Reeves back in local news to spearhead revenue diversification at publisher
One of the best-known leaders in local news is back in the industry — leading up a publisher’s revenue diversification efforts.
Former Birmingham Post & Mail editor and senior regional news executive Marc Reeves has been commissioned by publisher National World to support the expansion of its affiliate content strategy.
Marc, who left publisher Reach last year after more than 25 years across two spells with the business, has launched a specialist consultancy firm, landing National World as his first major client.
Prior to leaving Reach, Marc had specialised in driving up affiliates revenue across the publisher’s newsrooms.
In an announcement by the company, National World said it has launched a range of revenue diversification initiatives, including premium subscriptions for many of its titles. It said it sees affiliate marketing and e-commerce as a vital new focus.
National World’s group online publisher, Martin Wright, said: “With the growing scale of National World, from established flagship titles to our online-only City titles, it makes sense to develop a stream of content that helps audiences find the very best products and services, as recommended by our expert writers. An ambitious affiliate strategy will ensure we can do this profitably and at scale.
“Marc’s expertise in this area, coupled with his reputation as a skilled and respected editor who has worked in regional news for more than 30 years, makes him the ideal choice to support us on this journey.”
Marc said: “Affiliate content is a vital weapon in any publisher’s armoury, playing its part alongside circulation revenue, online subscriptions, events and advertising. National World is in an enviable position to become a major player in affiliate publishing and I’m honoured to be able to play a part in that.”
Marc will be working alongside senior National World editors, newsroom teams and product and marketing experts to build and implement the strategy over the coming months.
