Data Driver

Gemma Toner Is Steering Audience Measurement and Retention at Cablevision Systems

By K Neel -- Multichannel News, 1/30/2012 12:01:00 AM

It didn’t take long for Gemma Toner to realize she wanted to be actively involved in a company’s operations rather than an observer of activity after the fact.

After a couple of years working for an accounting firm in the mid-1980s, she decided she was more attracted to marketing and advertising. She ended up at Cablevision Systems, where she now serves as senior vice president of marketing and business development.

“I interviewed for a job, and they hired me to do local cable sales,” Toner says. “I’ve been with Cablevision ever since, and it has been a really great experience.”

Since 1988, Toner has moved up the ranks of Cablevision’s operations and divisions. She went to American Movie Classics (now AMC, part of separately traded AMC Networks) in 1989 and rose to senior vice president of strategic planning.

MASTERY OF DATA

On the operations side of the house, she has overseen a number of major initiatives. As senior vice president of high-speed data products, Toner was responsible for the product development, marketing and growth of Optimum Online. She also guided the launch and expansion of Optimum Select, an interactive advertising and direct response product.

Today, she leads Cablevision’s research, audience measurement, retention and interactive advertising marketing functions. She is responsible for establishing advanced research and audience measurement techniques, developing partnerships, marketing systems and interactive production. And she is overseeing the design and execution of Cablevision’s retention initiatives and rewards program.

“I think that of all the accomplishments Gemma has had in our division over the last six years — and there are plenty to choose from — the rewards program stands out as one of her best,” Jon Hargis, executive vice president of marketing and advertising, says. “I believe it is the best loyalty program in the business, and it’s been very meaningful with our retention efforts. It’s not a points-based system. If you are a triple-play customer, you’re all in with full benefi ts.

“Gemma came up with the concept, the structure and the execution of the program, and it’s been very successful,” Hargis adds.

When Optimum Rewards launched in 2006, it off ered customers a $20 discount on their monthly bills and free movies on Tuesdays. It has since added more discounts, categories and offers from nearly 100 partners.

Toner and her team designed offers to complement consumer interests and drive additional opportunities for users. The idea: Match rewards with Optimum services. If a customer watches Dancing With the Stars, for example, the loyalty perk might be dance lessons.

Optimum Rewards recently found itself on the nice side of the Consumer Reports “Naughty & Nice Holiday List.”

Hargis says Toner has adeptly created and executed products and services that benefit the company’s bottom line and satisfy customer expectations.

“It all comes down to focusing on the customer,” Toner says. “You really can be good at both the analytical and the creative at the same time. It gives you a good perspective.

“I love being able to use my imagination and dream about what’s possible and then turn around and make it happen and get it done.”

NO SHOP TALK AT HOME

Like many a working mother, Toner worries about the balance between work and home. She has two kids — Isabel, 7, and Jonathan, 11 — and is married to Howard Szarfarc, an executive vice president at Time Warner Cable New York. She feels lucky to live only about 20 minutes from the office so she is close to school and home.

The family skis, rides horses and loves to travel. There’s little time to talk shop about cable when the family is together, which is as often as possible, Toner says. Dinner conversation is more likely to be about the weekend ahead or what school was like that day.

“It’s not that we ignore that part of our lives at home, but we have so many other things to talk about,” Toner says.

She credits her father with convincing her she could be anything she wanted to be, and urging her to live life to the fullest while also being generous.

“He taught me to be not just charitable,” Toner says. “He said we should all share ideas and help others with theirs. I think that is some of the best mentoring advice I have ever received. I hope I lead by that example. I’m not part of a formal mentoring program, but I hope I have been able to mentor like my dad has mentored me.

“He and my mom emigrated from Ireland in the ’60s with nothing but a dream,” Toner adds. “He started out by working in a bar. Then he owned a bar and eventually, he owned real estate.

“He achieved the American dream and he showed me that anything is possible.”

GEMMA TONER

Hometown: New York

Age: 48

Current job: SVP, marketing and business development, Cablevision Systems

First job: Accountant at Ernst & Whinney

Favorite TV shows: Up All Night (“I can relate to the Type-A mom who wants to be able to do it all.”) Favorite vacation: Family forays, such as skiing trips and beach vacations; bicycle riding; and horseback riding.