Maurizio Vitale has been tapped to take charge of all marketing and promotional efforts for the Oprah Winfrey Network at it preps for a January 1, 2011 launch.
Vitale was named OWN's senior vice president of marketing Thursday. He will be responsible for the "brand identity and positioning" of the fledgling network.
Prior to joining OWN, Vitale was senior vice president for marketing and communications at Discovery Networks EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa). He came to Discovery from MTV Europe Networks where he oversaw all "Pan-European" programming.
Vitale will report directly to OWN CEO Christina Norman.
"Maurizio has done a phenomenal job for the Discovery Networks internationally, providing creative messaging and a fresh and relevant perspective, I know he will be a strong member of my team, and look forward to tapping into his extensive knowledge as we launch OWN,” Norman said.
OWN is a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Harpo, Inc., Oprah Winfrey's production company.
