Women in Leadership

National CineMedia CMO keeps busting down barriers for women

Amy Tunick continues to break ground for women in executive positions. Tunick has been hired by National CineMedia as the company’s first chief marketing officer. In a separate role she's helping women achieve c-suite positions through Chief, an advocacy and mentorship program.

Amy Tunick was named National CineMedia's first chief marketing officer in late August. Provided

September 14, 2021 by Kevin Damask — Editor, Digital Signage Today

Amy Tunick keeps breaking ground for women in executive positions.

Tunick was recently hired by National CineMedia as the company's first chief marketing officer. NCM is a large cinema advertising network that brings brand advertising to moviegoers. Its cinema advertising network is in more than 20,800 screens in over 1,600 theaters in 195 designated market areas, according to a press release. NCM also has a DOOH platform that extends beyond the big screen, bringing in-cinema campaigns to online, mobile, and place-based marketing programs.

Tunick is also a founding member of Chief, a network striving to place women in c-suite opportunities and attain high-level corporate positions. Chief was founded in early 2019 and Tunick joined soon after.

"Chief aims to strengthen senior women leaders' journey into the C-suite… and here I am, two years later in NCM's c-suite!" Tunick said in an email to Digital Signage Today.

Chief offers a unique mentorship program, a peer group experience led by a coach. Tunick said surrounding herself with peers who are on similar career paths, and are intelligent and capable, has been very beneficial, helping guide her through career challenges.

"Chief is helping women attain executive positions by uniting women in business and facilitating deep and authentic connections across roles and industries," she said.

Tunick wants to see more women elevated to c-suite roles, but realizes many often need a helping hand to attain such roles. Tunick said sponsors within organizations and companies can be a specific type of mentor who does more than simply provide advice. The mentors actively work to advance a woman's career by promoting her accomplishments and potential, along with connecting them to peers within their network and recommending them for key executive positions.

"This advice is not just for women — it's for everyone," Tunick said. "That said, women must work hard to build, maintain and nourish strong and genuine relationships with the senior leaders (both men and women) at their company and within their industry."

However, women can serve as their own ally in attaining leadership roles by connecting other women within their group to mentor and serve as role models, Tunick said. While men still control the majority of c-suite positions, women have made advances in recent years, she said.

"We are heading in the right direction with increased gender diversity in the workforce and among senior leaders over the past few years, and I am very optimistic that we will continue to see more women among the executive ranks at top companies."

Ready for new role

In her role at NCM, Tunick will lead the company's integrated marketing team, overseeing the brand's strategy, creative development, marketing solutions, consumer marketing, studio relations and public relations, and working across NCM to drive innovation and bolster the company's connection with consumers, brands and agencies.

"As CMO, I am excited to bring together all of NCM's marketing expertise under one vision," Tunick said. "A closer alignment of NCM's consumer, business and trade efforts will drive clarity and larger innovation opportunities."

After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down movie theaters in March 2020, the industry suffered more than a year of heavy revenue losses. Tunick, however, believes movie theaters are seeing a comeback, evident by the success of Marvel's "Shang-Chi," which raked in more than $90 million at the box office when it opened on Labor Day weekend.

"Cinema is back — consumers are going to the movies in droves and the pandemic is not deterring audiences from content they want to experience on the big screen," Tunick said. "We need to more clearly communicate this message to our advertising clients and start to explore new ways of working together to engage these valuable audiences.

"It's been a very challenging year and a half and the only thing we can count on is more change. I aim to quickly figure out how to adapt, get everyone feeling good, and rowing in the same direction."

Prior to her NCM role, Tunick spent three years at WarnerMedia. In 2017, Tunick became the first vice president of operations and activation for Turner's News Ad Sales Marketing Department. Tunick juggled many duties, helping companies get the most out of their advertising dollars on CNN programming.

"I oversaw and refined the entire ad sales marketing process and policies from pre-sale to post-sale, including branded content via Courageous, CNN's award-winning in-house brand studio," Tunick said. "I also led the Activation team which provides white glove client service and implementation of global and domestic multichannel campaigns for CNN's advertisers.

"I believe that being an operations leader within a creative department at a massive B2B sales organization undergoing its own transformation has truly prepared me for NCM," Tunick said.

Prior to WarnerMedia, Tunick spent 14 years in a high-level marketing role at Grey, a global ad agency, focusing on B2C integrated marketing. She worked with movie studios, talent agencies and entertainment/content industries to formulate first-to-market ad campaigns.

Tunick has worked with advertisers such as Canon, the National Park Service, Coca-Cola, Hulu, Procter & Gamble, Walgreens, BMW and Pfizer, among others. Scott Felenstein, president of sales, marketing and partnerships at NCM, said Tunick's two decades in experiential brand marketing and leadership has prepared her for the newly-established CMO slot.

"She is an exemplary leader driven by how entertainment, culture and technology come together to form marketing content that pays dividends for brands," Felenstein said in the release. "We welcome her to NCM's senior leadership team and look forward to the many new creative ideas she will share to drive business for our advertising clients while engaging moviegoers."

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