Peacock is restructuring its marketing operations, leading to layoffs

The series of departmental shakeups at NBCUniversal, which began last summer with leadership changes following the departure of CEO Jeff Shell, continues.

Today, Peacock’s marketing team has been rebuilt by Shannon Willett, who joined the company last year as chief marketing officer. This follows yesterday’s shakeup at NBCUniversal’s ad sales division.

A number of jobs, reportedly fewer than 50, have been eliminated as a result of the two reorganizations, sources told Deadline. More than twenty new positions will be created to fit in with the new structure and direction.

In a company memo (which you can read below), Willett outlined Peacock Marketing’s new organizational structure, divided into five areas: Branding and Marketing; Title Creative and Marketing; Strategy, planning, analysis and performance media led by Nic Julich; Growth and Lifecycle Marketing led by Anna Frost; and advertising, events and talent engagement led by Shannon Buck.

In the email, Willett also acknowledged the ongoing layoffs.

In addition to Peacock Marketing and NBCU Advertising Sales, NBCU’s Research and Decision Sciences Division was also recently restructured, resulting in staff cuts.

Here is Willett’s email:

Hello everyone,

I am reaching out to you today to share an update on the Peacock Marketing organization. Given Peacock’s growth trajectory and the changing landscape around us, we’ve spent a lot of time over the past year thinking about what we can do as a team to better support the company. Through this process, we saw an opportunity to rethink the way we work to drive Peacock’s next phase of growth. Today, we’re announcing an evolved marketing structure that will enable us to work smarter, bring more expertise and strategy to the business, and move faster by breaking down silos and deepening collaboration within our team and with our key partners.

Our new organization will focus on five core pillars, each of which has a direct impact on business strategy: branding and marketing; Title Creative and Marketing; marketing strategy, planning, analysis and performance media; growth and life cycle marketing; and advertising, events and talent engagement. We heard from many of you and our partners that our structure was complex, and we are confident that this streamlined approach will help us simplify our processes, accelerate decision-making and give us exposure to a deeper range of marketing capabilities to build careers. in what we can learn and grow.

Here you will find an overview of our new structure and the five business areas that report to me:
· Brand Creative and Marketing: This new pillar will be responsible for brand positioning, strategy and design identity and will be led by the EVP of Brand Creative and Marketing, a new leadership role we are hiring for.
· Title Creation and Marketing: This new team will oversee the planning and execution of our Peacock scripted and single title film campaigns and will be led by the SVP of Title Creation and Marketing, a new leadership role we are hiring for.
· Strategy, Planning, Analytics and Performance Media: Nic Julich will continue to lead this team with a broader scope, focusing on data-driven decisions and testing across the marketing organization as well as performance media.
· Growth and Lifecycle Marketing: Anna Frost will continue to lead this expanded team, which will serve as the primary hub for our ongoing marketing efforts focused on subscriber acquisition, engagement and retention.
· Advertising, Events and Talent Engagement: This team will continue to be led by Shannon Buck and will handle series and film promotions, events and talent engagement, all of which remain key drivers of our overall brand and business.

As you may have heard, some colleagues have left the company as a result of this restructuring and we have had discussions with these team members today. In addition, we will also be recruiting new employees for new key positions, including at management level, to support the new team.

As we go through this transition, we will continue to share as much as possible about what is changing, how it affects you, and what opportunities lie ahead.

Shannon