• by David Goetzl , March 20, 2007

At a time when NBC Universal is making noise about offering advertisers upfront guarantees based on engagement metrics, the company has taken action. It hired a high-profile sales strategist who has already engineered deals predicated on ROI. Debbie Reichig, a former Court TV executive, has been tapped as NBCU's senior vice president-market development.

Reichig, who left Court TV a year ago after it was taken over by Turner, will report to Beth Comstock, who now oversees all sales efforts.

While Reichig's duties at NBCU generally fall under the wide umbrella of attracting new ad dollars, she is expected to help work with the buy-side on reaching accords on issues such as commercial ratings, valuing DVR-enabled viewing, and developing standards where NBCU demonstrates that its platforms provide marketers with satisfactory ROI.

"Debbie is an incredibly innovative thinker whose insights into the worlds of sales, marketing and research make her perfectly suited to serve as the bridge ... ," Comstock said.

Reichig's role also encompasses new business outreach, with the apparent goal of boosting spending on NBCU's growing array of emerging platforms, likely built on research insight into consumer consumption behavior. That's an area she was known for at Court TV. Reichig was senior vice president-sales strategy at that network.

NBCU's research head Alan Wurtzel has said that NBC would tender advertisers upfront guarantees, based on engagement metrics developed in conjunction with IAG Research. Reichig already has experience in orchestrating upfront deals in that vein.

At Court TV, Reichig helped the network stake a claim as the channel most open to working with advertisers to ensure their satisfaction with their buys. Put another way, Court TV delivered sought-after ROI. The network broke ground by offering advertisers and agencies proof that their spots ran as planned via an electronic verification system--a benefit to retail, film and other marketers whose ads have a shorter shelf-life.

In 2005, Reichig spearheaded the launch of a 16-member ROI Council to foster dialogue with the buying community to determine what their standards would be for ROI accountability. The effort led to several breakthrough upfront deals with major agencies using audience engagement measures as part of the guarantee.

Before Court TV, Reichig worked as senior vice president-marketing and research at iVillage (now part of NBCU). She also spent time at Comedy Central.