Execs & Accounts for September 26, 2003

California gubernatorial candidate Arianna Huffington has tapped Klipmart to power her online streaming video ads.

The first ad appears on AOL Today and is targeted to California residents. It features Huffington’s “Thinking Outside the Box” TV spot and automatically plays when a user clicks on a page containing the ad.

“The Internet has been the hub of my campaign from the beginning of my run, and Klipmart has made it easier to get my message out via the Web,” the candidate said.

Klipmart’s solutions allow advertisers to run up to 60-second TV commercials online that play instantly when a page loads. The video ad is linked to Huffington’s own site, where voters are prompted to get more information about her campaign.

“This enables Arianna to speak with a unified marketing voice across all media platforms by merging her offline creative with an online presence,” said Chris Young, CEO of Klipmart.

Only a handful of other political campaigns have used streaming audio and video ads on the Web. Noteworthy examples include spots for the 2002 campaigns of Matt Salmon for Arizona Governor and Jan Brewer for Arizona Secretary of State, the latter featuring a radio spot from Senator John McCain.

“Political Campaigns are beginning to realize that having an online presence takes more than building a Web site,” said Bill Caspare, formerly of political consultancy db Associates, and now head of political services integration at Klipmart.

Caspare expressed optimism that the 2004 Congressional and Presidential campaigns would deploy streaming ads in greater numbers.

NetCreations/PostMasterDirect has scooped up list building and management duties for OSDN (the Open Source Development Network) to build and monetize the tech publisher’s e-mail lists. PostMasterDirect’s “double opt-in” technology will be implemented on OSDN’s network of IT Web sites, including pioneering news discussion site Slashdot.org.

“E-mail list building is an integral part of our overall marketing strategy,” said Chris Hooven, OSDN’s director of business development.

Space.com will use 24/7 Real Media’s Open AdStream Central as its exclusive ad serving solution. The publisher said its choice was motivated by Open AdStream’s reporting features and the platform’s support for multiple rich media formats.

“24/7 Real Media in one month proved its ability to deliver the kind of service we need,” said Jason Hoch, director of Internet operations for Space Holdings, which owns the site.

For more breaking news on account action and executive moves, visit ChannelSeven.com