BBC beefs up U.S. licensing biz with Mattel exec Tom Keefer
Tom Keefer is new senior VP of Global Licensing
-- Kids Today, 5/20/2009 7:45:00 AM
NEW YORK—BBC Worldwide appointed former Mattel executive Tom Keefer to senior vice president of Global Licensing as part of plan to more aggressively target business in the U.S. market.
Keefer will be responsible for growing licensing opportunities across BBC Worldwide’s portfolio of children’s and adult brands.
“One of our core objectives when restructuring the business last year was examining untapped potential in territories outside the U.K., especially the U.S. where such a high proportion of the world’s licensing revenue is made,” said Neil Ross Russell, managing director, BBC Worldwide Children’s and Licensing, in a report by Playthings, a sister publication of Kids Today. “Tom is the ideal candidate to drive growth in this fundamental part of our business. He brings a wealth of invaluable experience which will inform a new global licensing strategy to maximize value from our fantastic portfolio of brands both in the U.S. and across the rest of the world.”
Keefer joins BBC Worldwide with 30 years of global licensing and brand-building experience, having spearheaded the development of licensing programs for businesses and brands such as L.A. Gear, K-Swiss, Mattel—where he was head of International Marketing & Boys Licensing and SVP, general manager—and most recently for FIFA/2010 World Cup.
In his new role, Keefer will lead BBC Worldwide’s existing U.K. and International Licensing teams and work alongside Susanna Pollack, SVP TV Sales, Co-Productions and Children’s on building children’s brands in the U.S. market, and oversee the development of adult licensing on brands such as BBC Earth, Doctor Who and Top Gear.
“I’m honored to be joining the BBC Worldwide team to further develop global licensing initiatives for such an impressive portfolio of world-class intellectual property,” Keefer said.
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