NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS ANNOUNCES NEW HIRES ACRO DIGITAL TEAM

WASHINGTON (May 10, 2017)-As National Geographic continues to solidify its place as a leader in digital and social innovation, Rachel Webber, Executive Vice President of Digital Product announced today new leadership roles for the digital group. New hires include Marcus East as Executive Vice President of Product and Technology, Marcelo Galdieri as Senior Vice President of Digital Product, and Jonathan Hunt as Senior Vice President of Audience Development and Digital Strategy. Both East and Hunt will report to Webber, and Galdieri will lead a product group on East's team.

We're thrilled that Marcus, Marcelo and Jonathan have joined to help scale our digital products and communities in ways that bring the National Geographic brand and experience to more audiences, Webber said. On digital platforms, the National Geographic yellow border becomes a portal for audiences to explore the world around them. While we have a running head-start with the No. 1 most followed brand on social media, attracting 350 million social followers on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn, and a big fanbase across our owned offerings, we still have more to do to live up to the mission and potential of this brand online. Marcus, Marcelo and Jonathan have strong track records in aggregating audiences and building engaging relationships with communities through smart product, social and video solutions for some of the world's most beloved brands. We want to utilize their experience and expertise to drive National Geographic's mission forward for audiences on all platforms.

The new hires and their roles on the digital team are:

Marcus East joins National Geographic as the Executive Vice President of Product and Technology. He will be responsible for leading the teams that deliver world-class digital consumer experiences, and for designing and implementing an intelligent platform and architecture strategy in partnership with 21st Century Fox and Fox Networks Group. East joins National Geographic from Marks and Spencer, where he ran eCommerce, digital product, digital operations and technology platforms. Previously East ran eCommerce solutions for Apple in EMEA, and then moved to Apple in Cupertino, Calif., to lead a product group at HQ. Prior to joining Apple, East led technology for Comic Relief, one of the UK's biggest pro-social organizations.

Marcelo Galdieri joins National Geographic as the Senior Vice President of Digital Product focused on international digital offerings and identity and relationship tools. Galdieri will oversee the team responsible for the design, development and implementation of the localized, unified National Geographic web and mobile web products across international territories, and the company's localized native mobile app, multi-format offering. Galdieri joins National Geographic after 20 years at MasterCard where he was the Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Digital Programs overseeing consumer engagement experience platforms and responsible for launching and managing offerings across more than 40 markets through a single technology platform.

Jonathan Hunt joins National Geographic's digital team as the Senior Vice President of Audience Development and Digital Strategy. Hunt will be responsible for scaling social audiences and community engagement across its key platforms such as its Editorial and Global TV Networks' Facebook and Instagram fan communities, Snapchat Discover platform, and photo-enthusiast platform Your Shot; expanding the company's social video capabilities; and partnering with Sales to grow digital revenue across National Geographic digital and social channels and products. Hunt was previously Vice President at Vox Media where he helped launch and scale the audience development capabilities and go-to market strategies for Vox Media's digital media brands and advertising technology products. Prior to Vox Media, Hunt was the Global Marketing Director at VICE, where he built the audience development and digital marketing function and led digital strategies for the company's portfolio of brands.

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About National Geographic Partners LLC:

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic's media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children's media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 129 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers and reaching over 730 million people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Media Contact:

Anna Kukelhaus Dynan, 202.912.6724, anna.kukelhaus@natgeo.com

LINK:	http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/10/national-geographic-par...
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