min magazine 2008 Consumer Executive of the Year
Friday, November 7, 2008

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Richard Beckman
President, Condé Nast Media Group

min magazine’s 2008 consumer magazine executive of the year has always been a respected publisher and marketer, but in Beckman’s current Condé Nast incarnation, he has added impresario. His Fashion Rocks franchise, which launched in September 2004, integrates two Beckman loves—fashion and music—with magazines (FR was polybagged with the September Glamour, GQ, Vogue, etc.), events (a Radio City Music Hall concert) and television. The September CBS telecast drew a record 5 million viewers.

“I believe that in most cases a mass media approach no longer engages the consumer,” he says. “Fashion Rocks has been successful because it engages viewers across many platforms while delivering an entertaining, focused message throughout.”

In 2009, Beckman and the CNMG staff promise unique strategies. “Our contribution to overall Condé Nast revenues rose from 49 percent in 2002, when I became chief marketing officer, to 83 percent in 2008. I expect that 2009 will be tough but we have the best team in the business, and if it is out there we’ll find it.”

Impressive for a Brit whose first sales gig was selling Yellow Pages ads. His break came when he met the late Steve Florio in 1985, and Beckman was sent “home” to be the European ad manager in London. He has risen through the U.S. ranks since, becoming publisher of Condé Nast Traveler (1994), GQ (1995) and Vogue (1998). “Ad pages rose annually in each title, which I am very proud of,” he says. In addition, Beckman launched GQ’s “Men of the Year” and the “Vogue/Vh1 Awards.”

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