The Guardian has named John Sills as vice-president, head of sales for North America, a new position. He was previously vice-president of client solutions at Morning Brew, where he led multi-platform brand partnerships across key verticals, including finance, lifestyle and tech. The announcement was made by Sara Badler, chief advertising officer for North America, to whom Sills will report.
In his new role, Sills will be responsible for advertising sales, overseeing all aspects of digital advertising, including both direct and programmatic channels, across North America. This role will drive revenue growth, expand market presence and foster a high-performing sales team.
Sills’ career includes time at Audacy, CBS Interactive and NBCUniversal NBC Sports Group, where he developed partnerships with some of the most prominent brands in advertising.
He holds a bachelor of arts from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
John Sills, VP, head of sales, the Guardian US, said: “This is a tremendously exciting opportunity to join one of the most trusted and respected media brands on Earth. With its storied history, unwavering commitment to independent journalism, and scale, the Guardian is uniquely positioned to accelerate in today’s media landscape as other outlets retreat or put up paywalls. As the team at Guardian heads into 2025, we’ll be building on strong momentum, a strategic approach, and advancements to advertising solutions. I’m eager to support the mission and connect brand partners with an incredibly passionate and engaged audience.”
Sara Badler, chief advertising officer, the Guardian US, said: “During John’s tenure at Morning Brew, revenue more than tripled. He has a proven track record of driving significant growth and achieving challenging sales targets on a national scale. I look forward to working with him on cross-departmental collaborations with marketing, revenue operations, and editorial to develop promotional strategies that enhance engagement and amplify impact for our advertising clients.”
Steve Sachs, managing director, the Guardian US, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome John to the Guardian’s US operation. Recent research we conducted showed that some of the most valuable audience segments are interested in a broad range of news–a sweet spot for us. John brings to the Guardian extensive knowledge of brand partner opportunities in the sports, lifestyle, tech, and finance verticals, which will allow us to capitalize on our breadth of content and strength as a global outlet free of a paywall.”
About the Guardian US:
Guardian Media Group (GMG), a certified B Corporation, is the publisher of theguardian.com, one of the largest English-language news websites in the world. Since launching its U.S. and Australian digital editions in 2011 and 2013, respectively, traffic from outside the U.K. now represents around two-thirds of the Guardian’s total digital audience. None of the editions have a paywall.
The Guardian US has more than 100 members of editorial staff across bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Today, the Guardian has more than 300,000 recurring supporters in the US, plus roughly 200,000 annual one-time supporters. It draws an audience of more than 40 million US readers every month, making it one of the top news sites in America. The Guardian is a global leader in reader-funded journalism, and contributions from readers are the publication’s largest source of revenue.
The Guardian US is renowned for its Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into widespread secret surveillance by the National Security Agency and for other award-winning work, including on the Paradise Papers. The Guardian US is known for its urgent coverage of the climate crisis, politics, race and immigration, guns, gender, the arts, sports, tech and more.
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