Christa Carone To Oversee Sales, Marketing, and Data As Group Nine’s New President

Digital publisher Group Nine Media, whose brands include NowThis, The Dodo, Thrillist, and Seeker, has named marketing veteran Christa Carone its new president. In this role, Carone will oversee the company’s sales and marketing teams as well as its data insights. She replaces Eric Ashman, according to Variety, who previously held other responsibilities as president, and has since been named COO.

Most recently, Carone served as the COO of branded publisher Group SJR. She also acted as CMO for the Boston 2024 Partnership, an organization that organized the city’s bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Before that, Carone served as an EVP at Fidelity investments and also spent 17 years at Xerox, concluding her tenure there as CMO.

“We have great brands, enormous reach, and industry-leading data and insights — and with moves like our recent Jash acquisition

— an ever-expanding range of content creation capabilities,” said Group Nine CEO Ben Lerer. The company also just raised $40 million in new funding from previous investors including Discovery Communications and Axel Springer. “Bringing Christa in to connect data insights together with marketing and sales will help us to continue to refine our go-to-market strategy and allow us to be a better partner for brands and agencies alike.”

“I’m joining a team that values great storytelling, that applies smart insights to cultivating communities, and that places a premium on quality and creativity,” added Carone. “The momentum building with each of our brands is energizing, the talented team is impressive, and the overall success of Group Nine is inspiring. Even better, I have no doubt that we’re just getting started.”