Rick Lewchuk, formerly senior vice president, creative marketing and brand standards for CNN Worldwide, has launched new firm Film at 11 Marketing, through which Lewchuck will coach news, sports and entertainment marketers.
“In my career as a marketing executive, I had a dual role: Yes, the responsibility of overseeing our marketing and creative efforts, and also the role of coaching my teams,” said Lewchuk in a statement. “That was the advantage that the large organizations for which I worked had. They could have an executive with decades of experience to work with and develop the next generations of talent. Unfortunately, many smaller networks, station groups, and local stations don't have that luxury. That is where bringing in a coach with experience will add effectiveness to any marketing team's efforts.”
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For more than a decade, Lewchuk oversaw on-air and off-channel brand and marketing for all CNN Worldwide businesses including CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, HLN, CNN Go, and CNN Digital. His responsibilities included brand messaging, on-air promotion, design, out-of-home, radio, television and digital marketing campaigns. His team was recognized as Promax's Global Excellence Marketing Team of the Year for six years running. It also received the Emmy for outstanding promotional announcement in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020.
Lewchuk joined CNN in 2012 after serving for nearly 20 years in senior-level executive positions at CTV, a division of Canada's Bell Media. Starting in 2007, he was senior vice president of Bell Media Agency and brand strategy, based in Toronto. He led a team of designers, writers, producers and media planners who were responsible for all aspects of marketing for two broadcast networks, 28 television stations and 34 cable networks. His Bell Media team was recognized as Promax's Global Excellence Marketing Team of the Year during the final year of his tenure.
Prior to that, Lewchuk was senior vice president of program planning and promotion at CTV beginning in 1998. In this position, he oversaw the on-air and off-channel creative for the CTV Television Network, its affiliates, and all of its cable channels as well as the programming for the CTV. He created original brands including The Comedy Network, CTV News Channel, and Business News Network, and launched Canadian versions of brands that include MTV and E!
Lewchuk began his career in local television and moved into promotions early on, progressing from a local station promotion manager to director of marketing for Baton Broadcasting, which at the time was the largest station group in Canada.