Meredith Corporation has announced that Toye Cody and Sondra Newkirk have each been promoted to vice president, brand licensing, respectively, and will co-lead Meredith’s brand licensing business. These promotions are effective immediately.  

“Toye and Sondra are seasoned professionals with deep brand licensing experience and relationships with our partners,” says Tom Witschi, president, Meredith Consumer Products. “We are thrilled to acknowledge and reward their strong leadership as we continue moving our business forward.”

Cody will lead Meredith’s licensing relationship with Walmart, where it sells Better Homes & Gardens-branded home and outdoor products across 4,000 stores and Walmart.com.  She joined Meredith Brand Licensing in 2008 and has been working on the Walmart business since 2011.  Cody and her team work directly with Walmart on product selection, design, packaging, merchandising and marketing details. She joined Meredith Corporation in 2004, working in various positions in Meredith Books. 

Newkirk will lead all other brand licensing business, including approximately 35 partnerships across 11 Meredith brands. Some of those relationships include Realogy and Better Homes & Gardens, Dillard’s and Southern Living, Bellisio Foods and EatingWell, and Real Simple with Bed, Bath and Beyond. Newkirk has been with the brand licensing department since joining Meredith in 2006, most recently serving as executive director. She serves on the board of the Society of Product Licensors Committed to Excellence (SPLICE), is active on several benchmarking teams and is a frequent speaker at Licensing Expo, which is being held on May 19-21 in Las Vegas, Nev.