in one of the largest integrated online and offline marketing campaigns with Pepsi. The six-month "Pepsi Stuff" program promoted a half dozen films and some 50 home video titles. In association with Yahoo!, Marco orchestrated diverse programs, spanning multiple Yahoo! Features for various studio properties. Many of these successful campaigns included online auctions offering movie props, set pieces and wardrobe from hit films such as Charlie's Angels to benefit charities.

The acclaimed sites that comprise SPDE's film and television Web site network have garnered over 100 awards, including the prestigious Gold Clio at the 2000 Interactive Advertising Awards for The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc film site.

In her new role, Marco will be responsible for strategic direction and day-to-day operations. Her group, working closely with the various SPE marketing organizations, is committed to extending the promotional value of each project's online presence as it flows through its revenue life cycles.

Marco previously served as CTI's Director of Marketing Alliances where she created opportunities for promotions, third party alliances, brand integration and sponsorship in conjunction with SPE's highly popular film and TV Web sites. She first joined the former CTI in 1995 as Manager of Marketing where she was responsible for the overall production and content development of individual feature film sites. Prior to her tenure at CTI, Marco worked with producer David Brown and film financier John Heyman at Island World in New York.

About Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment

Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment (SPDE), an operating unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), oversees the activities of SPE's digital production and online assets including Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Online Entertainment. SPDE focuses on three areas: 1) producing and developing visual effects and computer-generated imaging (CGI), digital character animation, and original content for motion picture, television, online and PlayStation audiences; 2) tapping SPE's film and television libraries and its talent relationships to develop new forms of online content, games and interactive programming; and 3) leading SPE's efforts to provide video-on-demand, interactive television and the distribution of other forms of digital content and services over the emerging broadband networks.

SOURCE: Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment

Contact: Don Levy, 310-840-7315, dlevy@sonypictures.com, or Susan
Wright, 310-840-8178, swright@sonypictures.com, both of Sony Pictures Digital
Entertainment