Sandy Grushow goes back to his roots

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Sandy Grushow, whose Hollywood career has taken him from film to television, to telephone companies and the Internet, is going back to his marketing roots.

The former Fox TV Entertainment Group chairman is joining advertising consulting firm MediaLink as its chief creative officer. Headed by Madison Avenue veteran Michael Kassan, MediaLink’s list of clients include Microsoft, AT&T, General Electric and Unilever. Kassan said Grushow’s role will be to ‘create programming and messaging in a different way’ for the ‘next generation of content.’

With DVRs making it easier for people to skip commercials, Grushow wants to focus on ‘new and innovative ways to communicate messages.’

In other words, Grushow will work on product placement and branded entertainment.

‘There is no question this is the wave of the future,’ Grushow said, adding that ‘what is required more than anything are people who can insert themselves into the process.’

Grushow started his career working at Fox’s movie studio in marketing and then moved over to the network and ultimately oversaw both Fox and its TV production arm. He also briefly held a senior post at Tele-TV, a short-lived programming company that was put together by three telephone companies in the mid-1990s when the telcos were invading Hollywood.

Despite all the different hats he has worn in his career, Grushow said his first love has always been marketing.

‘It’s in my blood,’ he said.

-- Joe Flint