Nieman Foundation at Harvard
Capital New York give us a look at The New York Times’ native advertising business in a profile of Meredith Kopit Levien, its executive vice president for advertising, and it appears to be growing. Since launching earlier this year, it’s struck deals with 32 different brands — from Netflix to Thomson Reuters — to create ads that cost from $25,000 to more than $200,000 just to create.
The build up of the Times’ native advertising capacity is part of a larger overhaul of its advertising department that began when Levien took over as the executive vice president for advertising in July 2013. She’s replaced about one-third of the current staff with new hires, bringing on more than 80 staffers. Of those who left, about half were offered buyouts or early retirement, “a move that some interpreted as a way of nudging older employees out the door,” Capital writes.
Print continues to generate most of the Times’ advertising revenue, but with its continued emphasis on native and digital advertising, especially video, Levian said she’s optimistic: “We’re certainly not going to put up a victory banner yet, but we are beginning to find our way into what feels like a sustainable path toward growing the digital business.”
