Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. Forms the Luxury Design Group With ELLE DECOR and...

Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. Forms the Luxury Design Group With ELLE DECOR
and Metropolitan Home
Deborah Burns Promoted to SVP/Luxury Design Group, In Addition to Publisher of
Metropolitan Home

NEW YORK, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Jack Kliger, President and CEO, Hachette
Filipacchi Media U.S. (HFM U.S.), announced today that the company has formed
the Luxury Design Group creating a unified leadership structure which brings
together the strategic sales and marketing power of two equally affluent and
distinct brands -- ELLE DECOR and Metropolitan Home. Kliger promoted Deborah
Burns, VP, Publisher, Metropolitan Home, to head the group as SVP, Luxury
Design Group. She will also remain publisher of Metropolitan Home and will
continue to report to EVP/COO Philippe Guelton. Barbara Friedmann, Acting
VP/Publisher, ELLE DECOR, has been promoted to VP/Publisher of ELLE DECOR and
has been named Managing Director, Luxury Design Group. She will report to
Deborah Burns.
In 2007 and the first half of 2008, both titles outperformed the
competitive set as a whole while delivering more affluent, younger women than
any single shelter title. Last year, ELLE DECOR had its most successful year
ever with the highest ad pages and profits in the magazine's 19-year history.
June 2008 PIB reports the magazine up 2% over last year in a year when most
titles are struggling to stay flat. In 2007 Metropolitan Home enjoyed one of
its strongest years in its 26-year history with the first half of 2008 up
another 4% over last year.
The Luxury Design Group will complement the global network of titles owned
by HFM U.S.'s parent company Lagardere Active. This upscale network was
enlarged in April 2008 with the acquisition of the Massin Group, the French
leader in decoration magazines and publisher of its two flagship magazines Art
& Decoration and Maison & Travaux.
Jack Kliger said: "In this case the sum is greater than the parts:
1 + 1 = 3. We formed the Luxury Design Group to provide advertisers with
scale along with the luxury mindset that niche brands like these uniquely
deliver. With this group structure, we are maximizing the combined benefits
of these complementary brands. ELLE DECOR is the international fashion
magazine for the home, while Metropolitan Home is the arbiter of modern
luxury."
Philippe Guelton commented: "Deborah Burns and Barbara Friedmann make one
of the strongest and most dynamic sales and marketing teams in the industry,
and both have demonstrated brilliant strategic thinking in their various
positions with the company. They have all the attributes that a modern
publisher needs to compete and win business -- original thinking, integrated
and compelling ideas and passion for their brands. Deb Burns will provide
outstanding overall leadership for this group."
Alongside Metropolitan Home Editor-in-Chief Donna Warner, Burns guided
Metropolitan Home to its current premier position. She has held a variety of
key roles in her 24-year tenure with the company including heading HFM U.S.'s
international advertising subsidiary for ELLE and ELLE DECOR worldwide. In
that role, Burns created and executed the single largest global advertising
program in the company's history and has been a force behind many other sales
and marketing initiatives. She also served as publisher of ELLEgirl magazine,
corporate integrated marketing director and director of creative development.
She began her career in circulation.
For the past ten months, Friedmann has worked closely with ELLE DECOR
Editor-in-Chief Margaret Russell and former VP/Publisher Dan Ragone to achieve
the magazine's outstanding momentum. As VP, Group Marketing reporting to SVP,
ELLE Group Publisher Director Carol Smith, Friedmann helped guide ELLE through
5 consecutive years of growth in both advertising and circulation. She has
directed myriad innovative marketing programs including the groundbreaking
partnership between ELLE and BRAVO's Project Runway. Prior to joining ELLE in
May 2002, Friedmann served as vice president, Corporate Marketing for Hachette
Filipacchi Media U.S., overseeing the research, corporate creative services
and integrated marketing departments. Before joining Hachette Filipacchi
Media U.S., Friedmann served as group marketing director of Miller Publishing;
vice president, marketing at Time Inc.'s Parenting Group; marketing director
at Star magazine; and various promotion positions at USA Today, Food & Wine,
Architectural Digest, Bon Appetit and New West magazines.
About The Luxury Design Group
ELLE DECOR
ELLE DECOR, led by Editor-in-Chief Margaret Russell, is fashion for the
home, inspiring worldly, creative tastemakers to express their personal style
in every area of life. First to recognize the relationship between fashion and
interiors as facets of individual style, ELLE DECOR inspires its readers with
laid-back luxury, stylishly accessorized settings and well-dressed rooms.
Metropolitan Home
Metropolitan Home, headed by Editor-in-Chief Donna Warner, is the only
completely modern design magazine that combines affluence with an urban
mindset. The editors believe that the timeless quality of superior design goes
beyond fads to resonate and engage a powerful audience who identify with the
modern approach to life. Metropolitan Home delivers high-end modern design and
interiors blending with intelligent reporting to connect to a progressive
reader mindset.
About Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (www.hfmus.com) enthusiast brands and
targeted media products reach nearly 60 million consumers through magazines,
online and mobile content. The company's editorial hallmarks are trusted
expert content along with independent product testing. Our prestigious brands
fall into six sectors and include: Automotive (Car and Driver, Road & Track,
Jumpstart Automotive Media); Fashion (ELLE, ELLEgirl); Luxury Design Group
(ELLE DECOR and Metropolitan Home); Shelter (Home, PointClickHome, and Special
Interest Publications Group); Women & Health (Woman's Day and Woman's Day
Special Interest Group) and Enthusiasts (American Photo, Boating, Cycle World,
Flying, Popular Photography, Premiere and Sound & Vision). HFM U.S. Total
Solutions marketing initiative packages these assets across brands and
platforms with customized marketing programs. HFM U.S. is part of Lagardere's
(www.lagardere.com) media division Lagardere Active, a producer of special
interest content in over 40 countries
SOURCE Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.

Anne Janas, SVP, Corporate Communications, +1-212-767-5810, ajanas@hfmus.com,
or, Jill Simmons, +1-212-767-6062, jsimmons@hfmus.com, both of Hachette
Filipacchi Media U.S.