Stacker, the first distribution platform built for earned reach

I won’t bury the lede: today is a big day. Not because we launched a new website, (which we did, and it looks awesome), but because we have finally brought the vision and mission that we have been embracing this past year to life, and our public appearance has caught up with the incredible product and future we are building at Stacker. Let me explain…

When we launched Stacker seven years ago, we had a vision to transform data into engaging, informative stories and get them in front of the largest possible audience, without relying on traditional audience development and advertising models. So we set out to create direct syndication relationships with premier news outlets across the country, from Hearst Newspapers to MSN. As distribution grew, it became clear that the mix of a talented newsroom and the robust distribution infrastructure we had built were the core of the value and impact we could drive across our growing network. Then in 2022, with the massive wave of brands investing in their own publishing efforts, we launched Stacker Connect, creating a full fledged marketplace to connect brands investing in great editorial with news outlets seeking quality journalism to augment their own original coverage.

Stacker has gone through a lot of change over the years, but there is truly one thread through it all that has remained the beating heart of our story: distribution.

The reality is, this new website isn’t just a facelift; it’s a reflection of the industry’s broader shift towards brand publishing, the symbiotic relationship between this effort and the world’s news outlets, and our role as a vital component of that evolving ecosystem.

Distribution is the most overlooked part of a successful content strategy - that’s why our Studio was paired with built-in distribution from day one. There's so many incredible pieces written and produced by brands that remain siloed and forgotten on blogs, landing pages, and white papers. Brands will continue to lean into content to build trust and awareness with customers, and distribution needs to move to the forefront to make those strategies successful. And as we look to the future, our new branding and site design is a nod to how both brands and publishers will unlock that potential.

Stacker’s mission is to maximize the impact and reach of great content. Truly executing on this requires three things:

• A massive content distribution infrastructure (Scale)
• Editorial standards that champion quality content (Trust)
• A cost-effective ecosystem helping those without the resources or connections to participate (Efficiency)

To this end, the Stacker of the future consists of two parts:

Stacker Connect (+Edit, +Studio)- a platform designed to help every brand drive earned media at scale through great editorial content.

Stacker Newswire- a curated feed of engaging stories, vetted by a talented editing staff, and distributed through a suite of publisher products.

At the end of the day, our mission hasn’t changed. We exist to empower publishers. This new positioning establishes Stacker as the trusted bridge that brings high-quality brand editorial content to news outlets across the continent, thus giving publishers the stories they need to continue growing and engaging their audience. Our new website is just the beginning of a series of innovations designed to improve the ways we serve both brands and publishers.

Stay tuned—there’s much more to come.

Noah Greenberg is the cofounder and CEO of Stacker.

Photo illustration by Stacker // Canva