Israel, who joins the Guardian from Mindshare, will play a key role in expanding Guardian Labs in the US, its in-house branded content and innovation agency. She will drive deeper and more enduring partnerships with clients and brands and work closely with the Guardian’s team in London and Australia to explore and create global opportunities for clients.
She will based in the Guardian’s New York office.
At Mindshare, Israel most recently held the position of Executive Director, Strategic Planning. She brings with her over 20 years of agency experience across a variety of global and domestic brands. Before joining Mindshare, Rachel spent over 15 years at global media agency MEC in senior planning roles.
Israel’s appointment comes as Guardian builds upon its recent commercial momentum in the US, says the Guardian. Revenue is up nearly 300 percent year-on-year and US readership has grown nearly 40% over the same period, with 25 million unique visitors monthly (Source: ComScore, December 2014).
In October, the Guardian launched its redesigned website exclusively to its US audience. The new site, developed entirely in the open, was built around the needs of its readers, including feedback received from over 25,000 comments during an eight month beta phase. On Wednesday, the Guardian completed the global switch to the new website introducing a new and innovative set of high impact ad formats that, says the Guardian, work gracefully across all screen sizes.
Guardian Labs - which launched in 2014 with a seven-figure Unilever campaign (the award-winning Live Better Challenge) - is rooted in the philosophy of ‘Open Ideas’, and collaborates with brands and advertisers to create innovative and authentic branded content. The Guardian Labs team numbering over 130, including strategists, creatives, project managers, designers, editors, video and content specialists, is dedicated to telling compelling brand stories that connect and engage with the progressive and highly influential audiences across the Guardian’s print and digital platforms.
“Rachel’s insights and wealth of experience as well as her exhaustive energy and boundless enthusiasm perfectly align with the commercial vision we are building here at Guardian,” said Store. “She is uniquely placed to lead the growth and expansion of Guardian Labs in the US, and I’m thrilled she’s chosen to join our growing US team,” he added.
“It’s an exciting time of opportunity at the Guardian and I’m thankful to be part of that growth for the brand in the US,” said Israel. We need more of the Guardian’s trusted, digital journalism in the US. Those ingredients are key to delivering successful brand partnerships and engagement with consumers. The Guardian has all the right ingredients for success, and the right vision. I am privileged to be joining this incredible team.”
