By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
ViacomCBS Consumer Products has promoted Joann Acevedo to Senior Vice President of Softlines Licensing in North America.
As Senior Vice President, Acevedo will lead across multiple categories of business including apparel, accessories, and home furnishings. She will partner with the Toronto-based ViacomCBS Consumer Products team to expand throughout Canada.
Joann is charged with managing existing partnerships and developing new business opportunities for the company’s properties across all softlines categories. She will also focus on executing campaigns to expand the in-store footprint of ViacomCBS’ franchises.
Acevedo is based in New York and will report to Jose Castro, Senior Vice President of Fashion & Lifestyle Licensing and Global Collaborations at ViacomCBS Consumer Products.
“Joann skillfully navigates softlines licensing across the beloved ViacomCBS brands and characters while working with a complex and diverse licensee matrix,” said Castro. “She continues to inspire our partners and drive excitement for our biggest priority initiatives, securing some of the largest ViacomCBS licensing deals to date.”
Acevedo began her career as an Apparel Coordinator with the Nickelodeon Consumer Products team in 2003.
A 19-year Viacom veteran, Acevedo most recently served as Vice President of Softlines Licensing. In that role, she secured revenue-building partnerships for some of the company’s biggest franchises including SpongeBob SquarePants and Yellowstone.
Throughout her career, Acevedo has secured large strategic partnerships that extend the reach of ViacomCBS’ properties beyond the screen, developing programs such as JoJo’s Closet Apparel Collection at Target.
Acevedo is passionate about spearheading diversity and inclusion efforts for the company to better reflect the brand’s diverse audience. She has also played an integral role in socially-conscious consumer products campaigns.
This includes a reusable face mask program in partnership with Save the Children. This program resulted in approximately 4 million dollars being donated to the COVID-19 domestic and global response initiative non-profit organization.
Joann has also been responsible for doubling the ViacomCBS Consumer Products presence on e-commerce platforms, as well as launched the first-ever subscription box service for ViacomCBS properties.
Viacom Consumer Products oversees all licensing and merchandising for ViacomCBS which is a global media company that creates content and experiences for audiences worldwide.
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