After six years of existence and many successful projects, the HIP program has reached maturity. Building on this successful first step, the Hachette Livre group affirms its desire to strengthen the role of innovation in its development strategy, by creating a Business Development and Innovation Department.
The Business Development and Innovation Department will aim to identify new growth opportunities, both organic and external, and to study the investments relevant to the development of the Group. It will also be responsible for providing support for the development and diversification projects of the group’s publishing houses. At the same time, this Department will continue to offer research, events and internal communications intended to encourage a culture of innovation and experimentation within the various branches and subsidiaries of Hachette Livre.
« Publishing is a sector where innovation will also make a difference. We need to continue to anticipate and to innovate in order to stay close to our audiences and be ready to respond to future challenges. This is what we are doing at Hachette Livre with the creation of the new Business Development and Innovation Department “said Pierre Leroy, Chairman and CEO of Hachette Livre.
Fabrice Bakhouche, Deputy Managing Director of Hachette Livre says: « The Business Development and Innovation Department aims at accelerating our growth within digital formats, pursuing our development into markets adjacent to books, as well as accelerating the reach of our narrative universes across multiple formats ».
The Business Development and Innovation Department will be headed by Maja Thomas, who also directed the HIP program, assisted by Nicolas Docao, hereby appointed Deputy Director in charge of Business Development.
Maja Thomas: a graduate of the University of California in San Diego and of Princeton University, began her career at Time Warner as an audiobook producer and director, working with authors, actors and business people to bring their stories to life. She joined Hachette Livre in 2006 as Vice President, Hachette Digital and Digital Publishing, and in 2007, in addition to those responsibilities, she was appointed Senior Vice President, Hachette Digital of Hachette Book Group (USA). She continued her professional development with courses at Simmons College in Boston, and Henley and Insead Business schools in England and France. After a three-year stint advising start-ups and working as a consultant specializing in digital technology and publishing in Silicon Valley, Maja returned to Hachette Livre in 2017 as Director of Hachette’s Innovation Program.
Nicolas Docao: born in 1989, Nicolas Docao is graduated from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan. He began his career as Strategy Consultant at EY-Parthenon before joining Hachette Livre as Strategy Project Manager in 2017. In 2020, Nicolas Docao was appointed Strategy & Corporate Development Manager.