Bauer Media group is repositioning its digital businesses under one global umbrella called Bauer Xcel Media.
Bauer Xcel Media will bring together a number of brands across TV, radio, digital and print and includes the digital side of KISS.
The new division will serve Bauer’s 130 million monthly unique web users worldwide and will be backed by a ‘substantial global drive to acquire digital talent’.
Digital assets in the new division include GraziaDaily, Kiss FM UK, Closer Online, MCN online, Parkers online and recent digital-first launch The Debrief in the UK, InTouch, Life and Style in the USA, Wunderweib, one of the largest web portals for women in Germany, Interia in Poland, Australian Women’s Weekly online and Autotrader in New Zealand.
Andreas Schoo, member of the Executive Board of the Bauer Media Group / Bauer Xcel Media said: “The creation of this division marks Bauer’s acceleration as we invest with global ambition in this digital space with a single customer view across Bauer Xcel Media. We believe that having separate focus behind our print and digital businesses will allow us to achieve significant growth in digital whilst continuing to drive our successful print business forward.”
In the UK Bauer Xcel Media will focus on the digital monetisation of its scaled ad-funded business combined with developing its commerce, branded content and native digital advertising networks. The company will also develop its scale around targeted audio advertising product InStream and will hire a number of digital specialists.
Paul Keenan, CEO Bauer Media UK commented: “This is a transformational moment for Bauer in the UK as we seek to drive a new level of digital performance alongside our successful print and broadcast businesses. We will launch innovative new products across our ad funded, audio and commerce businesses and develop our unified view and relationships across our significant premium entertainment audience of 23 million users. We will also seek opportunities to acquire assets to grow our digital business.”
