Christian Music’s WOW Brand Gets New Leader with Hiring Of Ryan Mcneary From Shop at Home and Aol

Added Terry Hemmings, president and CEO of Provident Music Group: "The future benefit of the WoW brand as a both a music product and an industry category driver will be to strengthen WoW’s relationship with consumers, giving root to new branches of the WoW brand that will connect with Christian music fans in both traditional and non-traditional outlets and remaining flexible and adaptable to an ever-changing retail environment. "

Among the initial assignments for McNeary will be to focus on pulling together the upcoming WoW releases already scheduled for later this year, including WoW Hits 2008 and a WoW Gospel Christmas, both slated for October. He is also following the progress of WoW Hymns, which released in March, and WoW Gospel #1s, which released this month. McNeary will also be championing the first new product line extension – a DVD & Quiz game, created in the same spirit as the popular Scene It and Trivial Pursuit games. For 2008, McNeary is looking at potential kids and rock-focused WoW projects, part of an overall strategy to broaden the consumer base for the WoW brand. McNeary will maintain offices at each of the WoW parties’ corporate headquarters, utilizing each depending on what WoW project he is managing.

Beyond managing the product releases, McNeary sees considerable opportunities for deepening WoW’s brand and sales impact, such as making the brand available for the first time in a digital format as well as looking at web-based platforms that could make WoW a voice for the Christian music industry. "I’ve always worked for companies with an entrepreneurial spirit, and am thrilled that the WoW parties view my role here in the same way. WoW has been the most popular compilation series in the history of CCM, and I want to strengthen its position by building it as a portal into the Christian music industry for new audiences. This will help current artists find new listeners, support up-and-coming artists, and continue to build consumer loyalty for the Christian music category, " said McNeary.