Hearst Tape PMG like Aor to stimulate the growth of its mainstream media titles

Digital media company Hearst, which houses editorial titles, notably Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Country Living, appointed the PMG marketing agency on Tuesday.

According to David Carey, his main vice-president of public affairs and communications, it is the first time in at least 15 years that the company has allocated its activities to a single agency.

In recent years, the private Heart has diversified its portfolio far from consumption magazines and newspapers – a year, it has generated more than half of its $ 12.8 billion in high -level income from its professional products.

But the partnership with PMG aims to focus specifically on its consumer brands, a vote of trust in the future of the sector despite the important winds facing the media sector.

“We focused on investments in the B2B space, but in the past year, we have admitted that we should actively promote our consumption activities,” said Carey. “So we wanted to call on an outdoor agency, someone who pushes us, and we connected with the PMG team almost immediately.”

Campaign details

Hearst started looking for an outdoor agency with which to work in early 2024, and he worked with Medialink to perform the exam.

PMG won the company last summer, partly because it has media and creative services under one roof, according to Carey. This allowed Hearst that the agency would be able to operate with the level of dexterity necessary to serve its diversified portfolio of brands.

Multichannel investment and several million dollars will finance six to seven campaigns in 2025, with more work to come next year. The specific publishers that Hearst chose to highlight first – the chronicles of Houston and San Francisco, as well as a trailer, a good household maintenance and a car and driver – are with a solid financial basis and a large commercial advantage.

The strategy will focus first on the Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle. The campaigns for these points of sale will make its debut in February and will use a model that highlights the value of local journalism. PMG will rely on the model because it will highlight the other newspapers in the Hearst portfolio later in the year.

After the newspaper campaigns, PMG will unveil work for the Bring A Broad Automobile Market A trailer, whose majority ownership Hearst acquired in 2020. These campaigns will be followed by its work for consumer magazines, a good housekeeping and A car and a driver – each with their own creative tailor -made – and ultimately other hearst companies.

The campaigns will take place on a variety of channels, including social media, digital video, house, audio and local sponsorships. Although the majority of media purchases will involve third -party inventories, PMG plans to promote the brands of Hearst, once relevant. He plans to use his owner data platform, called Alley, to do it intelligently.

Media societies have historically hesitated to make a cross -promotion of their titles, but the strategy reflects a protruding understanding of modern distribution strategies, said Ben Dietz, Stratege of Brand and co -founder of Rangelife.

“If Hearst can build a better self-reproductive ecosystem, this can be powerful,” said Dietz. “The danger is: to what extent do the stakeholders of these titles play well with each other?” Are they seeing as boats on a rising tide or owners of a fief?

A vote of confidence in the consumer media

Investment in the consumer media occurs while industry continues to fight secular decline. The decrease in advertising revenues has led dozens of media and leading publishers to the shutter in recent years.

Hearst largely avoided the worst of these trends thanks to its diversified wallet. He acquired the activity of rating of obligations abroad, Fitch Group, in 2018, and the operation has become the greatest contributor to his profits, said Director General Steve Swartz in Axios.

The company also has several companies providing data and software services for aviation, trucking and automotive industries, and has also invested considerably in the health space.

Hearst was able to afford these investments because his consumer media business for decades was very lucrative, according to Carey. These profits allowed him to develop in the cable sector, where he has minority property issues in A & E and ESPN, which has helped finance his visit to business worlds.

Consequently, investment in its media activities is both a complete moment and a testimony of its broader thesis of diversification, using the growth of its profitable divisions to subsidize and invigorate its disputed promising sectors, although promising.

“This virtuous cycle is unique in Hearst,” said Carey. “This is a remuneration culture, and we are delighted to have an agency that can help us and keep us ambitious.”