ALEXANDRIA, VA, April 13, 2004 - PBS announced today that Dawn Ciccone has been named Associate Director of Cause Marketing and Licensing. Cause-marketing programs allow PBS and member stations to earn revenue for programming and services while providing high-quality products that extend public television's educational mission beyond the screen. Ms. Ciccone's primary responsibility will be the upcoming launch of PBS KIDS® Developmental Products, a line of toys and products designed to help build a child's physical, social, emotional and cognitive skills, which is due to arrive in stores this fall. Ms. Ciccone will also focus on generating revenue and new business opportunities by identifying and implementing marketing and licensing initiatives that help build support for PBS and its local member stations. Ms. Ciccone will report to Tracey L. Beeker, Vice President, PBS Strategic Partnerships. The Cause Marketing and Strategic Partnerships areas are part of the PBS Businesses division, which is lead by Executive Vice President Judy L. Harris.
"We are delighted to welcome Dawn to PBS to spearhead important cause marketing initiatives that support public television," said Ms. Beeker. "She is a strong marketer with tremendous experience developing new businesses and strategic partnerships, which will enable us to generate greater revenue opportunity for the organization."
PBS KIDS Developmental Products, which are created in partnership with child development experts, embrace free play, exploration and imagination. Each product will be packaged with information for parents and caregivers about how they can encourage children's development and individual interests through open-ended play. Licensees include Brighter Child Interactive, Small World Toys and Animal Adventure. Some categories are still available for licensing.
Another important cause-marketing program is PBS' alliance with the Mills Corporation, a leading developer of entertainment and retail destinations, to create PBS KIDS Backyards across the country. The first PBS KIDS Backyard opened in St. Louis Mills in November, 2003 and the next is scheduled to open in Cincinnati, OH in August, 2004. The PBS KIDS Backyard is not a store, but an educational environment that provides a fun place for families to play, learn and explore together. Inspired by the rich content of PBS KIDS award-winning programming, it is free and open to the public.
Prior to joining PBS, Ms. Ciccone spent many years in leadership roles in the field of Marketing and Sales Promotion. Most recently she served as a Marketing Consultant for John Boggs and Assoc. in San Diego, a company that works with professional athletes. Before that, she served as Director of Studio Relations for Kodak's Entertainment Imaging Division in Hollywood, CA where she managed the motion picture and television network relationships with Kodak.
Ms. Ciccone holds a BS in Communications from the State University of NY in Fredonia and an MBA in Business Management from the University of California in Irvine.
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 349 public television stations. Serving nearly 90 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet.
Press Contacts:
Jan McNamara, 703/739-5028, jmcnamara@pbs.org
Jill Lemcke, 703/739-5788, jlemcke@pbs.org