Politico hunts UK office, eyes further global expansion
Politico is on the hunt for London office on the back of key hires there in both its editorial and commercial departments as the US-based current affairs title furthers its European footprint with plans to further both its range plus its presence across the continent.
Politico this week announced the appointment of Francesco Gurrero, formerly of the Wall Street Journal and FT, to head-up coverage of the financial services vertical, plus Kate Day, formerly of The Telegraph, to the role of editorial director.
Gabe Brotman, Politico, director of commercial strategy, and marketing communications, told The Drum that the newly appointed Day will "be at the nexus between editorial and business", and will commute between the UK and Brussels.
Meanwhile, Guerrero will be based in London where he joins former Times journalist Alex Spence bringing its editorial headcount there to three, with the company currently in the process of seeking out a permanent office in the UK capital.
"We have a strong mandate from our investors to grow in Europe in terms of both coverage areas, and new markets," Brotman explained.
The title launched in Europe last year, and in that time has amassed a headcount of 40 journalists, 32 of which are based in Brussels, with the remainder spread across Europe. The company now has a European-focused version of its website, a weekly print edition - via way of a joint-venture with Axel Springer - which has a circulation of 30,000.
In addition, it is often proud to boast of how its newsletter The Brussels Playbook, which has an audience consisting of 40,000 of the Continent's key political decision makers, and launched its premium subscription model Politico Pro two months back.
Brotman explained to The Drum that the title's proposition to the market, both readers and potential advertisers, is not about mass-reach. Instead, Politico covers politics and policy with an influential audience in mind. "This is not an audience of 'jo-schmos'," he quipped. "Our readers are people like MEPs, and European Commissioners."
Digital monetisation efforts
With the title making much of the quality of its audience, Brotman also explained that it works with Lotame for its data management platform (DMP), in order to segment this audience of decision makers, with executive director of ad sales Bennet Richardson heading up this aspect of Politico's monetisation efforts.
It also uses analytics tools such as Omniture and Xad, among others, in addition to Google's ad tech stack DoubleClick to bolster yield from automated advertising sales. In terms of other monetisation efforts, the title offers a corporate branding and messaging platform, as well as its events business. Commenting on the former of the two, Brotman commented: "This is for the Googles, and Microsoft's of the world... It's for corporate messaging, not the Toyotas trying to sell a car."