Rodale Restructures Management, Promotes Michaelson To President, CMO

Men's Health publisher Rodale Inc. announced a sweeping restructuring of its management team yesterday, along with the promotion of customer marketing EVP Gregg Michaelson to president of integrated marketing and sales and chief marketing officer. The changes come five months after Rodale's CEO Steven Pleshette Murphy decided to leave the company and was replaced by the founder's granddaughter, Maria Rodale. In addition to Michaelson, several other executives were given additional duties and shuffled around, including editorial execs David Willey, editor-in-chief of Runner's World and editorial director of Running Times, who will now also serve as editorial director of Bicycling; Bill Stump, who was promoted to SVP/editorial director to oversee Prevention, Organic Gardening and Rodale.com; and Karen Rinaldi, who was promoted to EVP/general manager and publishing director of Rodale Books. Left out of the promotions was Men's Health editor David Zinczenko, as pointed out by Jeff Bercovici. The recent cover controversy may have something to do with that. Other changes saw chief information officer Ken Citron adding COO to his title, Tom Pogash being promoted to CFO, Robin Shallow taking over control of Rodale's communications department and Paul McGinley becoming EVP/general counsel and chief administrative officer. The full release explaining all the changes, after the jump Read More: Promotions All Around At Rodale -- But Not For Editor of Men's Health --Daily Finance Previously: Men's Health Runs Same Cover Twice -- Purposely? Rodale Inc. Promotes Gregg Michaelson to President, Integrated Marketing & Sales, Chief Marketing Officer -Michaelson will lead an integrated team that includes consumer marketing, advertising, custom publishing, and all business and market intelligence assets- -Rodale announces promotions for key members of the company's management team across editorial, operations, IT, finance, communications, legal, human resources, and facilities- New York, NY, December 15 -- Rodale Inc. today announced that Gregg Michaelson has been promoted to President, Integrated Marketing & Sales, and Chief Marketing Officer from his previous position as EVP, Customer Marketing. In this new role, Michaelson will lead an integrated team that includes his current Consumer Marketing group, as well as print and digital advertising sales and marketing, events, custom publishing, and all business and market intelligence assets. Jack Essig, SVP/Publisher, Men's Health/Women's Health; Mary Murcko, SVP/Publisher, Prevention and Organic Gardening; Chris Lambiase, VP/Publisher, Running & Cycling; Val Valente, SVP/Publishing Director, Custom Publishing; Angus Macaulay, VP, Sports Marketing and Events; David Kang, SVP/General Manager, Rodale.com; Fotoulla Euripidou, VP, Consumer Insights; and Lynn Canning, AVP, Senior Group Research Director, will now report to Michaelson. "A smart strategist and great tactician, Gregg has built a powerful team that has driven intelligent growth of our consumer business," said Rodale Chairman and CEO Maria Rodale. "By creating this collaborative group under Gregg's able leadership, we will be able to connect Rodale's media touch points with all the powerful capabilities we have on the consumer side, including research, circulation, retail, customer relationship management, and our customer database." Michaelson joined Rodale in 2001 as Vice President of Book Marketing, where he led the company's transition to a multichannel approach for the direct-response marketing of magazines and books, leveraging key Rodale brands such as Prevention, Men's Health, and The South Beach Diet. In 2007, he was promoted to EVP, Rodale Direct, and in 2008 was named EVP, Customer Marketing. Recent achievements for the Customer Marketing group under Michaelson's leadership include Men's Health and Women's Health earning the #1 and #2 spots, respectively, on Cappell's Circulation Report for top performers in 2008, record online book sales in excess of 1 million units in 2009, and the continued success of Rodale's paid online content properties, such as the Biggest Loser Club. "I'm excited to create this new organization at the heart of Rodale," said Michaelson. "The Integrated Marketing & Sales group will continue to bring the company's assets to bear for clients and key partners who know that no one is better than Rodale at reaching people who care deeply about health, wellness, fitness, nutrition, organics, and the environment. That kind of integrated approach is what advertisers, partners, and our customers expect. Our advertising sales and marketing team is already delivering some of these solutions-for example, through the Men's Health integrated campaign for Campbell's Chunky Soup, which included custom print and digital properties, in-book advertorials, and social media elements. And our partnership with 'The Biggest Loser' leverages our online premium content capabilities, our best-in-class book publishing program, our substantial single-copy and retail footprint, and, of course Rodale's 25 million-strong customer database and proprietary CRM system-all to drive tune-in, brand awareness, and revenues for this hit NBC television show. Our publishing teams will continue to provide unmatched services and exclusive assets only available at Rodale, meeting the current and future needs of our clients. And now, through the Integrated Marketing & Sales group, they will be able to seamlessly create and execute these programs on a much bigger scale." Rodale also made a number of other organizational changes, including the following: Editorial -- Bill Stump has been promoted to SVP/Editorial Director and will oversee editorial and brand and product development for Prevention, Organic Gardening, and Rodale.com. Liz Vaccariello, SVP/Prevention Editor-in-Chief; Ethne Clarke, Editor-in-Chief, Organic Gardening, and Rick Chillot, Senior Editor, Rodale.com, will now report to Stump. -- While continuing in his role as SVP/Editor-in-Chief of Runner's World and Editorial Director of Running Times, David Willey will also serve as Editorial Director for Bicycling, with Bicycling Editor-in-Chief Loren Mooney now reporting to him. Mooney will continue to serve as Editorial Director of Mountain Bike. -- Karen Rinaldi has been promoted to EVP/General Manager and Publishing Director, Rodale Books. In addition to managing Rodale's trade books group, she will now be responsible for acquiring and scheduling Rodale-branded titles. The individual brands (Men's Health, Women's Health, Prevention, Runner's World, Bicycling, and Organic Gardening) will continue to act as packagers for these branded books. -- David Zinczenko will continue in his role as SVP/Editor-in-Chief, Men's Health, and Editorial Director, Women's Health, with Michele Promaulayko, Editor-in-Chief, Women's Health, continuing to report to Zinczenko. "These editorial changes will allow the brands to share best practices and resources, drive profitability, and create clear lines of accountability and responsibility," said Rodale. IT, Operations & Creative Services -- Ken Citron is now adding Chief Operating Officer to his current title of Chief Information Officer. He will continue to manage all of Rodale's technology and operations and will now add the new Creative Services group to his portfolio. This group will be led by Steve Madden, who will hold the newly created position of VP, Creative Services and Digital Product Development, leaving his prior position as VP/ Editorial Director, Rodale International. Michelle Meyercord, SVP/Rodale International, will continue to lead the company's international activities. Finance -- Tom Pogash has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer. All finance activities including treasury, tax, accounting, and business management, will report to Pogash. Communications -- Robin Shallow has been promoted to EVP, Communications. She will continue to oversee all of Rodale's corporate, magazine, brand, and book communication efforts. Shallow and her team will also provide key marketing communication support to the new Integrated Marketing & Sales group led by Gregg Michaelson. Legal, Human Resources & Green Culture Services -- Paul McGinley has been promoted to EVP/General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer. While continuing to manage legal affairs and acquisition, McGinley will add Human Resources to his portfolio. Amy Plasha has been promoted to SVP, Human Resources, and will report to McGinley. Also reporting to McGinley will be Anita Patterson, VP of the newly created Green Culture Services group. Patterson, previously VP, Environmental Initiatives, will oversee facilities, office services, dining services, and employee health and fitness programs, ensuring that environmental responsibility and efficiency are fully integrated into the company's day-to-day activities and culture.

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Rodale Restructures Management, Promotes Michaelson To President, CMO

Amanda Ernst

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