Time Inc.’s, CMO Stephanie George and EVP of consumer marketing and sales, Steve Sachs, have resigned, the company confirmed March 9. Time Inc. CEO Laura Lang has named a four-person team that will comprise the new Office of the Chief Executive Officer, according to an internal memo.
Sachs, who helped manage the company’s efforts to move into the digital space with tablet-enabled versions of its titles, will be leaving the company in June. George, who oversaw the publisher’s marketing-services business, will also leave in June.
The Office of the CEO will include Time Inc. editor-in-chief John Huey, general counsel Maurice Edelson, CFO Howard Averill and chief revenue officer Paul Caine.
In her memo, Lang also wrote that Time Inc. had hired the consultancy Bain & Company to seek out additional areas of growth and identify “market and consumer trends.”
“We need to find areas where we can double down, place big bets and get back on a revenue growth trajectory,” Lang said, in the memo. “We can only accomplish this if we have a very clear assessment of the landscape in which we operate and a cohesive strategy.”
Lang, previously the CEO of Digitas, was named Time Inc.’s chief in December of last year, replacing Jack Griffin, who had been fired from the company ten months earlier.
The company’s appointment of Lang, with her extensive background in digital marketing, was seen as part of its effort to move more aggressively into digital media, in addition to its creation of tablet versions of all 21 of its U.S. based titles, including Time, People, and Sports Illustrated.
In the fourth quarter of 2011, Time Inc.’s revenue slipped 1%. Advertising revenue for Time Warner’s publishing division was down slightly for 2011, and subscription revenue dipped 2%.
Time Inc. would not provide additional comment.
