Coworking with Amy Tunick

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Amy Tunick is CMO of cinema advertising platform National CineMedia. Previously, she worked at companies including Grey Group, WarnerMedia, and WWE.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? My favorite project was for Hulu in 2019 when I worked at CNN. We helped drive awareness and tune-in for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 through a cool experiential activation in New York’s Madison Square Park. The season focused on women’s empowerment, and the project was based on the insight that of the 150 statues in NYC, only five of them were of women. So we designed, fabricated, and erected the “missing 145 female statues,” which was a very powerful experience for thousands of passersby. Of course, we filmed it and showcased the branded content on CNN’s channels, and it drove massive results for Hulu—so much so that they continued the project in San Francisco and Boston, and then committed to erecting statues of women in other cities around the US.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? My favorite ad campaign is “The Gun Shop,” a project I worked on while at Grey. The goal was to drive awareness of the pervasive gun violence in America and discourage first-time gun buyers by debunking the myth that guns make you safer. We created a shock campaign for States United to Prevent Gun Violence by erecting a gun shop in NYC outfitted with hidden cameras and managed by a shop owner who was really an actor. The short film we produced got picked up on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, and massive press coverage ensued. This campaign won two Cannes Lions. My work on this issue inspired me to join Sandy Hook Promise’s Media Advisory Board.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I’m totally obsessed with Camp Scatico, the sleepaway camp that I went to as a camper, CIT, counselor, and now I’m an involved alum parent as both my kids attend. I believe that camp is the greatest opportunity for kids and young adults to grow, learn how to be independent, take risks, make very special friendships, have fun, play and work hard, and find yourself. The friends I met when I was 10 years old are my very best friends today—that bond is unbreakable and so is my camp pride. Go green!

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least?

I’m optimistic that the ad community continues to lean into new forms of branded entertainment, including brands investing in and owning their own entertainment studios and IP. This is a trend that comes and goes, but in the past year I’ve seen more investment and creativity in this space from brands such as Starbucks, Nike, Northwell Health, Best Buy, LVMH, and many more. As the entertainment and media ecosystem gets more fragmented and consumer attention becomes the hottest commodity, brands that invest in long-term approaches to entertainment and educational storytelling (versus interruptive messages) will see the fruits of their labor, not just with metrics such as brand love but with sales, foot traffic, and social chatter.

I’m least optimistic about the way people are now utilizing AI to write and create videos. AI is an amazing tool, but there is this overwhelming desire to use it everywhere, and it is very obvious and inauthentic when it’s leaned on too heavily, especially in LinkedIn posts. As we all learn about the best ways to adapt AI into our workstreams, processes, and tools, we need to be careful not to over- or misuse it. Humans shall prevail!

What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? I’m always struck by Evan Shapiro’s posts and content as the Media Universe Cartographer. His brilliant visualizations of data highlight macro trends and showcase the facts plainly—it’s quite hard to argue with his straightforward analysis. I find him inspiring and refreshing. He’s got it all—newsletters, podcasts, annual predictions, LinkedIn posts, etc.