MTV’s longtime head of marketing Tina Exarhos is exiting the company, and will be replaced by Joe Ortiz, TheWrap has learned.
Ortiz is being promoted from his current title of SVP, Strategy & Creative, MTV On-Air Promotions.
The change comes two weeks after MTV President Stephen Friedman exited and was replaced by Sean Atkins.
President of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group Doug Herzog made the announcement Thursday via an internal memo to MTV staff.
“Tina and I have talked about it a lot over the past few months and, with new leadership coming in, she sees a great opportunity to pass the baton, move on from the brand she helped build, and pursue a new adventure that we will be hearing about shortly,” he said in the memo. “Over the next few months, Tina will work with Sean Atkins on a transition plan, and will hand off leadership of the Marketing team to Joe Ortiz.”
Exarhos’ departure is the latest in a series of changes at the top-most levels of MTV this year. Herzog gained oversight of the network in Ferbuary following the departure of colleague Van Toffler. In July Susanne Daniels left her role as programming chief at the network, taking a job at YouTube. Two month’s later, Friedman’s departure and Atkins’ promotion to replace him were announced.
Read the memo from Herzog below:
After 28 years with MTV, my good friend Tina Exarhos will be leaving the company at the end of the year. Tina and I have talked about it a lot over the past few months and, with new leadership coming in, she sees a great opportunity to pass the baton, move on from the brand she helped build, and pursue a new adventure that we will be hearing about shortly. Over the next few months, Tina will work with Sean Atkins on a transition plan, and will hand off leadership of the Marketing team to Joe Ortiz.
As many of you know, Tina and I go way back. We were colleagues at MTV when we were babies, and we’ve been friends for just as long. It all came full circle when I landed back in the MTV universe earlier this year. I sat down with Tina and her team and they took me through some of their recent work. I was impressed – it was sophisticated, creative, and, more than anything, very MTV.
That’s the story of Tina’s career. Through every change in culture and our audience, Tina has always stayed a step ahead, evolving her own skills, the department and its work to keep the MTV brand relevant. With the Millennials at MTV’s doorstep, she spearheaded a bold redesign of the MTV logo in 2010 that put the audiences’ faces at the center of the brand. When the network made the decision to double down on scripted, she directed provocative campaigns for series like “Teen Wolf,” “Finding Carter,” and “Scream.” When social transformed how we engaged audiences, she championed 365-day marketing strategies to keep audiences hooked between seasons.
Over the years, her team’s campaigns have delivered viewers to some of MTV’s most famous and infamous moments at the VMAs and Movie Awards. Their creative has elevated so many of the brand’s award-winning pro-social campaigns, from “A Thin Line” to “Look Different.” Look at any of MTV’s historic launches – from “The Real World” to “Yo! MTV Raps,” “Beavis & Butt-head” to “Jackass,” to “Jersey Shore,” to one of her greatest passions – “Choose or Lose” – and you’ll find Tina’s name in the credits.
That’s a hall of fame resume. But, behind the list of accomplishments and accolades, there’s the Tina that I and many of you know – funny, warm, full of integrity and passion about great people and creative, lover of great ideas and great music. It’s no surprise that she leaves us with an excellent team that won’t miss a beat. Her love for this brand and its people are a big reason why she’s been one of its driving creative forces.
Please join me in thanking Tina for everything she’s given to MTV, and wishing her the very best of luck.
-Doug
