Chris Bennett, publisher and CEO of The Seattle Medium, has been named an Innovator of the Year by Local Media Association for delivering fantastic results with branded content and email marketing, and experimenting in new and creative ways.
Each year, the Local Media Revenue/Strategy Innovator of the Year award recognizes local media executives who pioneer new concepts, experiment in new and creative ways, and deliver impactful results for their companies.
Bennett’s massive revenue growth from sponsorships and branded content added more than $400,000 in sales using creative tactics through content initiatives. Bennett has been a leader and industry example of how to best use lifestyle content and category-specific content to bring in new advertisers and new audiences to The Seattle Medium.
But Bennett’s true innovation comes from his willingness to share his success with others, provide important feedback to improve processes and products for advertisers, and continue building in new categories and content areas.
Bennett has also been a founding member of Word In Black and instrumental in developing sponsorship and advertising opportunities for national brands and agencies. As a vocal member of several business-focused committees, he has helped build a revenue stream for collaboratives that can be replicated across the country.
“As a second generation publisher of Seattle’s leading Black news source, Chris exemplifies what it means to embrace the value of being a legacy newspaper, while at the same time transforming for a digital future,” said Andrew Ramsammy, chief content and collaboration officer for LMA.
“What Chris has been able to achieve in a relatively small period of time is no small feat. His phenomenal growth is completely attributable to his commitment in fully embracing LMA’s initiatives including the Meta Branded Content Project, Word In Black and the Knight x LMA BloomLab, and then fully executing them on the ground locally. The Seattle Medium’s long-term sustainability will be made possible because of Chris’ continued leadership and service to his community and that is why he’s LMA’s sales Innovator of the Year,” he said.
“I am truly humbled and grateful by this recognition from the Local Media Association,” Bennett said.
“The opportunities created through our partnerships with the Meta Branded Content Project, Word In Black and the Knight x LMA BloomLab have allowed us to diversify our revenue streams, provide creative solutions for advertisers/partners, and fully embrace a sustainable business model that allows us to monetize new projects and programs that have been part of our editorial calendar for years, in ways that are non-traditional but effective,” he said.
This award is sponsored by
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