WarnerMedia Ad Sales is building on its leadership team with two key appointments announced today by President of Ad Sales, JP Colaco. Laura Dames is now EVP, Marketing and Andrea Zapata joins the company as Head of Research, Data and Insights.
Both industry veterans bring a wealth of experience to the group, complementing a leadership team that includes Katrina Cukaj, EVP of Ad Sales & Client Partnerships and Amy Leifer, EVP of Pricing, Planning & Operations.
“Andrea and Laura are both talented, innovative leaders who each bring a diverse array of history and expertise to our team, skills that are needed as we build the industry’s most effective video advertising service,” said Colaco.
Colaco adds, “It’s critical that as we share the full story of our IP, our value proposition to marketers and the results generated on their behalf are seamless and impactful. These dynamic leaders and their incredible teams will take our beloved suite of brands to the next level through marketing collaboration, insights and attribution.”
Laura Dames
Dames joins the team as a WarnerMedia veteran with close to 30 years of wide-ranging experience. In her previous role as executive vice president and general manager of WarnerMedia Studios, she led a studio with a broad range of creative and technical capabilities, including production, post-production, design, live events, emerging media, social media monitoring, and content generation.
Prior to joining the studio team, she spent time in Ad Sales, where she helped create portfolio-wide sales strategy and communication, and launched a newly-formed Marketplace Image department. Dames spent the first 21 years of her career within the Turner Entertainment Networks team, in a variety of leadership roles, spanning business and marketing operations.
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Andrea Zapata
Zapata comes to WarnerMedia with a wealth of digital and linear experience spanning data and sales. Most recently she was vice president of West Coast Sales at Vevo, responsible for building on the momentum of their U.S. sales teams’ in-market strategy and maximizing the value of premium music videos.
She was also vice president of data innovation and insights at Effectv, the Advertising Sales Division of Comcast Cable, overseeing their data innovation and measurement team as well as the in-market client research team.
Prior to Effectv, she had her first role at Vevo, as Vice President of Data and Analytics. She built the research practice from the ground up, making critical changes in Vevo’s go-to-market sales narrative. Earlier, she was head of research at Hulu and held various research positions at ESPN.
The marketing role was previously held by Cukaj who moved into her sales position in late March. The research role is a newly-formed executive position.
Reel 360 wishes Andrea and Laura the best of luck in their new roles.
