BIOGRAPHY

Chris Wilkes
VP, Digital Editions & Audience Development
Hearst Magazines Digital Media

Chris Wilkes is the vice president, digital editions & audience development for Hearst Magazines Digital Media. He is responsible for initiating and coordinating all e-reader and app development activity within Hearst Magazines as well as leading online subscription acquisition efforts and traffic marketing programs, including search optimization and email marketing. He has been instrumental in the development and launch plans for 35 iPhone and iPad apps for Hearst’s brands in 2010.

Since Chris joined Hearst in 2005, he has helped create a successful consumer marketing platform online, enabling the company to garner 10 million net paid subscriptions over the past 3 years through the Internet, 90% of which were new to the company’s subscription database. In 2009, Hearst attracted nearly four million new subscriptions online, demonstrating that the Web has helped attract new print readers to Hearst’s 14 titles.

To date, Hearst Magazines has launched 24 apps, including Redbook’s One Stop Shop, the Seventeen Fashion Finder and Cosmopolitan's Sex Position of the Day, available on the iPhone and Android platforms. All of Hearst’s 14 magazines are available for the iPad through the Zinio application, and Popular Mechanics launched a successful iPad application in July. IPad apps from Esquire and six other leading Hearst brands will roll out later this year.

Prior to joining Hearst, Chris spent 10 years at Ziff Davis Media, starting with launching online subscription selling for its technology and gaming programs during the Web's early days in 1995. Chris' unique career has been spent entirely in consumer media focused on digital direct marketing activities and business building.

Return to Webinar