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New ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee has made his first executive move. EVP marketing Mike Benson is stepping down, leaving fellow EVP Marla Provencio as the sole head of the network’s marketing department. Lee is said to be looking to go in a new direction with the network’s marketing strategy. Benson and Provencio were named EVPs marketing for the ABC Entertainment Group in June 2009, overseeing together all marketing for ABC’s primetime and late-night programs. Benson joined ABC Entertainment in 1998 as SVP advertising and promotion. The move comes as ABC is wrapping up its fall launch marketing campaign designed to support the network’s seven new fall series.
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This is unfortunate. Mike is one of the good guys over there. Very creative and a good all around person. Marla is equally talented in her own right. Just sad to see Mike go.
If you look at all the people who have fled ABC Marketing recently, it wasn’t such a good place. Benson is a bit my way or the highway. I guess he’s now on the highway…
I’d step down too… how in the world do you sell this Fall’s slate?
Someone needed to be fired for those horrid My Generation billboards.
Long time coming. Brought nothing to the department. His inexperience was stunning.
The No Ordinary Family billboards make My Generation look like an award winning campaign. Truly the worst fall TV campaigns ever. Mike may be a good guy, but time for some new marketing blood at ABC.
Mike was a nightmare to work with. Few on staff are sad to see him leave. Mike is a Pompous ego maniac. He was protected by Steve M. but no more! Mike always presses everyone for the strategy but doesnt really himself ever have any strategic vision himself, only it is Cool. Marla has always been the nicer of the two.
strategy. that is so funny.
benson never understood jack about strategy
one can only imagine the benson/lee come to jesus meeting…
the tap dancing, denials, finger pointing and buzz wording must have been priceless
Benson
but paul… i own Promax
but paul…that’s simply not true
but paul…that whole thing was Steve’s fault
but paul… you and I know that show didn’t have any good jokes
but paul…outdoor is over rated
but paul… research says females LOVE andy gellers voice overs
but paul…i guess that depends on your definition of the word “stale”
but paul…we “get” social media…we “get” viral…I was on myspace first Paul.
but paul…remember the yellow and black campaign? Me Paul. All me.
paul?
paul?
paul?
I can not agree more.
he is a dumb man. i never understood how he kept his job, but i felt the same way about Stevie Mac. the guy NEVER bought one show that was good, he inherited everything he had. and if not for the brilliance of sitting promo dept the mediocre shows ( like Grey’s) wouldn’t have made a peep.
hopefully they know well enough to leave the rest of the group intact until they can see how they sell quality product next season.
good riddance to dead weight.
I like Mike, but he’s been phoning it in for a while now. How much of this can be laid at the feet of McPherson? Hard to say. Steve was the epitome of micro-management and stuck his fingers into everything–especially the creative.
ABC’s creative effort of late has been less than mediocre, bordering on cringe-worthy. Not only the billboards–the print ads are bland and don’t sell the shows at all. There’s no theme, no story-telling, no excitement being built behind the shows. No reason to watch. And this fall is more competitive than usual, especially since NBC has decided to show up, all dressed up and ready to play in the big leagues.
Meh, it’s easy to criticize.
Say what you will about the current campaigns, but it’s pretty tough to dress up the shit that ABC has this year. Mike is a class act and a great guy. Sad to see him go and get blamed for the utter crap that Steve picked up. Paul Lee coming in after Steve is like Obama cleaning up after Bush…it’s going to take some time to right the ship. Now he needs to turn his attention to the creative departments and get rid of the Steve ass kissers who are desperately trying to hold onto their jobs. I hear that several people over there are hearing the ax might be swinging their way.
cmon now
anyone who ever worked with, near or around benson knows he’s a total poseur
soft as they come
abc’s campaigns under this guy were flat as piss on a highway
nuff said
NEXT!
Mike is a great guy and strong marketing executive. I worked with him on a few projects and would follow him any day, anywhere he goes. Same for Marla. They both are extremely gracious and thoughtful.
ABC needs new direction and needs to look outside the same old same old establishment. They need to hires new blood from outside entertainment industry for new creative thinking. They need to get out of their own box. Walt Disney never liked “YES MEN”. ABC has the potential to go to whole new levels.
Yeah…that’s worked great at the movie studio.
Also Sandy Christmas needs to go. She is too old and a hot mess
Sandy is not a “hot mess” Sandy is nothing but professional, hard working and an asset to ABC. If you perceived her to be a hot mess, than you must not have had your “mess” together!
Uh, has anyone looked at how badly ABC Daytime market’s its soaps?
Folks, no matter what people say about soap operas dying, there’s still money to be made. Look at Univision. It’s whole schedule is virtually soap, soap, soap, soap. It’s demos crushed the big 4′s. ABC Daytime has had several popular stars return but the shows FAIL to market the stars or the shows.
The reality is that the ratings soaps get are equal or better to most cable networks. Why can’t they monetize that sufficiently? Why can’t they build excitement? Where’s the product placement?
