'Fatherly' Names Ex-Conde Nast Exec Kelley Gudahl As First VP, Marketing

Former Condé Nast executive Kelley Gudahl has been tapped as the first vice president of marketing at Fatherly, a digital media brand aimed at millennial dads.

Gudahl was most recently Condé Nast’s executive director of industry marketing. Prior to that, Gudahl served as the senior director of integrated marketing at Hearst, leading print, digital, social and event marketing strategy for Esquire and Popular Mechanics.

Gudahl will report to Fatherly’s senior vice president of sales, Josh Abrams.

Fatherly is seeing consistent growth. To keep up that momentum, we need the best, most innovative and savvy people that understand the landscape and know how to execute creative solutions for our partners,” stated Abrams.

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Gudahl will be responsible for “leading the pre-sale RFP process, generating new cross-functional franchise ideas with the editorial teams, and managing the creative decisions associated with the brand’s first holiday pop-up,” according to the publisher.

Called “The Playroom,” the pop-up will take place in New York City this winter for a week.

Fatherly will work with sponsors to create activations that appeal to children and adults, such as an indoor playscape.

"With the closing of Toys "R" Us earlier this year, Fatherly saw a unique opportunity to create a family-friendly holiday shopping experience," Abrams told Publishers Daily. "As one of many dads at Fatherly HQ, we know that shopping for, and with your kids, during the holidays has traditionally been a nightmare. This will be a toy-store for the Instagram generation.”

Fatherly says it is in final talks with sponsors and will announce them when the company begins to market the event in the fourth quarter.

“We're bringing together like-minded brands to offer parents a more hands-on way to shop; one that entertains kids, promotes imagination, discovery, and above all, makes parents' lives easier,” Abrams added.

Gudahl takes on her new role Monday.

Fatherly has had other recent expansions to its executive team. In May, the publisher hired its first vice president of product, Saadiq Rodgers-King.
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