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The 21 Most Intriguing: The Swashbuckler: Marta Wöhrle
— Ann Cooper

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With an international background that includes stints working as a business journalist in London and heading up her own media company in Paris, British-born Marta Wöhrle is just the kind of dynamic, swashbuckling force required to thrust the diversely idiosyncratic Web universe of publishers Hachette Filipacchi Media Inc. headlong into the 21st century. Her very conversation is even peppered with such words as, well, "swashbuckling."

Hired one year ago as director of digital media, responsible for the development of 16 Web sites, mobile applications and digital editions for all Hachette titles, as well as joint ventures in new media, video on demand and new media acquisitions, Wöhrle’s universe is both dauntingly complex and refreshingly challenging. An initial concern was how people would react to her. She was pleasantly surprised. "Everyone got it. I didn’t have to sell the concept to anyone," she says.

Wöhrle’s Internet odyssey followed a journalistic career spent working at the London Sunday Times and as editor of Broadcast magazine. Having had good access to the board levels of most media companies, she felt confident enough to launch a media consultancy, Informed Sources, with an attorney partner. "We thought ourselves pretty smart, and that people would pay us for our opinions." She turned out to be right, and from day one, 60% of their clients were from the U.S., including Hearst Magazines and Disney. "So moving to the States looked like a really good idea to us. Then came 9/11, and it looked like a really bad idea."

When they sold the company in 2002 to Mercer Management Consulting, she became one of Mercer’s 110 directors, but one of only four women. Three years later, she left. "I needed to get back into building companies," she says.

Back then, the post-dot.com world was still evolving. " There were two attitudes about new media," she says. "One was, ‘this is wonderful. How can we invest and make money?’ And then there were those who derided it. Then the Internet began to be lead by consumers forming a critical mass and advertisers began to see what was happening, and then finally, media."

Jack Kliger, president and CEO of Hachette, asked her to come on board in August of 2005. At Hachette, she found structural issues. While the Web was run centrally in men’s magazines, women’s magazines were organized independently. "It was like trying to get marooned Web sites off the sandbanks," she says. Another issue was what she calls "core competence." There wasn’t, for example, "a creative editor who was able to talk to a technical person."

She also found a decision-making vacuum. "No one was able to say ‘we need these resources and these kinds of people.’ Some Web sites were frozen in time, others were way ahead. Car & Driver, for example, was dragged kicking and screaming by virtue of its readership. Woman’s Day, on the other hand, was not doing anything." Plus, Web page views were way down, and there were morale issues.

All of which was being played out against a media environment requiring a 180-degree revolution in thinking. "Since 9/11, we’d become a different kind of company. What we needed to do was throw away the old system and get a new one."

According to Kliger, "When it came time to choose someone to run the digital area for us, it was clear that Marta would be excellent. She understands that magazine brands bring world-class content, fully developed communities — as well as edited voices and points of view — to digital platforms."

She doubled the manpower on the Web, from 30 to more than 60. "It was a case of swashbuckling the problem," says Wöhrle. "Jack gave me permission to remove roadblocks." It was a job that required diplomacy. "I listen to what people need and try and help them. A big piece was when and who would report to me."

She created new centralized jobs including a head of traffic and operations and rethought the function and purpose of each Web site. "With Woman’s Day, for example, theres’s a younger demographic on the Web site than on the magazine."

Another problem is that Web sites have no bylines. "We’ve got to change that and make it less anonymous." Then there was the folding of ELLEgirl, leading to a renewed focus on the Web site. One year on, she still has lots to achieve. "As a company, there’s still a cultural thing realizing you’re a brand, not a medium. The challenge for me is not to get too impatient with the speed at which things are done," she says, eyes twinkling, as she charges out the door of her office, swashbuckling her way towards another meeting.

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