Multiplatform Maven

Kellie Grutko Proves That in Cable Ad Marketing, Tech-Savvy Is Just Savvy

By Stuart Miller -- Multichannel News, 1/30/2012 12:01:00 AM

Kellie Grutko likes technology but is far from an early adopter. “I’m constantly asking for help about how to do things on my iPad,” says Grutko, who as vice president of marketing at Comcast Spotlight is the highest-ranking woman at Comcast’s local ad-sales unit. “But I like to educate myself. It’s a work in progress, probably forever as technology keeps changing.”

Grutko, 44, knows that plenty of Comcast clients are in the same position, struggling to keep up with fastchanging times. Thus, she must ensure her department remains ahead of the curve.

This past year, Comcast Spotlight “led the charge” by introducing the I-Plus platform to get advertisers to focus on cross-platform solutions. Grutko also oversaw the creation of the futuristic Eye-con character as a visualization of the plan.

INNOVATIVE APPS

Comcast Spotlight also introduced an iPad app aimed at keeping its clients informed, plus e-marketing campaigns and short “Take Five” webcasts demonstrating how to integrate on-air and online advertising.

“We need innovations and we need to grow,” Grutko says. “We need to reach people in diff erent ways to stay relevant.”

Hank Oster, corporate senior vice president for Comcast Spotlight, says the very fact that Grutko is not a techie, yet helmed all these projects, shows how strong she is as a strategic and creative thinker.

“She’s a very keen marketer with great insights about trends and how to push the brand forward,” he says. “And she’s not afraid of taking chances.”

Grutko knew by the time she was a student at Penn State University that she wanted a career in advertising.

An internship in cable advertising at a company called Metrobase hinted at what her future held in store, though after college, her path veered in a different direction: She sold ads for Philadelphia magazine. “It was a good first job and led to other opportunities,” she recalls.

One early client was the mammoth King of Prussia (Pa.) Mall, which eventually hired her away for their marketing department. Later she became director of marketing at a smaller mall in Pottstown, Pa.

But retail “wasn’t a passion for me,” Grutko says, “and I got tired of practically sleeping at the mall during the holidays and going four months without a single day off .”

This was back in olden times, in the mid-1990s, so Grutko looked in a newspaper classifi ed section for a job. “I know, that sounds so old-fashioned,” she laughs. “But I found a job in cable that way.”

Though it was a backward career move, from mall director of marketing to promotions coordinator at rep firm Cable AdNet, “I knew I had to take a step down to work my way back up.”

It also meant moving into the Philadelphia market. And because few people were doing marketing for ad sales then, Grutko got to carve her own trail. Eventually she worked her way up to director of marketing and helped rebrand the company as Radius Communications, later sold to Comcast.

“Comcast wasn’t the huge company it is today, but it had 8 million subscribers and was a national company,” she says. “Th ere was a little bit of a culture shift. And there was a real transition for me when they moved me to the corporate offi ce and, instead of having only one market, I had the whole country to work with. That’s when the cool factor came into play.”

Now she works in New York, though she still commutes from Pennsylvania. “My one regret is that I don’t take more advantage” of New York, she says. After work, she heads straight home, where she works out and has both a husband and a dog to attend to. (“Th e dog is probably easier,” she jokes.)

Another big transition came about five years ago, when she became vice president. “Th at transition is the hardest, because Kellie is so much of a doer and she had to start creating opportunities for others to do and challenge them to do it,” says Vicki Lins, a former Comcast Spotlight senior vice president of marketing, who is now chief marketing officer at Canoe Ventures.

“She is the consummate team player but she has grown as a leader, shifting from a contributing member to the driving member of the team,” Lins says.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

A detail-oriented person, she found it hard to give up a direct sales role. “But I enjoy the strategy and looking at the big picture, and I have a wonderful staff to check off the daily items,” she says.

She built her team with a specific culture in mind. “I want people who can get along and collaborate so the ideas spring from that,” Grutko says. When hiring or promoting she looks for a positive attitude as much as a specific skill set. “There’s nothing worse than someone who doesn’t play well with others,” she explains. “You have to check your ego at the door here.”

Grutko makes sure to use a soft sell with new technologies, whether video on demand or new online extensions. The iPad app was designed to be entertaining, “but also educational and useful,” she says. “I don’t want people to just sit and play a game and never come back. I want buyers and planners to look at this on the train and learn about our markets and networks in an interactive way.”

KELLIE GRUTKO

Hometown: Erie, Pa., and Yardley, Pa.

Age: 44

Current job: VP, marketing, Comcast Spotlight

First job: Marketing at the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania

Favorite TV shows: The Closer, Parenthood, Law & Order: SVU

Downtime: Working out at the gym

High praise: “I think Kellie had her greatest year ever in 2011 on a whole host of fronts, and her work on the I-Plus iPad app was breathtaking to watch!” — Comcast Spotlight president Charlie Thurston