Viacom named Sarah Iooss senior VP of business development, putting her in charge of a group that aims to find strategic partnerships with businesses in the digital, social and mobile categories.
Iooss, who had been in Viacom's ad sales division as senior VP, Velocity Products Group, was instrumental in Viacom's deal with Snapchat that puts Viacom content on the messaging site and makes Viacom Snapchat's ad sales rep.
Viacom has realigned the business development group, moving it into its marketing strategy and engagement group. Iooss will report to both Ross Martin, executive VP of marketing strategy & engagement, and Kern Schireson, executive VP of data strategy.
Many of Viacom's cable networks are aimed at young viewers and the business development group is aimed at making sure Viacom is engaged with those consumers when they use new technologies for entertainment or communications.
Viacom said Iooss was tapped for the role because of her knowledge of and relationships with social and digital platforms, as well as her development and implementation of services and products that generate revenue, including ad revenue. In addition to Snapchat, she will continue to develop business ventures with partners including Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.
"In this transformative and convergent time in our industry, the Viacom Business Development team is an engine of growth and innovation," said Schireson. "Sarah is a proven leader whose vast network and achievements in the digital and social space made her our ideal choice for this role. We're are excited for Sarah and her team to create new value for Viacom, our partners and the fans of our brands."
The newly constituted business development team launches with 10 strategists focused on two broad categories: technology platforms, which will establish ad-supported content partnerships across digital and mobile platforms; and fan platforms, which will leverage Viacom's presence on social and create content and advertising opportunities for fans and advertising partners.
Iooss has been with Viacom for 12 years. Previously she was with at A+E Networks.
