Refocusing the Refinery29 enterprise
Refinery29 generates income by means of three major companies: its analysis and consultancy arm, R29 Intelligence; its R29 Content material Studio; and its creator community, the R29 Expertise Cooperative.
In 2023, the writer introduced in round $30 million, down from $50 million in 2022, in response to The Wall Avenue Journal. It has a workers of roughly 100 full-time staff.
Its media enterprise is centered totally on direct-sold promoting and sponsorship, which is partially why the corporate plans to give attention to increasing its occasions slate. The income it generates from programmatic promoting is “nearly a rounding error,” in response to Haik.
Beautycon, which takes place in November in Los Angeles, returned final 12 months for the primary time since 2019. Going ahead, the writer is seeking to improve its frequency—the occasion will make its New York debut within the first half of subsequent 12 months—and doubtlessly discover new cities, comparable to London, in response to Haik. Refinery29 can be bringing again 29 Rooms, its marquee occasion, which can return in September 2025.
Along with this give attention to experiential, the writer can be seeking to produce extra video, a channel for which promoting demand has remained robust. Particularly, it would look to construct out video choices round its franchises, comparable to Cash Diaries, Unbothered, Somos and Not Your Token Asian.
Coupled with this push into video, Refinery29 is hiring editors to develop its protection of ladies’s sports activities and present affairs. The previous has seen a surge in curiosity in current months and can profit from the eye generated by the upcoming Paris Olympics, whereas the latter will give attention to subjects like reproductive rights forward of the presidential election.
Sundial Media Group can be seeking to develop, each by means of inside funding and acquisition. Prime targets for acquisition will probably be these with robust convening energy, in response to Sundial CEO Kirk McDonald, who joined in April from GroupM.
Such titles will strengthen the Sundial industrial thesis, which goals to make use of editorial to construct model affinity after which drive shoppers towards occasions that provide blockbuster sponsorship alternatives.
“We’re in search of manufacturers with robust mental property, whose draw is so highly effective that they trigger folks to return collectively bodily,” McDonald mentioned. “You tie that to our capacity to create on-line stock, and you’ll provide a holistic built-in alternative to entrepreneurs.”
