‘It’s not just about the results’: How Vox Media’s CRO Geoff Schiller is strategizing for ad sales in 2024

Centering the Vox Media sales pitch on talent, franchises and tent poles, Schiller said on a recent episode of the Digiday Podcast that this is the formula he and his sales team are following to differentiate the digital media company in the market. It’s a similar play to other publishers that are focusing on “going niche” versus competing for scale plays against platforms this year.

In this week’s episode Schiller talks about the state of the digital advertising market and how he’s showcasing vertical expertise to clients in various ways, from taking insights on a roadshow to showcases at industry events.

Highlights from the conversation have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

Going to market in 2024

Our strategy is really focused on three things: our talent, our franchises and our tent poles. South by [Southwest] being a tent pole, the talent being some of the [hosts on our podcasts] and franchises being predictable programming that is, whether it’s weekly or monthly, in demand from audiences and highly sought after from an awareness perspective, from an engagement perspective — all the things that you would want from a franchise.

An example of that would be Eater At Home, which we actually just relaunched in partnership with Coca Cola. [It’s] all the same amazing content but dialing up videos, dialing up recipes, dialing up our newsletters. [A franchise like this] allows for us to, I won’t say insulate, because it’s too strong of a word, but allows for us to be as strategic as possible when we speak to partners.

Generating advertisers for podcasts 

When we think about new categories, you look at the pods that we have, and we have, I think, cornered the market from a B2B lens. We’re getting into different sectors, and we’ve been very acquisitive in that space. But, and I think this is important, Vox Media’s goal is to be the most influential in each of its vertical categories. So the B2B aspect that’s emblematic of how we think of ourselves in tech with The Verge, in food with Eater, in luxury with New York magazine and certainly all of the brands that are across the Vox Media portfolio.

Offering up insights

We have most recently in the fall done AI roadshows for our partners built on two things. One, the expertise of The Verge [and] two, the expertise of [svp of insights, research and innovation] Edwin Wong and our Insights team. Clients that are looking for a perspective from leading editorial brands and thought leaders want to sit down with us and hear from us on that. A couple of weeks ago, on that same insights track, we released an anime study [on how fans of anime consume media] and the value that we’re seeing is really us as a navigational buddy, if you will, to brands who say, ‘Help me understand this. Helped me unpack this.’ So it’s not just about the results, it’s also about the insights.