Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Boosts Digital Marketing Capabilities with Strategic Leadership Appointment

BOSTON, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt today announced that on April 6, Adriana Rizzo will join the organization's Trade Publishing Group as Vice President, Marketing. In this new role, Rizzo will lead the Group's marketing and publicity teams as they create, plan and implement dynamic campaigns for front and backlist titles, e-books, digital content and more. HMH's Trade catalog offers a rich collection of works and authors, from Henry David Thoreau to Randall Munroe, Curious George to Kwame Alexander, Betty Crocker to Mark Bittman and beyond.

Rizzo comes to HMH from ESPN, where as Senior Director, Marketing, she spearheaded initiatives for digital and mobile products to increase consumer engagement, drive revenue and build brand loyalty. She brings more than a decade of senior leadership experience across multiple industries – including media, sports, technology and communications – where she worked to drive consumer adoption of market-disruptive products and delivery platforms, such as subscription and streaming services. Rizzo will leverage this deep expertise to create integrated marketing strategies to bolster and evolve HMH's engagement with readers.

"I'm thrilled to welcome Adriana to our team," said Ellen Archer, President, HMH Trade Publishing. "Our market is ever-changing, and Adriana brings a keen appreciation for navigating and embracing industry transformation, especially when it comes to maximizing digital media's potential to unlock new audiences and reach existing consumers in new, creative ways."

Rizzo holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Prior to ESPN, she led consumer marketing teams at Verizon and mobile start-ups SNAC, Inc. and Digicel Mobile. She will be based in HMH's New York City office.

"Whether our readers have a book on their nightstands or are plugged in to their mobile devices 24/7, we want to reach them in a fun, engaging manner that reflects both HMH's deep literary roots and our excitement for what's ahead," continued Archer. "Adriana will help us do just that."

"I'm honored to be joining HMH. This is an exciting, unique time for our industry, and I'm thrilled to be working with Ellen and her team to continue to build on the success of the Trade Publishing Group," Rizzo added.

Complementing Rizzo's appointment as marketing lead, HMH will also strengthen focus on its sales operations by aligning all sales functions across the group. Seasoned HMH leader, Maire Gorman will take on a new role as SVP, Sales, focusing singularly on the retail landscape and expanding the availability of HMH titles in the marketplace.

To deepen internal and cross-departmental collaboration, trusted senior leader Laurie Brown will bring her expertise and knowledge to a new role as well. As SVP, Business Development and Group Associate Publisher, Brown will work in partnership with senior leaders across the Trade Group and enterprise-wide to identify, develop, and grow new lines of business, including a new program of commercial Young Adult fiction.

About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade Publishing

For nearly two centuries, HMH Trade Publishing has published some of the world's most renowned novels, nonfiction, children's books, and reference works. As part of a leading global learning company, it is uniquely positioned to create educational and entertaining content for multiple channels and in various formats, from hardcovers and paperbacks to e-books and mobile apps. Its distinguished author list includes ten Nobel Prize winners, forty-eight Pulitzer Prize winners, fifteen National Book Award winners, and more than one hundred Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and Sibert Medal and Honor recipients. HMH publishes such distinguished authors as Philip Roth, Temple Grandin, Tim O'Brien, and Umberto Eco, and a celebrated roster of children's authors and illustrators including Lois Lowry, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Wiesner. HMH is also home to The Best American series®; The American Heritage® and Webster's New World® dictionaries; Betty Crocker®, Better Homes and Gardens®, How to Cook Everything®, The Gourmet Cookbook, and other leading culinary properties; the Peterson Field Guides®; CliffsNotes™; books by J.R.R. Tolkien; and many iconic children's books and characters, including Curious George®, The Little Prince, and The Polar Express. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com/popular-reading.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release may contain certain statements that are not historical facts, including information regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, the industry in which we operate and potential business decisions.  Those statements constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in or implied by our forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changes in state and local education funding and/or related programs, legislation and procurement processes; adverse or worsening economic trends or the continuation of current economic conditions; changes in consumer demand for, and acceptance of, our products; industry cycles and trends; conditions and/or changes in the publishing industry; and other factors discussed in our news releases, public statements and/or filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation, and do not expect, to publicly update or publicly revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contact:

Bianca Olson
SVP Corporate Affairs
617-351-3841
[email protected]

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SOURCE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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