Discovery brings on an AOL vet to broaden its e-commerce marketing reach
Discovery Commerce, the retail, licensing and direct-to-consumer arm of Discovery Communications Inc., has named Patrick Gates as executive vice president of Consumer Direct, a new business unit within the Discovery Commerce division.
Gates comes to Discovery from AOL Time Warner, where he was senior vice president, e-commerce, and led AOL’s e-commerce marketing and merchandising initiatives including target shopping sites and consumer loyalty programs.
Discovery is planning to promote its products beyond the core of loyal fans of its TV programming. Discovery expects Gates’ background working with an aggregator of retailers will help it reach that goal. “Discovery has loyal consumers who are aligned with their brand and make up a tremendous fan base,” he tells InternetRetailer.com. “I bring a broader-based marketing perspective that will make Discovery more relevant to such shopping aggregators as Google, Froogle and BizRate.”
Gates has also held executive positions at Home Shopping Network, where he was senior vice president of marketing and senior vice president of programming; QVC Inc., where he was divisional merchandise manager; and at Barney’s New York and Neiman Marcus.
Back...
