Conde Nast shakes up corporate sales staff

Magazine publishing giant Conde Nast shook up its corporate sales staff Wednesday by placing digital advertising boss Josh Stinchcomb over sales for print, digital, mobile, video and marketing services.

The change displaced Tom Hartman, vice president of corporate sales, who is leaving the company that publishes Vogue, Glamour, GQ, Allure, Vanity Fair and 13 other titles. Hartman previously served for five years at Gourmet magazine, ending as publisher. He is one of a dozen staffers leaving as a result of the changes.

The company’s chief marketing officer, Lou Cona, announced the promotions in an email to the 200-person Conde Nast Media Group. He said the changes were necessary to accommodate advertisers “given our rapidly changing environment fueled by ongoing technological advances.”

Cona called Stinchcomb, who assumes the title of vice president, corporate partnerships, as a “strategic, savvy and collaborative leader.” Advertising Age speculated that the promotion of Stinchcomb, who came up through the ranks at Wired magazine, signaled Conde Nast’s hope to beef up its digital ad sales.

Four other promotions rounded out the announcement: Pat Connolly was named vice president, marketing solutions; Daniella Wells, vice president, insights and brand strategy; and Judy Safir, vice president, finance.

Magazine ad sales have not bounced back this year as much as the industry had hoped, leading to changes at several publishers. But Steve Cohn, who runs the Media Industry Newsletter in New York, described Conde Nast as having “decent performance in a bad year for the industry.”

For the start of 2012 compared with the same period a year earlier, Allure has seen its ad pages jump 22%. Vanity Fair is up 3% and Vogue increased 2%, but Conde Nast properties Brides, Traveler, Details and GQ all declined from 3% to 12%.