News Releases
New York, N.Y, April 30, 2008 – Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP), one of the nation’s leading media and marketing companies, announced today that it was expanding and realigning its Meredith 360° and Corporate Sales units. Additionally, Meredith is expanding roles and responsibilities for senior business leaders at mass circulation brands Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle, as well as its shelter titles.
The expansion of Meredith 360° and Corporate Sales includes the addition of several senior level executives to the business units “to better serve the growing client and agency accounts being managed by these operations,” said Tom Harty, Executive Vice President, Meredith Publishing Group.
“Over the past twelve months, we have witnessed a significant increase in the volume and demand for services from both our Meredith 360° and Corporate Sales units,” said Harty. “This growth reflects the shift toward large scale integrated programs and marketing solutions driving the media marketplace, and our desire to fully leverage the broad scale of our print and digital content assets.”
Under the new alignment plan announced today, Senior Vice President Jack Bamberger will now dedicate his time and expertise fully to Meredith 360° in the new role of Chief Innovation Officer. “Jack has done a great job leading both our Corporate Sales and 360° units,” Harty said. “In order to achieve our long-term goals, it is critical that we have Jack solely focusing his energy and enthusiasm to Meredith 360.”
Joining Bamberger at Meredith 360° will be Jeannine Shao Collins as Senior Vice President, Client Solutions. For the past several years, Shao Collins has led Meredith’s women’s lifestyle group. Under her creative leadership, the women’s lifestyle group has developed a number of key brand initiatives including the More Marathon, the More Model Search and the More Reinvention Convention. Shao Collins will report to Jack Bamberger.
In her new role, Shao Collins – along with Julie Fuoti, Vice President, Client Solutions – will be responsible for building innovative sales and marketing programs that fully leverage all of Meredith’s assets. She will also work with Nancy Weber, Chief Marketing Officer, to further expand the Meredith Experiential Group’s programs and operations.
“We’re confident that the addition of these senior level executives to Meredith 360° will strengthen our ability to forge deep strategic relationships with our best clients and customers,” said Harty.
Corporate Sales
Harty also announced that Michael Brownstein will now serve as Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales. Over the past several years, Brownstein has led Meredith’s Parenthood Group, and according to Harty, has “provided strong leadership as well to our shelter titles Traditional Home and Country Home.”
“We are confident that Michael’s experience and knowledge, particularly within the key agencies and client arenas, will build on the strong momentum of our Corporate Sales team,” Harty continued. “The number of clients we are serving within our Corporate Sales group continues to expand, and his experience in this area will be invaluable.”
Additionally, Brownstein is assuming responsibility for Meredith’s Detroit sales operation, which is being realigned to serve key client accounts. In his new role, Brownstein will continue to report to Harty.
Joining Brownstein will be Jan Studin as Vice President of Corporate Sales. Over the past several years, Studin has played a key role as VP/Publisher of Better Homes and Gardens. Under her guidance, Better Homes and Gardens achieved record advertising performance, and the title was recognized as 2007 Magazine of the Year by Advertising Age.
Brendan Smyth, an integral part of the Corporate Sales team, will continue to serve as its Executive Director. Both Studin and Smyth will report to Brownstein.
Mass and Shelter Brands
Executive Vice President Andy Sareyan also announced that several senior level executives would be assuming new responsibilities.
Vice President Jim Carr has been named Vice President, Group Publisher, for the Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle brands. According to Sareyan, “Jim has done terrific work re-establishing the vitality and prominence of the Family Circle brand, which was recently named to Adweek’s Hot List. This new assignment for will enable us to fully leverage the strength, depth and resources of two of our largest and most sizeable brands.” Carr will report directly to Sareyan.
Carey Witmer, who has played a key role as Associate Publisher for the Better Homes and Gardens team, is being promoted to the position of Publisher, Family Circle, reporting to Carr. During her tenure with Better Homes and Gardens, “Witmer brought tremendous energy, insight, and focused leadership to the team,” said Sareyan.
Tony Imperato, the current publisher of Country Home, will replace Witmer at Better Homes and Gardens as Associate Publisher, reporting to Carr. “This will enable us to leverage Tony’s senior level ad sales experience with our largest brand,” Sareyan said. “Under Jim, Carey and Tony’s leadership, we’re confident that the Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle brands will continue to thrive and grow.”
Steve Levinson, who has been overseeing Meredith’s Home Solutions Group, will now add additional responsibility as Group Publisher for Country Home, Traditional Home and Midwest Living magazines. “Steve has done a great job growing our Home Solutions business,” said Harty. “His work – including expanding our presence with key industry organizations such as the NKBA – along with his deep knowledge of the home category make him ideally suited for these new responsibilities.” said Harty.
About Meredith
Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) (http://www.meredith.com) is one of America's premier media and marketing companies. Meredith combines well-known national brands -- including Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, Ladies' Home Journal, Family Circle, American Baby, Fitness and More – with local television brands in fast-growing markets. Meredith is the industry leader in creating content in key consumer interest areas such as home, family, health and wellness and self-development. Meredith then uses multiple distribution platforms – including print, television, online, mobile and video – to give consumers content they desire and to deliver the messages of its marketing partners. Additionally, Meredith uses its many assets to create powerful custom marketing solutions for many of the nation's top brands and companies. The goals of these programs are to increase consumer loyalty and produce repeated consumer interaction. In the last two years, Meredith has significantly added to its capabilities in this area through the acquisition of cutting-edge companies in areas such as online, word-of-mouth and database marketing. Meredith employs approximately 3,000 people throughout the United States, including approximately 1,000 in Des Moines and 750 in New York City. Meredith's 2007 annual revenues were $1.6 billion.