Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK Realigns Organization to Strengthen Focus on Marketing Solutions and Consumer Businesses
November 13 2017 - 6:55AM
Business Wire
Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK (NYSE:GCI) announced a major
organizational change today that more definitively aligns with the
company’s refreshed business strategy, which focuses on two primary
businesses: Marketing Solutions and Consumer.
“These organizational changes will better position us to further
enhance and expand our marketing solutions capabilities fueled by
our audience growth and engagement. I am confident this new
structure will open up opportunities, enable us to innovate more
quickly and support long-term growth,” said Bob Dickey, president
and CEO of Gannett.
Two executives have been named to lead the company’s two primary
businesses:
- Leading marketing solutions will be
Sharon Rowlands, CEO of ReachLocal, who has been named president,
USA TODAY NETWORK Marketing Solutions. Rowlands will focus on
further strengthening and growing our business-to-business segment,
leveraging not only ReachLocal and SweetIQ, but also USA TODAY
NETWORK’s powerful media assets and national and local brands.
- Leading the consumer business will be
Maribel Perez Wadsworth, current chief transformation officer, who
has been named president, USA TODAY NETWORK. Wadsworth will lead
USA TODAY NETWORK’s consumer business to include strategy and
operations for the company’s award-winning portfolio of media
brands such as USA TODAY, more than 100 local news and niche
content brands such as For The Win (FTW) and Grateful. In addition,
she will become associate publisher of USA TODAY, as part of the
transition associated with John Zidich’s previously announced
retirement as president of Domestic Publishing.
“By bringing together ReachLocal and SweetIQ with our local and
national media brands, we are positioned to build an even stronger,
high-growth marketing solutions business with Sharon leading this
unified business-to-business segment. Sharon’s experience and
success driving digital performance is a significant asset in
Gannett’s strategic transformation,” Dickey said. “Maribel brings
vast experience, expertise and proven success to her new role. Her
understanding of the USA TODAY NETWORK and the audiences we serve
is comprehensive, at both the strategic and operational level, and
I know she will take our consumer-focused efforts to the next level
and beyond.”
Rowlands has more than 20 years of experience in leading
multi-billion dollar companies that serve small and medium-sized
businesses, financial markets and enterprise customers. She remains
CEO of ReachLocal, a best-in-class portfolio of digital marketing
technologies and solutions, which Gannett acquired in 2016 and
recently integrated across the NETWORK. The marketing solutions
business also includes SweetIQ, an industry leading local listing
management company acquired in 2017.
Wadsworth joined the company nearly 22 years ago as a news
reporter. In 2010, she joined the corporate team to lead digital
strategy for local newsrooms before transitioning to business-side
roles where she architected Gannett’s first digital subscription
strategy, created the company’s Innovation Lab and most recently
served as chief transformation officer.
As part of the new structure, Kevin Gentzel’s role as chief
revenue officer will expand to leading all advertising and
marketing solutions revenue in North America. He will report to
Rowlands. Gentzel will continue to lead national sales, GET
Creative, revenue operations and sports media teams, and add all
local sales and sales support teams, which include automotive and
recruitment verticals, and client analytics. Prior to joining
Gannett in 2015, Gentzel was the head of Advertising Sales, North
America at Yahoo!, and earlier served as CRO of The Washington
Post.
Additionally, Kris Barton has been named chief product officer,
USA TODAY NETWORK, reporting to Rowlands. He will lead the
product organization developing and managing digital platforms and
capabilities for the marketing solutions and consumer businesses.
With more than 17 years of experience in digital product
development, Barton joined Gannett in 2016 with its acquisition of
ReachLocal where he was previously chief product officer.
Finally, in light of Zidich’s upcoming retirement, Gannett
Publishing Services (GPS) will report to Ali Engel, senior vice
president, chief financial officer and treasurer at Gannett. GPS
operates printing and packaging facilities throughout the U.S. In
addition to GPS, Engel will continue to have oversight of Gannett’s
financial functions as well as the technology organization. Prior
to joining Gannett in 2014, she was senior vice president, chief
financial officer and treasurer of A. H. Belo Corporation.
About Gannett
Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) is an innovative, digitally
focused media and marketing solutions company committed to
strengthening communities across our network. With an unmatched
local-to-national reach, Gannett touches the lives of more than 110
million people monthly with our Pulitzer-Prize winning content,
consumer experiences and benefits, and advertiser products and
services. Gannett brands include USA TODAY NETWORK with the iconic
USA TODAY and more than 100 local media brands, digital marketing
services companies ReachLocal and SweetIQ, and U.K. media company
Newsquest. To connect with us, visit www.gannett.com.
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Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORKFor media
inquiries:Amber Allman, 703-854-5358Vice President, Corporate
Events & Corporate Communicationsaallman@gannett.comorFor
investor inquiries:Stacy Cunningham, 703-854-3168Vice
President, Financial Planning &
Analysisinvestors@gannett.comorThe Blueshirt GroupJonathan
Schafferinvestors@gannett.com
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