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Role Call | Natasha McNamara, Digital Strategy Director

Natasha McNamara, digital strategy director at Glamour, says "The pace of new platform development is lightening fast and you need to stay on top of it all, but remain focused."
Natasha McNamara | Source: Courtesy
By
  • Kati Chitrakorn

There are few sectors of the economy that offer as wide and interesting a range of career opportunities as fashion. Role Call highlights some of the industry’s most interesting jobs and the talented people who do them. For more information about fashion industry roles like this and others, visit BoF Careers.

LONDON, United Kingdom — Natasha McNamara is the digital strategy director at Glamour. Having studied film and art history at Middlesex University, followed by a post-graduate in journalism at Westminster University, McNamara's career began with stints working at monthly film and TV magazine Computec Media as deputy editor and World Movie Magazine as editor. In 2005, she became features editor at Handbag.com, a Hearst-owned women's lifestyle website. In 2008, she joined Glamour.com as editor, charged with re-establishing the website into a genuine extension of the magazine brand and maximising its traffic potential and commercial opportunities. In 2012, she took on additional roles as online editor at magazine titles Easy Living and House & Garden. McNamara was promoted to the role of digital strategy director at Glamour in 2016.

BoF: Please describe your current role.

As digital strategy director, my role considers content first and how we deliver it, whether it's print, online, video or social. I work across our content areas, optimising it for each platform and developing best-in-class marketing strategies so that our audience can consume Glamour in the guise that suits them, at all times and on all platforms.

BoF: Your career began in editorial coverage for film and entertainment. What inspired you to make the jump to fashion? How did that evolve into you becoming editor at Glamour.com?

Moving into lifestyle, and specifically fashion, was a natural next step for me as my ambition moved into digital. Ten years ago, this particular space was yet to be saturated and it was an exciting place to be. No one brand was calling the shots when it came to content delivery; it was trial and error. We got to see how our audiences responded immediately (be it good or bad) and there was sense of being in the wild west with everything to play for. Digital became second nature for me, and with such incredible content pools to work within — fashion, beauty and entertainment — anything else would have been a challenge to work up an appetite for.

We have to acknowledge a whole new audience of digital savvy readers who want to consume Glamour, not just in print, but online via video and social.

BoF: After 7 years as editor of Glamour.com, why have you transitioned from an editorial leadership role to digital strategy? Where do you sit within the organisation now?

I am now part of the senior management team within Glamour, rather than focusing just solely on digital team. I work closely with Glamour's editor-in-chief Jo Elvin and publishing director Jamie Jouning to make sure the digital elements of the business are ever-present and never far from anyone’s mind. I’ve loved being the Glamour.com editor for the last 7 years, but I was ready to really start focusing on building the business on a larger scale.

BoF: How are Glamour.com’s audiences changing and how is the publication reflecting that digitally? What are your priorities this year?

As much as a big part of our loyal audience has grown up, we also have to acknowledge a whole new audience of digital savvy readers who want to consume Glamour, not just in print, but online via video and social. There’s a huge amount of content development in the pipeline and some changes both visually and holistically to look forward to very soon. This year is probably the biggest year in our history, as we transition towards a fully integrated print and digital multi-discipline team, expanding and enhancing our multimedia and design offer along the way.

BoF: What advice do you have for people who are interested in doing what you do? What tools or skills should people have?

I think it takes a very clear head to absorb and understand the huge amount of growth in the digital space at the moment. The pace of new platform development is lightening fast and you need to stay on top of it all, but remain focused.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

For more information about fashion industry roles like this and others, visit BoF Careers.

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