Roughly one-third of the US population has a direct connection to the military, including active-duty service members, veterans and their families. That’s around 133 million people.
“It really is a staggering number,” says Mark Harper, an Air Force veteran and GM of military and defense at Recurrent Ventures, where he’s responsible for editorial and business operations across Recurrent’s military titles.
Recurrent is the media division of VC firm North Equity, which has been amassing a growing portfolio of niche digital publishers across multiple verticals, including auto, science, lifestyle, the outdoors and the military.
Last year, Recurrent acquired We Are The Mighty, a military-focused publisher where Harper had been for eight years, most recently as CEO. Recurrent’s military vertical also includes Task & Purpose, an online publisher that covers the US Armed Forces and defense industry, and The War Zone, which is part of The Drive, a Recurrent-owned site that combines auto and military coverage.
All told, Recurrent’s military media footprint reaches 37 million people who spend roughly $1.2 trillion annually. It’s a huge audience, but brands “still struggle to authentically connect with this key demographic,” Harper says.
“We’ve got our own vernacular or parlance, a way that we speak to each other and the way that we like to be spoken to,” Harper says. “There are a lot of nuances to the military community, and we’re a very loyal bunch, both to each other and to the brands that we think authentically serve us as a whole.”
Also in this episode: Preparing for the end of third-party cookies, helping military veterans enter the media and marketing industry, juggling knives and torches (literally) and what it’s like to win an Emmy.
