CNN did not have to go too far to find its next creative and marketing head.
Otto Bell is taking over CNN’s creative unit as senior vice president and chief creative officer.
Bell was the founder and chief creative officer of Courageous, CNN’s commercial brand studio, prior to his new role.
In his new role, Bell will be responsible for all the on-air and off-channel brand and marketing for all CNN Worldwide businesses, including CNN, CNN International, CNN Digital, and CNN en Español.
He will report to Kristine Coratti Kelly, CNN’s EVP and head of global communications.
Bell spent eight years at Courageous, and in that time, he worked closely with numerous CNN teams to deliver hundreds of campaigns for hundreds of advertisers, all while pioneering profitable new revenue streams such as brand-funded Short Form Documentaries, Events, and Experiences, VR/AR, Live Advertising, High Impact Digital Takeovers, Podcasts, Feature Films and Series.
Before that, he founded and led Oglivy’s Entertainment practice.
Bell will be based in CNN’s New York offices and takes over from Atlanta-based Rick Lewchuk, who was let go during CNN’s company-wide layoffs back in December.
Lewchuck had been with CNN since 2012 and, in a memo to staffers, said that CNN was “realigning around in-house production and consolidating creative and strategy roles in New York.”