Multiplatform publishers Condé Nast and The Atlantic reorganize; Esquire names Buzzfeed editor to head website
The shuffling of talent among multiplatform publishers continues in places like Condé Nast, Esquire, and The Atlantic.
First, we begin by taking a look at Condé Nast’s reorganization, and WWD has the story. “The business side reorganization comes after the New York-based publisher had already begun restructuring the editorial side at the end of last year, which included the combination of the creative, copy and photo teams, as well as the closure of Self magazine in print, among other things.”
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The article continues by talking about Jim Norton’s reorganizing technique. “Norton’s reorientation of the business side seemed taken right out of a management consultant’s handbook. The teams are now centered around “brand collections” and “client industries” while all publishers who oversee “brand collections” will now be called “chief business officers.” (The passé title of publisher calls into mind print, and the struggling print industry is definitely not chic right now.)”
“Their titles will be grouped as follows: Kim Kelleher, who most recently was the publisher of Wired, will oversee Glamour, Allure, Brides, Teen Vogue and Self. Kelleher’s promotion to the role wasn’t exactly unforeseen at Condé Nast, as her attendance at Glamour’s Women of the Year event in Los Angeles in the fall stirred up rumors that she would soon oversee the title.”
Next, we shift gears to The Atlantic, which has promoted David Somerville from design director to creative director. Media Wire Daily has the story.
“David Somerville who has served as design director for The Atlantic for the past year has been bumped up (again) to serve as the publication’s new creative director. In his role Mr. Somerville will oversee design across all platforms including TheAtlantic.com, Live Events and Atlantic Studios. When he joined Atlantic Media back in 2011 as a web designer for its Government Executive Media Group he got promoted to design director for that group after just 5 months. Then after that he literally got promoted every 1.5 years which makes him a fast rising star within the company.”
An internal memo continues with more information on the promotion. “David’s elevation to this new role does indeed mean that we are thinking about ways to integrate The Atlantic’s visual language and design execution across all of our platforms. Platform integration is one important key to our success. I’m excited to have David’s help as we think through how we use all of our platforms (and platforms that don’t yet exist) to collectively tell the most important and compelling stories of the day.”
Lastly, we take a look at Esquire, who has hired a new website director. WWD has the story. “Steve Kandell has been named site director of Esquire.com, Hearst revealed today. Kandell comes to Hearst from Buzzfeed, where he was, most recently, executive editor for features. Formerly the editor in chief of Spin, Kandell left the music mag in 2012 to oversee Buzzfeed’s expansion into longform.”
“The position of Esquire site director has been vacant since Michael Mraz, who was the director of digital content for the four titles that make up Hearst’s men’s group, as well as Town and Country, went over to the business side as the executive director of audience development and strategic partnerships earlier this month.“
We’re interested to see how these changes lead to expansion for these multiplatform publishers.
