Banijay Taps Twitter Alum Damien Viel

Banijay has appointed Damien Viel, former managing director for Twitter in France, as chief digital and marketing officer.

In his new role, Viel will report directly to CEO Marco Bassetti. He will explore new partnerships, further monetization strategies for Banijay’s leading brands and work on reputation-building opportunities outside the company’s core industry.

Viel spent seven years at Twitter before departing late last year. While there, he led the global brand’s local business development and operations, which included the negotiation and management of country-level partnerships. During 2018 and 2020, he was a strategy committee member for Idinvest/Eurazeo.

From 2011 to 2015, Viel worked at Google. In the latter part of his time there, he served as director of YouTube and Google Brand solutions for Southern/Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He ran the regional team, evolving and executing its branding and business strategy.

“Our industry is in an undeniable period of flux, and with further digital diversification on the horizon, we are keen to capitalize on innovation avenues to ensure we maintain our position as a frontrunner in the market,” Bassetti said. “In Damien, we have a visionary leader, with a track record that speaks for itself, and he will be a great asset to our group as we look to further fulfill our growth ambitions and elevate our brand on the global stage. In embarking on what will no doubt be a transformative journey, we are committed to bolstering the creative environment we offer our talent to ensure creativity always prospers.”

Viel added, “Digital innovation has rapidly changed how audiences consume content, and importantly, how leading storymakers share it. While tech advancements are often met with skepticism given their complexity, I’m a firm believer that innovation, creative technologies, AI and a customer-focused approach only bring further opportunity, and that is what I am keen to explore at Banijay. In its hands is a prolific portfolio of brands and the talent that creates them, a combination which will be invaluable to evolving a robust marketing strategy and exploring further opportunities to diversify and positively boost the operation.”