Guardian US sales and marketing leader Luis Romero will leave the publisher on Wednesday, Campaign US has learned.
Guardian News and Media US Managing Director Steve Sachs broke the news to staff in a memo sent on Thursday, May 2nd.
Sachs said the media company will conduct a search to fill Romero's position.
In the meantime, Laura Logan, vice president of sales for the East Coast and Midwest, and Kim Nelson, head of West Coast advertising, will co-lead the advertising team and report directly to Sachs.
He wished Romero “good luck” in his new endeavor. It remains to be seen where he will go next.
Romero joined the British newspaper's U.S. arm in March 2022 from digital media company Group Nine Media (owner of Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker and PopSugar), which was acquired by Vox Media in February 2022. joined.
This sales leader spent most of his career in broadcast sales for NBCUniversal and Univision.
The US edition of The Guardian has weathered a tumultuous two years for the publishing industry, with advertising sales impacted by increasingly stringent brand safety controls and the growing dominance of digital media channels such as social media and connected TV.
Ad revenue for the publishing industry is expected to decline by 4.2% in 2024, while digital companies such as social media platforms, streamers and online retailers are expected to boost sales by 12%, according to Magna's latest forecast. ing.
Logan recently told Campaign US: guardian saw a drop in revenue as advertisers blocked impressions due to brand safety concerns.
News publishers demand strict brand safety policies at IAB NewFronts
In a memo to employees, Sachs said that under Romero's leadership, advertising revenue increased 42% year over year in the first quarter of 2023. He said the ad sales team “competitively navigated a very challenging third and fourth quarter of 2023.”
Part of Mr. Romero's recent strategy to revive advertising sales was to raise political capital in the upcoming U.S. election. He recently told the Guardian newspaper Digiday that for the first time, the United States is aggressively pitching to political candidates and advocacy groups.
Parent company Guardian Media Group's revenue for the year ended April 2, 2023 rose 3.4% to £264.4 million ($331 million), according to its latest financial report. International revenues rose 17% to £93.2m ($116.7m) and accounted for 35% of total revenues.
UK-based Guardian News & Media first launched its US site, Guardian America, in 2007. The site was discontinued in 2009 as the company announced it would focus on growing its social media presence. The US website was relaunched in 2011 under the direction of then-editor-in-chief Janine Gibson.
Betsy Reid is the current editor of the Guardian US.
