Conde Nast’s chief business officer in the UK has described the business as becoming a “a luxury publisher for the social media platforms”.
Andrea Latten, who took on the role in February after 13 years at the company including four as chief business officer in Germany, told Press Gazette the growth of the platforms should be embraced as an opportunity rather than a threat.
Her focus at the publisher of Vogue, GQ, Glamour and other brands is to work out “how we can drive digital change as fast as possible”, she said.
Some 45% of revenue for the UK business comes from print, with 35% from digital and 20% from events.
Her goal is to reach 50/50 between print and digital sales (excluding events) within the next year.
Conde Nast‘s editorial proposition in the UK is “very digital already”, Latten said, citing British Vogue’s 1.5 million followers on Tiktok and GQ‘s video views which are “growing immensely”.
[Read more: What happened when British GQ stopped trying to ‘feed the algorithm’]
But “we have to make sure that we also tell that story to our clients and make sure that we bring the right packages for the market”, she added.
Although brands can still buy classic website solutions like display advertising, they are making social media “a big, big part of our business”.
Conde Nast ‘part of’ platform growth with Tiktok partnership
Conde Nast is a partner of Tiktok’s Pulse Premiere programme, which runs ads directly after content from selected lifestyle, entertainment and sports publishers to dissuade brand safety concerns around being next to unknown user-generated content.
Latten said: “This is something that we very actively pitch to our luxury clients, because they are always a little bit worried about social media, especially about Tiktok, because they’re saying ‘it’s not brand safe’, or ‘we don’t know what kind of environment our ad shows up in’, so they prefer to buy it through us and be present on our Tiktok channels because they know that it’s a brand safe environment.”
Other Pulse Premiere partners include People Inc (formerly Dotdash Meredith), Hearst Magazines, Buzzfeed, Paramount, NBC Universal, Disney and US sports leagues NFL, MLS, MLB and NHL.
“In a way, we’ve become a luxury publisher for the social media platforms,” Latten said.
“I mean, you can see it in two ways. You can see like ‘oh my God, these platforms are coming for us, and they’re taking so much market share’, or you’re like ‘okay, let’s be part of that journey, and let’s see how we can actually produce great content for these platforms, and see how we can monetise that and sell that to our partners’.”
Latten noted that digital advertising budgets have shifted towards Google, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta and Tiktok, meaning the platforms take up well over half of the UK ad market.
She said Pulse Premiere therefore “gives us an opportunity to sell into Tiktok and just make sure to get a share of the business that, anyway, gets invested in the social media platforms… So I think it’s really about, how can we be part of this, and how can we make sure that we tell our story and that we have our brands present in that world.
“When you look at digital budgets, you see a shift from classic display branded content, etc, towards the digital pure players, so social media or Google, so Meta, Tiktok or Google is basically 75% of the market. And then the rest of the digital spend is divided between several hundred different publishers or opportunities where you can spend your money.
“So I feel like we should be part of those 75% and just make sure we offer an editorial product which is interesting to consumers. We build the right audiences on social media, and we’re able to monetise those.”
Conde Nast also has a branded content product for Instagram that enables brands to communicate through the Instagram Stories of brands like Vogue.
Conde Nast said Latten led a 26% year-on-year increase in social video revenue last year in the German business driven by the beauty, fashion and travel categories.
Despite the emphasis on digital and social media, Latten said print remains “incredibly valuable to the brand building”.
Having strong brands means “you can monetise it well on other channels”, she explained, adding that she has thought of them not just as print products but as “door openers to new platforms, new business models”.
The brands also mean people are more likely to consume advertising: Latten said A/B testing has taken place looking at the effect of branded content without Conde Nast brands attached and said this “will really help us to get even more market share from social media”.
Citing partners like Nike, M&S and Louis Vuitton, Latten continued: “All of them like to tell a co-branded story, because they like to associate themselves with the values of a brand like Vogue or GQ or Tatler, whatever it may be, House & Garden, The World of Interiors, because all these brands play such a significant role in their individual ecosystem that very, very few partners out there would be like ‘oh, I would not like to be associated with those brands’. So I really feel like this is an added value.
“That’s also the way that consumers, especially Gen Z, would like to perceive advertising these days. I don’t think they just want to have it in your face, like, buy these new Lululemon leggings. They want to see someone tell you the story…”
Fashion revenue ‘difficult’ but pivot to high street and pre-loved is helping
Some industries that work with Conde Nast are currently in a stronger position than others: Latten noted that fashion, especially for luxury brands, is “difficult” because of price increases in recent years that have led to a decline in consumers.
For example Chanel’s revenue was down 4% in 2024.
Latten was hopeful that fashion would pick up after the September shows, especially as many of the luxury fashion houses have hired new designers.
But in the meantime Conde Nast is focusing on the industries that are doing well, including beauty, anything related to mental wellbeing, and luxury travel, Latten said. Conde Nast’s commercial teams are set up by industry rather than individual brands.
“Conde Nast Traveller is doing really well. It’s one of our best performing brands, because people will still travel and spend a lot of time travelling, especially after Covid. But they might cut back on the handbag. Travelling is the real-life experiences: that’s what we try to capitalise on.”
Latten also cited the signing of two major non-endemic partnerships with Google and Ebay, the latter of which is leaning into sustainability and the fashion resale market which is thriving as higher-end fashion struggles.
She said this ties in well to the vision for British Vogue under Chioma Nnadi, who has been editor since October 2023. High street brands like M&S and Lululemon are also holding up better and investing in partnerships.
“This is the way we are, let’s say, trying to overcome the current fashion crisis – being more creative with our partnerships.”
Vogue’s vintage luxury sales held in London and New York earlier this year, in partnership with Ebay, took this approach into in-person events.
British Vogue also launched its first two-day wellness retreat in the Cotswolds in June, something that will now be rolled out to other markets. Latten said it “helped us shape a new narrative for Vogue, because Vogue is mainly fashion, but it’s also wellness”.
She added that it is “really exciting for us, finding new ways of also creating experiences around our brands. It doesn’t always have to be just a great fashion party.”
Two Conde Nast titles in the UK work differently with brands: Wired and Vogue Business have consulting businesses that product insights into their respective industries and put together conferences and summits for partners. For example Wired
Commercial revenue, which is led by Latten, is the “main revenue driver” of the business but she noted that consumer revenue such as e-commerce is also a strategic priority. E-commerce revenue was said to be up 80% year on year by harnessing the reputation of the brands to make recommendations about products from fashion and beauty to hotels.
Conde Nast to finish 2025 ‘on a healthy level’ despite fashion challenges
Overall, Latten said, Conde Nast in the UK is currently matching 2024, a “very good result, given that in 2024 the economic climate was definitely better than 2025. So we definitely can’t complain.
“We’re also seeing that whenever our clients have budget cuts, we are definitely the last publications that they cut their budgets from, which is something that we’re very proud of, because we feel like there’s a lot of loyalty and long-term partnerships between us and our partners.”
Latten said she is “hopeful” for Q4 because of the potential turnaround in fashion after the September shows and because Christmas can be “full of surprises”.
She added that the business has major events lined up for Q4 including Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards and GQ’s Men of the Year.
“The sponsorships are really healthy,” Latten said. “They look really good, especially for Men of the Year. We’re already at a very, very good place.
“So I think with all our new social products in place, with the excitement around those events, with the print publications that are going strong, I think we’re going to finish the year on a healthy level.”
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