Lang succeeds Jack Griffin, who was fired by Time Warner Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes after a mere five months on the job. "His leadership style and approach did not mesh with Time Inc. and Time Warner," Bewkes said of Griffin in a memo at the time. Since then, the company has been led by an interim management committee composed of three Time Inc. executives.
Lang will oversee a roster of 21 magazines, including such well-known titles as People, Time, InStyle and Sports Illustrated.
Lang's appointment is an unusual one, given her background in advertising. (Before joining Digitas in 1999, Lang was president of Marketing Corporation of America, a consulting firm.) Still, it could prove a strategic fit given the aggressive digital agenda Time Inc. has laid out for itself. In August, the company pledged to launch tablet editions for all of its titles by year end, a promise it appears to be making good on.