The Globe and Mail has significantly bolstered the Globe Alliance network’s core news, business and finance offering by signing a major representation deal with Hearst Digital Media.
In development for about six months, the deal brings 17 major U.S. publishing brands – including Esquire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Good Housekeeping and Marie Claire – under the Globe Alliance umbrella. The brands boast a combined global reach of more than 120 million.
The deal boosts the Globe Alliance network’s total Canadian reach to around 18 million people, while at the same time bolstering its presence in key verticals, most notably lifestyle and entertainment – which now reaches a reported 11.7 million Canadians.
While the deal helps broaden the Globe Alliance audience, the Globe’s chief revenue officer Andrew Saunders said it also addresses advertiser demand for scale.
“It really elevates our market position substantially,” he said. “In a market where scale is becoming very important and a requirement for success, it was a great fit for us.”
The Globe has also launched a new business unit, the Alliance Lifestyle & Entertainment Group, that will work with clients to create integrated executions and custom sponsorships with Hearst and other premium partner brands, including Elite Daily, ABC News, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and US Weekly.
Saunders described the representation deal as a “multi-million dollar strategy” that would significantly add to the Globe’s already robust lifestyle business, which it has been growing in recent years through continued investment in products like Globe Life and Globe Style.
“We’ve seen universally great top-line growth through our Globe Alliance property, and it’s supporting a multi-million dollar line of business [in lifestyle],” he said. “We’re going to see millions of dollars of growth from it. It’s not a $100,000 strategy.”
The Hearst partnership will also further allow Globe Alliance to grow its female audience, said Saunders, putting it among the top 10 vehicles in the country for reaching women 25-54 with a household income greater than $100,000.
And while the average audience of a typical female Globe reader is around 44, the inclusion of Hearst properties such as Cosmopolitan and Seventeen means it can now help advertisers reach women in several key demos, he said.
“If you want a younger female audience, we now have products we never offered before,” he said. “We felt we could provide greater value to our clients by having additional reach and additional contextual environments for them to scale.”
Advertising opportunities via the Hearst partnership will encompass multiple formats, such as sponsorship, native advertising and other “high-impact” content solutions, said Saunders.
The deal features a revenue sharing agreement between the two partners. Saunders wouldn’t disclose percentages, but said it is a “very equitable relationship” for the two companies.
“There are some [deals] where publishers are overly aggressive and they just don’t work, so this is a fair and equitable agreement for both parties,” he said. “Most importantly, it’s got to work for our clients.”
The Globe will continue to “very selectively” seek out new partners that will help extend its reach against select verticals, said Saunders.
