France-Éliane Nolet
Looking to stem its national advertising losses and hasten their migration to its digital platforms, La Presse has named France-Éliane Nolet its national sales director. Her appointment is effective Sept. 6.
Nolet will manage the Gesca Media publication’s national advertising sales team, with responsibility for growing national account revenue across all La Presse platforms, as well as those of regional dailies owned by Gesca.
The company said Nolet will also play a “frontline role” in La Presse’s ongoing transition to digital by promoting the migration of advertising to its La Presse+ product.
Nolet has extensive experience in media sales, including her most recent stint as director of national sales, convergent solutions, with Québecor Media. She was also previously general manager, business solutions with TC Media.
Nolet is known for her “drive and dynamism, market knowledge and exceptional abilities in the motivation and engagement of sales teams,” said Marc Giguére, general manager of sales for La Presse and Gesca Media Sales, in a release.
“With her extensive network of advertising industry contacts and impressive track record in multiplatform sales, she will certainly be an invaluable asset in helping our team achieve its business objectives,” he said.
Last month, senior executives with La Presse parent Power Corporation said it was inevitable that its flagship publication, which was founded in 1884, will eventually cease publishing a print edition.
Speaking at a news conference after the company’s annual meeting last month, CEO Andre Desmarais said the daily publication has seen an “enormous drop” in advertising at both the national level and from the retail sector in the past two years.
The company is attempting to manage the transition from print to digital with its free La Presse+ product, an interactive edition first introduced in April 2013 following three years of research and development and a $40 million. The iPad—and, as of April 23, Android—edition is updated daily at 5:30 a.m. in a format featuring text, videos, photo galleries and scrolling screens.
Intended for a younger audience, La Presse+ seems to be hitting the mark. More than half of its readers are between the ages of 25-54, and the product already accounts for nearly one third of the publication’s revenues.
