Alan Cohen, who pioneered big consumer marketer promotional tie-ins
for major TV networks 1980s and 1990s, and later went on to lead major media agencies, died Tuesday. He was 69.
As head of marketing at NBC in the 1980s and ABC in the 1990s, Cohen helped
pioneer the field of network TV consumer promotional tie-ins with big brands, often doing battle with rival CBS' George Schweitzer in a ongoing game of one-ups-manship to see who could come up with
the biggest and most creative tie-ins to help promote the networks' programming schedules during a period of audience -- and on-air promo -- fragmentation.
Cohen eventually jumped to the
agency-side, serving as president of Interpublic's Initiative West unit, and CEO of Omnicom's OMD USA, before co-founding his own independent media services agency, Giant Spoon.
A memorial
service will be held Nov. 12 at 2:00 PM (ET) on Zoom on his tribute page.
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