Maria Maranesi joins as Vice President, Consumer Products, NGP Europe & Africa, Nathan Philpot joins as Director, Travel, NGP Europe & Africa
In a move to bolster its regional operations, National Geographic Partners (NGP) has announced two new key appointments in Europe and Africa, building on National Geographic’s commitment to expand its reach across all areas of its brand, including its publishing, broadcasting, travel and licensing businesses
Maria Maranesi joins the organisation as Vice President, Consumer Products, NGP Europe & Africa, to drive and transform the consumer product division. Based in Barcelona, Maria will join the organisation March 27th.
Nathan Philpot will join the organisation in April 2017 as Director, Travel, NGP Europe & Africa to develop and launch the branded consumer travel experiences across Europe and Africa. Already one of the most popular travel products in the United States, National Geographic Expeditions creates bespoke holidays including branded cruises, eco-lodges and multi-destination hosted trips.
Both positions will report to Deborah Armstrong, EVP National Geographic Partners, Europe & Africa.
“Building on our success over the past 129 years, National Geographic resonates with over 730 million consumers every month, and this expansion is testament to our commitment to the region,” said Deborah Armstrong, EVP, National Geographic Partners, Europe & Africa. “Maria and Nathan are both highly skilled professionals. Their leading expertise will be integral to our business as we develop new ways to extend our sterling brand, adding value into new opportunities that deliver products and experiences that are authentic to National Geographic and relevant for our consumers.”
Commenting on the appointment, Maria Maranesi said, “This is an exciting time to be joining the National Geographic team. We have a great opportunity to extend this prestigious brand and brand values through strategic licensing partnerships, into new relevant and innovative products, and deepen the engagement with our consumers.”
Nathan Philpot said “Experiential travel is seeing phenomenal growth across all sectors, including luxury travel, escorted touring, and in expedition cruising, which is seeing an unprecedented amount of investment in new ships. Authentic travel experiences are no longer niche but a mandatory requirement to put on any itinerary and there is no brand in the world better placed to lead adventure travel than National Geographic. I look forward to launching a variety of products across Europe such as the expedition cruises offered by eight branded National Geographic ships and Round-the-World Private Jet Adventures.”
Maranesi joins NGP from Mattel, following a successful 16-year career with the leading consumer products brand. In her most recent position, Maranesi was VP, Consumer Products, EMEA, responsible for Categories (Soft lines, Hard lines & Publishing), Creative, Retail & Communications and Agents, along with overseeing Toy Franchises such as Barbie, Scrabble and Hot Wheels, and Entertainment Franchises such as Thomas and Friends, Bob The Builder and Barney. With broad international experience, other roles at the company include Senior Director Consumer Products – Core Europe, Director Consumer Products – Central & South America and Senior Manager Consumer Products- Southern Cone.
With extensive experience in the Travel Industry, Philpot joins from The Cruise Checker, an online cruise comparison site, where he was the Founder and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to this role, Philpot was Sales & Marketing Director, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, where he helped the company to become the 3rd biggest brand in the UK cruise market. In this role, Philpot was responsible Corporate and Marketing strategy, Product Development, Customer Operations and for all UK and International sales. Other roles include MD, Elegant Resorts; Group Sales & Marketing Director, Page & Moy; Marketing Director, Wexas Travel; and Head of Marketing & Sales, Kuoni Travel.
About National Geographic Partners LLC
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Nat Geo People) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of the world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 129 years, and now it is committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for consumers… all while reaching over 730 million people around the world in 171 countries and 45 languages every month. NGP returns 27 percent of its proceeds to the non-profit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com, or via our social channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Media Contact
Daniel Maynard
Director of Communications, National Geographic, Europe & Africa
Daniel.Maynard@fox.com
+44 (0)7971 058864