Alexandra Shapiro
Senior Vice President, Brand Marketing and Digital, USA Network
Since she’s been at USA, Shapiro played a key role in the channel’s first-ever branding effort including the creation of a new logo, tagline, positioning and launch campaign. Additionally she has overseen the consumer campaigns for the record-breaking launches of the network’s critically acclaimed hit series "Monk," "The 4400," "The Dead Zone," "Peacemakers," "Kojak," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," and the Emmy-nominated miniseries "Traffic." Shapiro lead the strategic positioning and the media/promotional/digital support tactics for all of USA’s tent pole events, including three of USA’s newest original series, the critically-acclaimed #1 new series of the year in 2006, PSYCH; the #1 new series of 2007, "Burn Notice"; and the #1 new series of 2008, "In Plain Sight."
Shapiro manages the channel’s digital efforts including oversight of usanetwork.com, original web content development, mobile and EST. The site has garnered awards including the Web Marketing Association’s Broadcast "Website of the Year" and a Silver BDA for "Best Consumer Website." Also overseeing the award winning viral campaign behind THE 4400, Shapiro and her team developed a fully integrated online campaign to support the fifth season launch, with the creation of seven micro sites and over 70 viral videos. Recent successes include the creation of USA’s freestanding casual gaming site, Character Arcade, which houses over 50 original games.
Shapiro also developed and launched Show Us Your Character, the first-ever social networking community by a TV network and the channel’s first aggressive digital marketing initiative. The multi-tiered campaign included showusyourcharacter.com, a national contest for the most unique character in America; an on-air image campaign; a five market mobile tour; street teams and digital/alternative media. The project was critically acclaimed with 50K members to date and was an OMA Finalist.
Shapiro is also responsible for the channel’s ad sales marketing initiatives and continues to drive value for the brand through best-in-class character-centric marketing solutions across all platforms.
It was Shapiro who provided Madison Avenue with a new gold standard for product integration by executing one of the biggest marketing efforts in USA’s history for the Emmy-award winning original television event, THE STARTER WIFE. Shapiro, with the help of her team, implemented a massive 360° branding campaign that included a media blitz, grassroots/guerilla outreach, promotional partnerships with brands including POND’S (the exclusive presenting sponsor), Essie Nail polish and Simon & Schuster, and a robust digital effort. Most recently she applied the same marketing rigor to a partnership between BURN NOTICE and GM’s Saab 9-3. Alliance included in-show integration, creation of Covert Ops (an immersive alternate reality game and the most popular game in the network’s history), off-channel co-branded marketing and aggressive on-air support.
Currently, Shapiro has been the leader in a series of brand initiatives inspired by USA’s “Characters Welcome” tagline and designed to celebrate the inspiring, surprising and buzz worthy individuals that shape our nation’s character.
She headed the first-ever Character Approved Awards, a program created to honor individuals from a cross-section of creative disciplines who are positively influencing American culture. In its inaugural year, USA selected seven visionary characters based on their cultural impact, legacy and personas. The honorees were featured in long-form vignettes directed by Henry Alex Rubin on primetime in January, providing an inside look at the lives, the work and influences of their character, and continue to be featured across the network’s programming and online as extended length videos at characterapproved.usanetwork.com. Each honoree was granted the “Character” award, a tabletop steel figurine that was handcrafted by Los Angeles sculptor Bruce Gray.
She spearheaded the launch of Character Project, an ongoing artistic initiative to capture the character of America and pay tribute to the extraordinary people, from all walks of life, who make this country unique. With the support of Aperture Foundation, USA assembled a team of 11 world-class photographers to create a photography book entitled American Character: A Photographic Journey. Published by Chronicle Books and with a foreword by internationally-renowned journalist Tom Brokaw, the book will be available in March, across the country and internationally. The photographs from the book will also be on display in a touring exhibition, co-hosted by Vanity Fair, beginning in New York City and visiting six additional cities: Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Character Project photography will additionally be featured in a national print, on-air and out-of-home campaign on USA, and as part of a community affairs outreach program.
And in January of this year, Shapiro also lead the charge on Characters Unite, a new multimedia platform committed to combating prejudice and intolerance while advancing acceptance and understanding with key components supporting the initiative, including a multimedia pledge drive for tolerance and understanding, the creation of an advisory board of national organizations, and plans to field a national opinion survey to assess issues and attitudes related to intolerance and prejudice. The on-air and on-line campaign kicked-off with aggressive call-to-action promos asking Americans, despite their individual differences, to sign an online pledge for unity and mutual respect. The pledge serves as the digital centerpiece for the charactersunite.com launch, with actions people can do in their daily lives to combat intolerance and prejudice, community features where people can share their personal stories and ideas, as well as an interactive Facebook application.
Before joining USA, Shapiro was director of marketing for the online teen community Web site for Zoggle.com Inc., also in New York. At Zoggle.com, Shapiro developed the brand positioning and grassroots marketing plan for online brand and teen-targeted credit card. From 1998 to 2000, Shapiro was senior marketing manager/global account supervisor at Calvin Klein, Inc. in New York where she worked on cK Calvin Klein Jeans and Calvin Klein Underwear. In that capacity, she managed the integrated global marketing for Calvin Klein’s largest and fastest growing businesses across all divisions. This included advertising, packaging, and promotions.. Shapiro was also responsible for interfacing with global licensee partners and Calvin Klein operating divisions to develop and ensure consistent brand message internationally.
Shapiro, a Brown University graduate, began her career at Leo Burnett Company, USA in Chicago, where she rose through the ranks from 1994 to 1998 as a client service associate, assistant account executive, account executive and finally, senior account executive. As a senior account executive, she was the principal agency contact responsible for managing the development, production and evaluation of marketing strategies and advertising for Marlboro promotions and customer loyalty initiatives.
A former board member the Chicago-based theatre company Roadworks, Shapiro has been an active supporter of Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including “Speed the Plow”. She officially produced the off-Broadway play “Family Secrets.” She has also co-executive produced the short “Zoë Loses It” with MTV Films and associate produced the short film “One Life, which aired on Showtime. She currently sits on the board of Scenarios USA, a nonprofit organization that uses writing and filmmaking to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-expression in under-served teens. Shapiro is proficient in Italian and French, and is also a gourmet cook.
