News Feature
On Cloud Nine with Group Nine
By: Mia Lee
Airplane ViewPhoto By: Mia Lee
New York City ViewPhoto By: Mia Lee
Group Nine Background:
Group Nine Media is a company based in New York City that consists of a group of media based platforms and are well known for their video content. Group Nine has acquired The Thrillist, The Seeker, The Dodo, Now This, and now currently Popsugar. Group Nine merged into one company initially during 2016 when Ben Lerer, founder of Group Nine, so that each company had the chance to grow and to be overseen in a collaborative, influential environment. Lerer found that there was a lack of video content for people to enjoy and he was able to create that demographic to bring it back to life. He believed that the video medium wasn’t dead and wanted it to appeal to the younger generations. “It’s about telling a story that will stick with someone” said editor of Brandshop, Nicole Theodore.
Group Nine Founding Family:
Group Nine was born under the Lerer family. The journey began with Ben Lerer. He is the founder of Group Nine and the co-founder & CEO of Thrillist Media Group. He found his passion with the media field from the influence of his father, Ken Lerer, who is the co-founder of the Huffington Post and from his sister, Izzie Lerer, who is The Dodo founder and co-founder of Group Nine. Izzie talked about this initial project a couple years and eventually were able to merge the companies into Group Nine. According to Business Insider, people accused him of only being successful because he has successful parents. This however wasn’t the story. In the past he was a “decently spoiled kid” said Ben. Now, he strives to be an influential figure like his father. He mentioned that his childhood was another part that influenced him to take part in Group Nine because he witnessed with his dad’s past career moves with Huffington Post, Robinson Lerer Montgomery, AOL and Buzzfeed.
How did Group Nine do it:
Ben Lerer had the opportunity to initially acquire $100 million investment that Discovery and Axel Springer gave for Group Nine to play around with. According to the Wall Street Journal, what really helped the company set them apart was how they initially strategized. “You have to remain objective [and] understand where the content is going” said director of editorial, Paul Ullane. Group Nine uses an outlook that is open to have a better understanding of the demographic (younger generations) and to have marketing that would appeal to their interests. “Developing diverse sources of revenue, building specialized brands that lead consumer categories and centralizing services and functions” said Ben. The company began collaborating on video concepts with other branches of Group Nine and created a platform for people to enjoy. Later on Group Nine was able to gain an additional $50 million dollars for the funding of the overall effort to add more companies to the Group Nine family.
Group Nine Future Plans:
As of right now, Group Nine has currently acquired Popsugar as another media outlet for the company and there headquarters will grow in New York in the near future. With acquiring Popsugar, the goal for Group Nine is to grow there demographic and resonate with more viewers on a bigger platform. In terms of family updates, Ken Lerer has stepped down as Buzzfeed’s Chairman during June 2019 to focus on personal matters according to Vanity Fair. He is focusing on his other companies such as the Huffington Post and Lerer Hippeau Ventures for the time being, but he’s planning to stay in the New York area to oversee it.