January 25, 2023
Rodale Taps Scott Schulman As President
- by Erik Sass @eriksass1, October 15, 2013
Schulman spent the last 13 years working at Dow Jones & Co. in positions of increasing responsibility. He joined DJ in 1999 as vice president of strategic planning and was appointed president of its consumer electronic publishing unit and publisher of WSJ.com in 2000. He was eventually named senior vice president of sales and marketing for The Wall Street Journal globally, later became chief strategy officer, and was eventually promoted to president of financial information services before finally assuming the role of president of the company’s corporate markets group -- a position he has held since 2010.
Schulman’s appointment comes at a good time for Rodale, which has been outperforming the rest of the consumer magazine business in 2013. In the first nine months of the year, ad pages are up 23.7% at Men’s Health, 31.7% at Women’s Health and 11.9% at Prevention, while Runner’s World is basically flat with a 0.3% drop, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
These results compare favorably with an overall drop of 3.8% for all consumer mags tracked by the PIB.
Although the company is currently defying the general downward trend in print advertising, Rodale has its eye on digital platforms -- a key area of experience for Schulman, who helped expand the WSJ’s pioneering online subscription model as president of consumer electronic publishing.
E-commerce also figures large in the company’s digital strategy. In May, Rodale launched a standalone e-commerce platform, Rodale’s, dedicated to “luxury and sustainably sourced goods” in categories including apparel, accessories and beauty, kitchen and garden, fitness, bed and bath, gifts and books, and general care.
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