Clayton Brings RCA Flavor, Execs To Sirius

LAS VEGAS— If the tone and the message of the Sirius Satellite Radio's CES press conference, hosted by president, CEO and resident ringmaster Joe Clayton had a distinctive RCA feel from the mid-1990s when Thomson rolled out DirecTV, it was no accident.

Clayton, the wily and successful RCA veteran, turned to the people that brought him much success in the past when he managed the DirecTV rollout, among several successful introductions. Cowboy Maloney's Con, Eddie and Johnny Maloney will be involved in the initial Sirius rollout in Jackson, Miss., the same role Clayton assigned them when introducing DirecTV. Sarnoff Corp., as well ex-senior VP/chief operating officer of Thomson, Jim Meyer, signed on as consultants. The approach does have a distinctive RCA feel.

Many on Clayton's new management team spent successful years with him at Thomson. Here is the lineup:

• Guy Johnson has joined Sirius as executive VP of sales and marketing. A 20-year CE veteran with RCA, GE and Thomson, was most recently senior VP of sales and product management-Americas.
• Stan Kozlowski has been named retail marketing VP is another 20-year veteran from Thomson, RCA and GE. Among many jobs at RCA he was sales&marketing manager for DirecTv's initial rollout when he was with Thomson in 1994. Most recently he was senior VP of sales and marketing at the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative.
• Jeff Peace, western regional sales manger, was the former VP/general manager of Thomson's Western Sales Department and has worked in the CE industry for more than 25 years.
• Russ Fyke, VP midwest sales, has been in the industry for more than 27 years with RCA, GE and Thomson in a variety of sales jobs.

Meanwhile, Tom Steckbeck, VP retail marketing and distribution, will take on the added role of VP eastern retail and national accounts. Prior to joining Sirius, Steckbeck was in charge of Panasonic's Mobile Entertainment and Information Division where he was responsible for sales, marketing, distribution and other functions of the division.

As Clayton noted, "There is no coincidence that looking across these new hires you will find RCA Consumer Electronics as the commonality. These individuals have played a large part in the sales and marketing successes of the RCA brand, making RCA a household name. I fully expect they can help drive Sirius to similar success."

Clayton's love of mascots continues in his new job. Complaining that he always played second banana to Nipper and his family when he was with RCA and Thomson, Clayton introduced Sirius, a West Highland Scottish terrier named after the company. The mascot will probably be featured in ads and the many retail promo events the company president has scheduled for this year.