Federated Media Promotes President and COO Brown to CEO, Replacing Battelle
Deanna Brown (pictured here) will become CEO of Federated Media Publishing, replacing Founding CEO John Battelle, the online media company said.
Brown was brought in 18 months ago as president and COO, after stints at Yahoo, AOL and Scripps Networks Digital.
Battelle–who will become executive chairman, as well as chief strategy officer–had publicly written about a looking for a successor.
In a statement, Battelle said: “In May of 2009, I posted that I was looking for a partner to help take Federated Media to the next level. During Deanna’s tenure we’ve witnessed some exciting milestones as a team. Today I am thrilled to announce the next stage of our partnership as we continue to grow and evolve as a company.”
Here’s the official press release from the advertising and publishing company:
Federated Media Publishing Promotes Deanna Brown to CEO
Company Closes Strong 2010 and is Slated for Aggressive Growth in 2011
SAN FRANCISCO, February 2, 2011–Federated Media Publishing, the leader in powering the best of the Independent Web at scale, today announced that current president and chief operating officer, Deanna Brown, will take on an expanded role as chief executive officer.
Since joining the company in September 2009, Brown has been instrumental in leading all strategic initiatives for the company including growing revenue, building support for client teams, growing margins, maintaining top talent culture and growing Federated Media’s suite of products and services.
Key milestones during Brown’s tenure include:
· Six consecutive quarters of profitability for the company
· A 62 percent growth in top-line revenue and a 35 percent growth in ad programs
· Investments and acquisitions to help better serve partners, including TextDigger, BigTent, FoodBuzz and Clever Girls
· Continued focus on hiring top level talent to supporting client teams and new product offerings
Federated Media founder and Chairman John Battelle will take on a new role as Executive Chairman of the Federated Media Board of Directors and chief strategy officer. He will continue to focus on providing senior client service, core strategy, and leading Federated Media’s own events.
Battelle and the Federated Media Board of Directors have been planning this move for more than a year as part of plan to best highlight the strengths of both executives and their continued partnership.
For 2011, Federated Media will continue to focus on expertly servicing clients and powering innovation on the Independent Web. The company also plans to continue execution on an aggressive investment strategy that will help to expand client offerings, services and products in key lifestyle, business, technology and trend verticals.