Business News

Gannett Expands Mobile Focus with Appointment of Veteran Mobile Sales Executive

Wednesday 14. July 2010 - Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), announced today the appointment of Craig Etheridge as vice president of Mobile Advertising Sales for Gannett Digital. Etheridge was most recently vice president of Emerging Platform Sales at The Weather Channel (TWC) where he was responsible for sales of TWC's mobile product portfolio.

Etheridge will be responsible for further expanding Gannett’s mobile advertising portfolio and developing long-term mobile ad sales strategy.

“Our local and national mobile efforts have been very successful to date with over 5 million iPhone, iPad and Android app downloads for USA TODAY, a network of 105 local market mobile web sites, and an interactive text message program that leverages our tremendous scale in print and broadcast media,” said Gracia Martore, Gannett president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer. “Craig and his team will enable us to better maximize the benefits of our entire suite of mobile offerings for advertisers, something that is key to our success going forward.”

Etheridge brings almost two decades of experience in the media and online advertising industry to Gannett Digital. For TWC, Etheridge worked directly with agencies and brands to secure mobile advertising opportunities. He was responsible for significant year-over-year growth in advertising sales across a number of verticals, including travel, retail and finance. Etheridge also helped launch TWC’s iPad application.

Etheridge was at TWC for 15 years. Other positions included vice president/national sales director, where he directed the company’s digital advertising sales strategy for the Southeast, Southwest and West Coast. Earlier in his career, Etheridge served as regional director of Netscape-AOL Interactive Marketing. He was part of the travel vertical and managed the Netscape Southwest and Southeast regions.