Hachette Retools Women's Mag Division, Hopes To Jolt The Digital Side
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
It's trendy for companies these days to talk about breaking down silos to allow for more nimble execution. But some media companies are also busy creating new silos. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (HFM U.S.) is reorganizing its women's magazine division by grouping staff around signature titles like ELLE, Woman's Day and Metropolitan Home. The result: the ELLE Group, the Luxury Design Group, the Woman's Day Group, etc. Each group will be led by a Chief Brand Officer, who will oversee sales and editorial direction across both print and digital; they will report directly to HFM U.S. President and CEO Alain Lemarchand, and also work closely with SVP of digital Todd Anderman.
It's clear that Hachette needed a shakeup of some kind. While print magazines generally are struggling, HFM U.S.' women's titles also don't seem to be doing well online: on average, traffic to the Hachette Filippacchi Women's Network has hovered at about three million unique monthly visitors for the past three months, per *comScore*. In contrast, traffic to rival publishers' networks like CondeNet and Hearst were in the 12 million and 10 million ranges, respectively. Release.
More details on the reorg after the jump.
Meanwhile, the EICs in each division will now be called VPs of brand content, and while they'll maintain editorial duties for their print titles, the company's Digital Media group will still be responsible for the bulk of the digital content. Each unit will also have a VP, brand publisher to oversee sales, and a VP, brand development for business development; if there's a mobile, book publishing, or licensing project related to a brandlike Elle's clothing line for retailer Kohl'sthen the teams will work with a dedicated mobile, book publishing or licensing specialist. If it sounds a little complicated, that's because it isbut the new structure must be less complex than beforeas Lemarchand said the reorg was designed to create "nimble, cohesive, strategic and focused units."
ELLE Group: Carol Smith is the SVP and chief brand officer; the division includes ELLE and ELLE.com's group of 20 sites. Roberta Myers is the new VP, brand content; the VP, brand publisher and VP, brand development have yet to be announced.
Luxury Design Group: Deborah Burns is the SVP and chief brand officer; the division includes ELLE DECOR and Metropolitan Home. Margaret Russell is VP, brand content for ELLE DECOR and Donna Warner is VP, brand content for Metropolitan Home. On the sales side, Barbara Friedmann will serve as VP, brand content for both titles; Christie Boyle will be VP, brand development for both, as well.
Woman's Day Group: Carlos Lamadrid is the SVP and chief brand officer; the division includes Woman's Day and the newly redesigned WomansDay.com. Jane Chesnutt will serve as SVP, brand content; on the sales side, Claire Marin will be VP, brand publisher and Renee Ifill is VP, brand development.
By Tameka Kee