Zachary Rodgers

SAN FRANCISCO – While it’s still too early to make proclamations about the success or failure of this year’s Ad:Tech conference in San Francisco, attendees are by and large impressed with the number of those in attendance, and are optimistic about the show’s potential. Ad:Tech comes on the heels of two reports that have spurred […]

Absolut next week unveils a collaboration with Net artists Richard Wentworth and Semiconductor to break into the world of Internet art. This work, dubbed Absolut Next Generations, will also enlist contributions from visitors to its Web site by leveraging new interactive design tools. For the first time in the company’s history, consumers will be allowed […]

After losing its Nextel account, Mullen has laid off dozens of employees in its traditional and interactive media, account service and PR divisions, a source familiar with the agency said. Among the casualties were members of Mullen’s interactive staff, including VP and Director of Marketing Seana Mulcahy, according to the source. Some observers believe the […]

Overture has elected Frank Biondi to its board of directors. Biondi, who served as chief executive officer of Universal Studios from 1996 to 1998, is currently senior managing director of WaterView Advisors, a private equity fund that specializes in media stocks. Earlier in his career, Biondi was variously CEO of Viacom, Coca-Cola Television and HBO. […]

IT research and consulting firm META Group has appointed Phil Asche as senior VP of global marketing. Asche has had a long career with Young & Rubicam (Y&R), holding various positions such as regional chairman and chief executive of its Africa and Australasia business. He also served as worldwide account director and led Y&R’s work […]

Twenty-one year Gillette veteran Carole Johnson has joined Monster.com as senior vice president of marketing. Johnson’s most recent post at Gillette was VP of business services in the marketing services organization. While there, she also led commercial operations marketing, strategic marketing and sales in the personal care division. Additionally, Johnson oversaw the launch of Gillette’s […]

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has named Avenue A/NYC and i-frontier its online media planning and buying agencies of record in the United States. The interactive agencies, both operating units of aQuantive, have executed online ad campaigns for AstraZeneca in the past. Avenue A’s work for AstraZeneca has involved consumer-focused online advertising for select brands, and i-frontier […]

Integrated marketing firm Euro RSCG Worldwide will use Atlas DMT’s Digital Marketing Suite for its third-party ad-serving and campaign-management needs. Euro has been an early tester of the Atlas Suite’s integrated rich media interaction reporting, designed to help agencies serve, track and measure the results of rich media campaigns through a single interface. The rich […]

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has hired Omnicom Group’s Davie-Brown Entertainment unit to consolidate its agency resources and manage product placement, celebrity influencer programs, and consumer promotions related to television and feature films. “Consolidating agency resources has been an essential part of creating one brand and one voice for the company,” said Gary Elliott, HP’s VP of global […]

Microsoft France will use Real Media Europe’s Spot4Web technology to repurpose TV ads from its “Agile Enterprises” campaign for the Internet. Spot4Web delivers interactive video and audio streaming files, and will allow Microsoft France to run the TV spots on numerous high-tech and general interest French Web sites, including Le Monde, Liberation, Les Echos, Journal […]

E-mail marketing agency Quris has appointed Alicia Smith Kriese to its board of directors. Smith Kriese, senior VP and group account director of GSD&M, has developed positioning for Wal-Mart, Pennzoil and Fannie Mae and currently drives business strategy and idea generation for the Dial Corporation, SAM’S Club, Charles Schwab and CyberTrader. “Alicia’s extensive advertising experience […]

Integrated marketer Epsilon has hired Steven Roth as vice president of CRM strategy and Rod Dillehay as VP and general manager of client services. Roth was most recently a principal consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, prior to which he was VP of customer delivery for an analytics software company. He’s worked with AT&T, Avon, the Direct Marketing […]