Mike Rosen

Rosen joined Telemundo Media in early 2013 after several years as a top media buyer at Starcom Mediavest Group—and he has used that unique buyer’s perspective to lead the Hispanic-focused Telemundo and mun2 nets into the increasingly multiplatform future. If his lack of sales background produced skepticism, it didn’t last long: After only a few weeks on the job, he had delivered double-digit volume growth in a record 2013 upfront season, including wooing 20 new advertisers to Telemundo Media. Rosen also worked with the NBCU sales team to offer the first-ever “total market” push for advertisers to reach Hispanics across NBCU’s linear and digital properties—in both English- and Spanish-language venues.

Especially on the digital front, Rosen has moved aggressively to capitalize on Hispanic audiences’ copious use of mobile devices to consume content. “Mobile is both a first and second screen to so many Hispanic consumers, and we are producing every type of content to feed that need,” he says. “And the geo-targeting, capabilities of mobile are allowing us to offer marketers the chance to reach Hispanic consumers while they are in physical reach of their products.” As for sales success, Rosen says it’s pretty simple. “Salespeople should not walk into a meeting thinking they know what they need to sell, but to find out what the customer wants to buy,” he says. “Just like we do not walk into a clothing store only to have the salesperson walk up to us with the shirt and pants already picked out before you came in the door. We are most effective when we let the clients’ needs direct the conversation and the solutions.”