Cablefax The Magazine - July 2012 - 28

2012 Top Ops Awards
INDEPENDENT MARKETER OF THE YEAR
Royce Ard
Knology
Whether related to customer service, TV
Everywhere or retransmission consent fees,
enhancing consumer awareness is a key concern
in cable these days. So when a marketer
is truly successful at raising awareness about a complex issue
like retrans, we feel compelled to give him props-in this case,
to Knology's VP, Sales & Marketing Royce Ard.
Prior to a slew of impending retrans negotiations Knology
would face in Dec 2011, Ard and his team created a threephase
line of attack-before the battle even started. The fi rst
phase entailed educating consumers on retrans consent,
through a specially created Website, tweets, the company
Facebook page, press releases, letters to government offi cials
and local channel spots. The second piece involved fi ghting
back, or reacting to broadcasters' comments, by acting as a
consumer advocate and notifying customers of the potential
signal loss. And lastly, phase three was a notifi cation of the impending
blackout. But thanks to Ard's preparation and strategic
planning, they never made it to phase three.
The campaign's centerpiece was a website called www.
blackmailorblackout.com, designed to educate consumers on
retrans fees-most importantly, how they would affect subscribers'
cable bills. To ensure the message wasn't coming
from Knology alone, the team created a section on the site featuring
third-party coverage of retrans disputes, from pubs like
Variety, NY Post and Politico. There was also an FAQ section, a
message from Knology's president and a petition addressed to
congressmen and FCC commissioners, which subs could sign
and Knology would deploy. Additionally, depending on how the
broadcaster responded, the team would send the petition to
the GM of the broadcaster with whom they were negotiating at
the time. Talk about covering all your bases.
Key to Ard's success was preparation. He knew that given
the amount of markets entering negotiations, 1 or 2 would
likely reach a " face down moment. " At some point, negotiations
would probably stop. " We prepared all of the social
media statements that we were going to use during the
campaign, " said Ard. " We could tweak them-we had different
levels, and we would ratchet it up really depending upon
what the broadcaster was saying in their messaging. We
weren't really trying to escalate anything but if the messaging
escalated, we were prepared for it. "
The work on the front end paid off. At one point negotiations
with WHNT in Huntsville, Alabama, came to a standstill,
and the company threatened to take its signal down in a
week. That's when the Knology team set the plan in motion:
" We started deploying some of the actions that we had set
up, and we were able to get negotiations going again, " Ard
explains. " But not only that-quickly after that point we were
able to sign an agreement for retrans with that company. "
Perhaps a bit modestly, Ard asserts it was Knology's job to
Fast Facts
✦ On the heels of the successful " Blackmail or Blackout " campaign,
Ard and his team rolled out a proactive consumer educational
initiative in Q1 of 2012 called " Reduce Fees Please. "
✦ The " Blackout or Blackmail " campaign spurred broadcasters
to come to the negotiating table with more palatable terms,
representing an annual savings of $1 million.
✦ Before landing the VP, Sales and Marketing post, Ard served
12 years as GM for Knology's Columbus, GA, division.
simply inform the public. The rest of it was up to the customers.
" Once we got our message out and helped our customers see
the kind of money they were asking for and how it was going
to affect their bill, " he says, " the customers fought the battle-
it wasn't us. " The greatest challenge was getting through the
clutter, and showing consumers " the other side of the coin, " he
says. ACA pres and CEO Matt Polka says he did that extraordinarily
well. " He's done a great job of really boiling down the
problem, making it understandable for customers who by and
large do not understand retransmission consent, and put it in
terms that really make it real to them in terms of what they're
spending for free TV, " he says.
And according to Knology's pres Todd Holt, Ard's a true
asset. " He is a solutions-driven leader, a quality invaluable
to our company during recent retransmission negotiations, "
he said. " We consistently value both the professional and
personal traits and characteristics Royce brings to our
company-and we feel he is truly deserving of such industry
applause. "
As do we. ✴
- Kaylee Hultgren
28
cablefaxmag.com
July 2012
CableFAX: The Magazine
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