The digital transformation company Code and Concept has appointed Jessica Giles, the previous editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, as managing director of its newly created Media Expertise Follow. 

Giles, who was named ADWEEK’s Editor of the Year in 2019, will oversee a workforce of roughly 50 to assist media manufacturers navigate evolving shopper behaviors, developments in artificial intelligence know-how, and shifting income fashions. She begins her position with the Stagwell-owned agency on Monday, Feb. 24.

The transfer comes as publishers proceed to grapple with declining distribution reliability and disrupted financial frameworks. Utilizing a consultative framework, the Media Expertise Follow goals to assist them reimagine content material experiences, introduce progressive monetization methods, and foster stronger viewers engagement.

“The trade is at an actual reckoning proper now; it’s caught between distribution channels that they don’t management, shopper behaviors they will’t dictate, and enterprise fashions which can be unsustainable,” mentioned Giles. “I see this as survival of the neatest.”

From editor to trade strategist

Giles joins Code and Concept after main Cosmopolitan to its largest-ever viewers, a feat she achieved by modernizing its content material methods and launching merchandise in partnership with firms like OpenAI and Google. 

Her profession additionally consists of roles at Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, and Glamour, the place she contributed to digital transformations.

“Being an editor-in-chief within the fashionable media panorama is, in some ways, like steering a ship via uneven waters,” mentioned Giles. “Publishers want a fierce companion with sea legs and a transparent imaginative and prescient for navigating what comes subsequent.”

Her mandate at Code and Concept entails making use of her newsroom insights to the broader media ecosystem, serving to manufacturers unlock new alternatives via AI-enabled experiences and next-generation storytelling instruments.


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A legacy of media innovation

Code and Concept has labored with greater than 200 newsrooms prior to now 15 years, partnering with world media firms like BBC, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and NBC Information. The company has additionally constructed data-driven storytelling instruments like NBC’s Huge Board and CNN’s Magic Wall.

“We’ve constructed a Ferrari, and Jess is like buying Lewis Hamilton,” mentioned Dan Gardner, cofounder and govt chair of Code and Concept. “We now have the very best automotive and now the very best driver.”