Under the new structure, Bauer's long-standing dedicated digital team of 16 people will be removed from their silo to form part of a 100-strong advertising team, all of whom will be responsible for the digital sales of their respective brands.
The move is not designed to reduce headcount, but instead aims to create commercial specialists who are able to knowledgably sell across a particular brand's integrated portfolio of digital, print and broadcast operations.
The restructure promises to streamline an advertisers' ability to connect with audiences for a particular brand, across multiple platforms. Digital expertise will be driven by three digital creative brand directors integrated into the radio and magazine teams – Fiza Khan, Tatiana Osei, and Mita Mistry.
Overall responsibility for "creative digital excellence" will sit with Bauer Media’s digital director, Andrea Kilbourne.
To ensure advertisers can still achieve a cross-portfolio reach across Bauer's entire digital portfolio when required, the company is also creating a digital trading hub to act as a single point of contact.
The hub will be led by Vicki Clubley, acting head of magazine trading, who will work with Tom Curry, radio commercial director, trading. It is hoped the creation of the hub will also serve to champion the use of "innovative digital advertising" and help promote creative digital excellence across the brand teams.
Overall commercial responsibility, encompassing both traditional and digital revenues, will be held by for its London lifestyle magazines, and Derek Hewitt, radio sales director, and Darren Khan, head of TV.
Karen Stacey continues to lead Bauer Media's radio and TV operations as broadcast sales director.
Kilbourne, digital director of Lifestyle and Advertising at Bauer Media, told Media Week: "This move to a more brand-focused structure is recognition of how important it is for the people representing our brands in the marketplace to have a deep understanding of the individual strengths and opportunities of a particular brand, rather than a broader understanding of all of them."
Bauer Media's new-look commercial organisation is said to have been some six months in the making and is further recognition of the evolution taking place at one of the UK’s leading consumer magazine publishers.
Kilbourne stressed: "Digital expertise will sit at the heart of our brand teams and enable us to offer greater creative ideas and solutions across our portfolio of influential brands."
The restructure follows the recent promotion of Lauren Holleyoake to the new role of publishing manager at Grazia and More!
In addition, to the newly created role of managing director of Lifestyle & Advertising.
Bauer Media publishes 53 magazine titles and more than 13 million people tune into one of its radio stations each week. The group has 48 individual online brand sites, reported to attract more than 10 million users a month.
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