Christine Merrifield

President, Video Investment and Activation, MediaVest USA

By Jon Lafayette -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/27/2012 12:01:00 AM

When Donna Speciale left the agency business to join Turner Broadcasting at the beginning of the year, Christine Merrifield was promoted to be the head buyer at MediaVest, which represents giant clients including Walmart, Coca-Cola and Kraft. The move made Merri! eld a power player just as the industry gears up for another upfront.

While the two executives have different personalities—Speciale speaks more freely in dealing with the networks—sales executives expect the transition to be seamless. Merrifield, with more than two decades of experience in the industry dating back to her start at Grey Advertising in 1988, had already been hands-on in running the agency’s upfront negotiations in previous years and is well-known among media buyers. And while their personalities differ, Merrifield and Speciale have similar business styles: They are both capable and smart, know their clients’ businesses and have reputations for being very straightforward when dealing with vendors.