Susanne McAvoy is the executive vice president of marketing and creative services for Crown Media Family Networks, home of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel, which is owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc. Based in New York, McAvoy reports to Bill Abbott, president and chief executive officer.
In this role, McAvoy oversees all facets of marketing and branding for the channels. She is charged with managing the teams responsible for developing the networks’ multi-platform campaigns for consumers, affiliates and advertisers. McAvoy’s oversight includes the creative services department, which includes print, on-air and web design. McAvoy is responsible for all aspects of the brand promise and integrity for the networks. In addition, she serves as the key liaison with Hallmark Cards in developing synergistic opportunities with its other brand extensions and the nearly 4,000 Hallmark Gold Crown® retail stores.
Recently, McAvoy was the senior vice president of marketing. In her previous role as vice president of ad sales marketing, McAvoy was responsible for maximizing advertising sales revenue potential by creating and implementing strategic marketing and promotional activities. She worked closely with the consumer marketing, creative services, and online media departments to develop integrated and customized sponsorship packages tailored to achieve advertisers’ objectives. She also partnered with ad sales management to create the annual Upfront presentation and oversee client events.
Prior to Crown Media Family Networks, McAvoy was an ad sales marketing consultant for Bravo where she facilitated the 2007-2008 Upfront sales-marketing initiative. Previously, she served as director of corporate marketing for Comcast Spotlight. In that role, McAvoy managed the company’s advertising agency, Cramer-Krasselt, and developed and created several consumer advertising campaigns, on-air spots, direct mail campaigns, and sales videos. Prior to that, she was director of affiliate marketing at Oxygen Media and senior manager of affiliate marketing for MTV. McAvoy began her career with Turner International in Hong Kong before moving to their Atlanta office.
In 2011, McAvoy was selected as one of Multichannel News’ “40 Under 40” and in 2012, she was named to the CableFAX 100 Most Powerful Women in Cable. She has won numerous awards, including multiple CTAM Mark Awards, the Ad Council Silver Bell Award, a Cable Advertising Bureau Award, and two ACC (Association of Cable Communicators) Beacon Awards.
McAvoy is an active member of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and is currently serving her seventh year as a board member for the New York Chapter. In 2007 and 2008, she held the position of membership chair; in 2009 and 2010 she served as chapter president; and in 2011 and 2012 she served as immediate past president. McAvoy is also a member of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and Promax|BDA.
McAvoy graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and psychology. She is also a Betsy Magness Leadership Institute graduate, Class XXIV. McAvoy resides with her husband and two children in Darien, Connecticut.
