Meredith Corporation announces new sales and marketing structure for its National Media Group
“Meredith offers our clients and partners an unparalleled combination of trusted brands, coveted audience reach, actionable insights and analytics, and innovative marketing solutions that drive best-in-class results,” said Meredith National Media Group President Jon Werther. “To fully capitalise upon our portfolio of brands and capabilities, we are aligning our sales and marketing activities within an account-driven and solution-oriented go-to-market approach that continues to place our iconic and trusted brands front and center.”
Meredith’s new National Media Group sales structure puts in place strategic account teams comprised of brand, corporate and digital sellers and marketers, with a principal point of contact for each key account. Sellers and sales-focused marketers from former Time Inc. category teams are being integrated into one of these new teams. In addition, The Foundry and its creative ideation, branded content, and native capabilities are being integrated more tightly within Meredith’s digital business unit. This is a clear reflection of the importance of these capabilities to Meredith’s advertising revenue growth objectives.
From a brand sales and marketing perspective, Doug Olson, president Meredith Magazines, will expand his portfolio oversight to include a broader mix of lifestyle, food and luxury brands. Reporting to Olson will be Group Publishers Stephen Bohlinger, Giulio Capua, Laura Frerer-Schmidt, Mark Josephson, Daren Mazzuccaand Carey Witmer, each of whom will oversee the following portfolio of brands:
- Bohlinger will continue as publisher of Better Homes & Gardens while also overseeing Family Circle, with Lee Slattery as publisher; and Southern Living and Coastal Living, with Deirdre Finneganas publisher of both titles.
- Capua, most recently with Condé Nast, will join Meredith in mid-April and will oversee Meredith’s portfolio of luxury titles, including Food & Wine, with Tom Bair as publisher; and Travel + Leisure, with Jay Meyer as publisher.
- Frerer-Schmidt, former Publisher of Women’s Health, will be the new publisher of InStyle, and will also oversee Shape, with Ann Gobelas Publisher.
- Josephson will continue as publisher of The Magnolia Journal while also overseeing Midwest Living, with Melissa Leubbe as Publisher; Parents, Parents Latina, Ser Padres and Family Fun, with Steve Grune as group publisher; and Traditional Home, with Beth McDonough as publisher.
- Mazzucca will serve as publisher of Real Simple and continue to oversee Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings, with Chris Guilfoyle as publisher of both titles.
- Witmer will continue as publisher of Rachael Ray Every Day and oversee Meredith’s portfolio of food and health titles, including Cooking Light, with Denis Gallagher as publisher; Eating Well, with Tiffany Ehasz as publisher; and Health, with Brendan Smythas publisher. A publisher of Allrecipes will be named shortly.
This sales approach also will apply to titles for which Meredith has announced that it will be exploring a sale. Mike Schneider will serve as group publisher and publisher of Fortune and Money, reporting to Olson. Danny Lee, publisher of Sports Illustrated; and Jorg Stratman, Publisher of TIME, will report to Schneider.
As part of his role as EVP/President of People and Entertainment Weekly, Bruce Gersh will oversee the following publishers: Cece Ryan (People); Ellie Duque (Entertainment Weekly); and Monique Manso (People en Español).
Meredith’s corporate sales team, led by EVP/chief revenue officer Michael Brownstein, will continue to serve as a central point of contact for Meredith’s largest cross-channel and cross-portfolio partnerships – in close coordination with Meredith’s brand and digital sales and marketing teams – and ensure that client and agency communications are streamlined as part of these partnerships.
Meredith’s digital sales team, led by SVP Marla Newman, will drive the company’s largest digital advertising initiatives across the Meredith portfolio. Her group will be focused on leveraging the company’s full suite of digital platforms and proprietary ad technology products, and creating scalable and innovative digital solutions. Newman will continue to report to Meredith Digital president Stan Pavlovsky.
Finally, The Foundry will become the central creative lab and branded/native content studio for the company. Chris Hercik will expand his existing role to serve as chief creative officer, reporting into Pavlovsky. Hercik will oversee branded/native content creation in addition to all marketing functions for the unit. Studio M, Meredith’s former branded content creation arm, will be merged into The Foundry.
“We are excited to extend our successful go-to-market approach to our newly-acquired Time Inc. brands, and to scale The Foundry’s capabilities across all of our sales efforts,” said Werther. “Clients and agency partners told us that this approach best balances their needs for relevant brand, category, ad product and platform expertise – and their desire for actionable insights and analytics – within a simplified sales communication structure. As clients and agency partners increasingly seek to work with fewer media companies more strategically, we believe that our portfolio of brands and capabilities – together with our go-to-market approach – positions Meredith with an unparalleled ability to drive their strategic advertising and marketing objectives.”
Meredith Corporation is a member of FIPP.
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