These planted comments about Mike being “one of the good guys” are incredibly entertaining, I actually spit my coffee out laughing. He’s one of the most uncreative, unoriginal, selfish egomaniacs you’ll ever meet. Go ahead, take a meeting with him…pay close attention and you’ll realize in 20 minutes that this guy has no idea what he’s talking about – except when he’s taking credit for the success of Lost. ABC’s marketing campaigns have been nothing short of flat-out AWFUL for years. Terrible key art, lame attempts at being “cool” on the web and promo spots that look more like the Hallmark Channel. Did you SEE Flash Forward’s launch campaign?? Laughable. And that was a Triple A priority. They’ve blown a lot of opportunities regarding shows that could have made it, if only they had some solid creative promotion behind them; it’s a sad fact for show creators. Benson’s friendship with McPherson was the only thing keeping him in the job – it certainly wasn’t performance. The No Ordinary Family campaign is stunningly bad for a show about a super-powered family, with a strong cast. ABC has no marketing vision, shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, Dancing with the Stars and Greys Anatomy have been on auto pilot for a long time, and Modern Family’s success has NOTHING to do with the marketing – it’s a great show. Paul has his work cut out for him, but the things he’s been doing at ABC Family show he’s got what it takes. But let’s look at the positives: KSTP in Minnesota is getting a new marketing coordinator with a really impressive-sounding resume (and he worked on Lost)! Everyone wins.
It’s quite apptopriate that someone should lose his job over ABC’s fall campaigns (and of course the money/marketing sinkjole of the burned-off summer series as well).
But ABC has a lot more people to fire before they get their shit together, and ABC Studios in particular is filled with creatively lazy execs who, before Steve got fired, were pushing a Charlie’s Angels remake as innovative development. Paul Lee needs to fire more people if only to scare the crap out of the people he lets stay on.
ABC has a rough year ahead of it.
ABC under Mc Pherson thought they needed a “Big Idea” to make a show. Drug induced ideas. Crazy unrelatable and out of the box pitches that they convinced themselves were art. I think this is because McPherson connects to life in big implosive mood swings because he is bi polar. What ABC shows need are great characters and great writing and great casting. They keep setting up shows that are all flash and no substance with no series inside. They sadly believe audiences are stupid. Whatever their market research is it really sucks.
Barry Jossen at ABC Studios is such a nothing. Has no creative vision. No leadership skills. No passion or fire. A doughy yes man. Josh was completely unfit for his job. He dumbed everything down in his path. And then on the lower level the D girls are as obnoxious and entitled as they come. Nicole Norwood, Sheryl with three names…get them out now. They speak in cliches. They are parodies of parodies. Cringe inducing. Everyone at my agency loathes them.
It’s easy to hide behind comments on thevinterwebs, but mike wad a class act. He had a ton of energy and was always trying to do things differently. Ultimately, you can’t argue with results. How many abc shows gave opened big only to fall flat because the creative sucked (flash forward,v, etc.) the job has gotten done, and well. Sad day to see him go.
Oh, no. Does this mean we won’t have anymore “Man Date” campaigns?
Whoever’s responsible for the No Ordinary Family billboards SHOULD be out of a job.
He perfected micromanaging and brought it to a whole new level, an art form, really, while having no knowledge or interest in the subjects. Truly an “amazing” guy…..
The most amazing thing about Benson’s fraudulent career is that it has lasted this long. He inherited the worst department in
the history of tv marketing and he never did one thing to make it better. He leaves a stunning legacy.
Good riddance! Truly, truly awful at his job and a complete a-hole. I’ve put up with plenty of egomaniacs (par for the course in this town), but often times you shrug your shoulder and go…at least they’ve got some talent to back up the attitude. Not so with Benson. Drive around town. Look at the posters for their new shows. It’s stunning how bad they are. “From Ordinary to Extraordinary.” How long did it take those geniuses to come up with that one? I guess anyone can come up with a tagline for a major network show. How about this: “From Good to Great.” Or wait… “From Credible to Incredible.”! Brilliant huh? I see a “spirits” business in Mike’s future.
this guy = one of the reasons broadcast TV promotion is so boring & so bland
this middle of the road blonde executive
this…the bar is ‘ankle high’….guy
road tested in those creative hot spots—minnesota and VH1???
-puleeese
the whole posuer, Promax syndrome
this is one bad manager and bad guy that the business is better off without.
back to manitoba for this douche
First of all I’ve known Mike Benson all of his life. He’s a visonary person with a passion for what he does. To those people with negative comments, you should maybe review your own insecurities. Sure it’s easy to sit behind a keyboard and blast a person, but walk a day in his shoes and then, give us your opinion.
Please let all of us know who is perfect in every part of their professional life. This will allow us to fully understand what perfect is, because obviously…you’re perfect!
One of the great ironies that is Mike Benson, was his driving obsession with being perceived as hip — both personally and, extending to, the department. It didn’t matter if campaigns were creative, effective, or had any any strategy behind them whatsoever. As long as they had some nebulous cool factor attached. Problem was, the sole person making this “hipness” determination was, hilariously, Mike Benson. The whitest guy in the room.