Conde Nast Business Media named Ari Brandt as general manager of digital media for Conde Nast Portfolio, the publisher’s upcoming business magazine that aims to take on Fast Company, BusinessWeek, Fortune and Forbes.
Mr. Brandt comes to Conde Nast from Yahoo, where he served as director of ad solutions since March 2005.
“I bring a unique and valuable perspective to the group because I have firsthand experience in the process from all sides of the desk: ad agencies, the client side as well as online and traditional publishing,” Mr. Brandt said from his New York office.
At Yahoo, Mr. Brandt oversaw the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Yahoo Tech and was the business lead for Yahoo Finance and Yahoo News. Prior to joining Yahoo, he was associate publisher of Smart Money.
“I was presented with an opportunity at Portfolio to build something special with a team that I have respected and admired for a long time,” he said. “In addition, I was particularly excited to work in a startup environment while being surrounded and supported by all of the assets that Conde Nast has to offer.”
Portfolio’s first issue is slated for May 2007, hitting newsstands April 24 — the day that cnportfolio.com goes live. The magazine goes monthly in September 2007, relying on its newsstand power and the database of American City Business Journals, a unit of Conde Nast parent Advance Publications. Initial circulation rate base is 300,000.
Advance owns 28 consumer magazines, five business-to-business titles, five destination sites, the Conde Nast Media Group and the Shared Services Centers.
Separate P&L for Site
Mr. Brandt’s main role in the next year is to build a competitive business site at www.cnportfolio.com for users and advertisers that complements the magazine.
The site will operate with a separate P&L, so Mr. Brandt also is responsible for generating a profitable product for the Conde Nast Business Media group through integrated programs, online ad revenue and magazine subscriptions.
“Online business news and information is a mature and highly competitive space, yet while there is an abundance of content, there is a lack of innovation in the way it’s presented both visually and editorially,” he said. “The ultimate goal is to change that and build a Web site with a design and programming approach unlike any other in the marketplace.”
Portfolio is hiring staff and will build cnportfolio.com from scratch. Joanne Lipman is editor in chief, and David Carey is group president and publishing director of Conde Nast Business Media.
“Having worked for organizations that offered multiple media properties, I understand the power of integrated programs and how to execute them,” Mr. Brandt said.
