The Future of Community with Jess Giles
From The Community Exchange Podcast by OpenWeb by OpenWeb
August 26, 2025 · 37 min · Season 3 · Episode 4
About this episode
Jessica Giles discusses the future of community and brand strategy in the digital age.
On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Jessica Giles, Managing Director, Media and Publishing, Code and Theory. In our discussion, MSG and Jess discuss: Jess’s unconventional path from film school to brand strategy leadership via The New Yorker, Vogue, and Condé Nast The early magazine media and leadership lessons from Condé Nast culture Evolving brand strategy for publishers in the digital age and shifting away from platform dependency The role of first-party data, loyalty loops, and closed ecosystems in audience engagement and monetization Community-building and utility-focused product design as under-leveraged assets for publishers The disruptive impact of AI and LLMs on lifestyle content, content parity, and search behavior What makes a differentiated content experience in a commoditized internet Her outlook on the next generation of creative leadership in media and publishing And more. Check out all of our other conversations from Season 3 for great conversations with industry experts.
People in this episode
Guest: Jessica Giles
Topics covered
- community building
- brand strategy
- digital media
- audience engagement
- AI impact
- creative leadership
Keywords
- community
- brand strategy
- digital age
- first-party data
- audience engagement
- AI impact
- content experience
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Code and Theory, The New Yorker, Vogue, Condé Nast, AI, LLMs
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- Where Publishing Meets Innovation with Karen Oh · May 19, 2026 · 47 min
- AI, Trust, and the Future of News with Vineet Khosla · May 12, 2026 · 45 min
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