New York, NY, December 19, 2011 – Rodale Inc. announced today that former Barnes & Noble executive Anthony Astarita will join the world’s leading healthy lifestyle publisher as SVP/General Manager of Digital and New Brand Development, effective January 3. Astarita will drive Rodale’s expansion within the Digital/New Brand Development Group, where he inherits an already-robust product pipeline, including award-winning mobile apps and a portfolio of digital partnerships, which includes MSN/Fitbie, Starbucks Digital Network and YouTube/BermanBraun.
Astarita will report directly to Maria Rodale, CEO and Chairman of the Board, and work alongside fellow General Managers for the company, David Zinczenko of the Healthy Living Group, who oversees Rodale Books and serves as EVP/Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health and Editorial Director of Women’s Health, Prevention and Organic Gardening; and David Willey of the Active Living Group, who serves as SVP/Editor-in-Chief of Runner’s World and Editorial Director of Bicycling and Running Times.
Rodale states, “Astarita brings a wealth of digital expertise and notable credibility to the ambitious digital efforts Rodale has set for 2012 and beyond. He’s poised to expand our global digital business to better serve our customers around the world.”
As the VP and GM of eCommerce and Digital Products at Barnes & Noble, Astarita built the company’s digital business from the idea stage to a thriving, 175-person division, which created the NOOK and its many brand extensions including NOOK Kids, NOOKcolor and www.nook.com [3].
Said Astarita, "Rodale is a trusted and authoritative global leader in health, fitness and wellness, and I’m very excited to join this talented team. Capitalizing on their strong brands, unique assets, coveted partnerships and global presence, I look forward to helping propel the expansion of Rodale's digital reach."
In the latest L2 Digital IQ Index study, Rodale was awarded the highest digital IQ among all magazine publishers and was praised for its digital competence, ad revenue-per-page, and for “tapping into a Health & Fitness category-specific formula that translates across its titles.”
Rodale is a global media company with a heritage, mission, and authority dedicated to the health and wellness of the individual, community, and planet. Through a broad portfolio of leading media properties, Rodale reaches more than 70 million people around the world through multiple distribution channels, including magazines, books, online, e-commerce, direct-to-consumer, and video. The company publishes some of the best-known health and wellness lifestyle magazines, including Men’s Health, Prevention, Women’s Health, Runner’s World, Bicycling, Running Times, and Organic Gardening, and is the largest independent book publisher in the United States, with a collection of bestselling titles, including Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, Eat This, Not That! and Flat Belly Diet! Rodale is also a leader in direct-response marketing and has more than 25 million active customers in its database. To learn more about Rodale, visit www.rodaleinc.com [3].
Links:
[1] http://www.rodaleinc.com/newsroom
[2] http://www.rodaleinc.com/print/1632
[3] http://www.rodaleinc.com/http