Christine Castro has joined Web portal Yahoo! as its senior vice president and chief communications officer. Before joining Yahoo!, Castro was most recently vice president of corporate communications at The Walt Disney Company,
where she managed PR and communications related to acquisitions; financial reporting; legislative and regulatory issues; branding; and executive changes. She also worked with Disney’s businesses resorts, media networks, consumer products and studio entertainment units.
Prior to Disney, Castro was director, corporate communications for financial services and investment company SunAmerica. She also spent four years at Rockwell International as manager of the company’s employee communications programs.
Castro will lead Yahoo!’s communications efforts, including public and media relations; corporate, financial and employee communications; and what the company called “crisis and issues management.”
Online advertising and marketing firm L90, which is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, said co-founder Mark Roah has resigned from the company’s board of directors, citing personal reasons.
As part of that investigation, the company and one unnamed board member were served subpoenas requesting documents related to the firm’s financial dealings. The inquiry was made public on Feb. 4, three days after L90’s vice president of finance tendered her immediate resignation. The company said it does not currently intend to fill the vacancy left by Roah’s departure. He had also been senior vice president of business development at the company. It’s not clear when he left that position.
L90 is in the process of being acquired by media and marketing company eUniverse, but eUniverse has said that it won’t finalize the purchase until the SEC investigation is concluded, and any issues resolved.
Digital marketing firm MindArrow Systems has added Jeanniey Mullen, Chris Plunkett and David Baker to its executive team. Mullen, who joins as vice president of strategic marketing and national accounts, was most recently vice president and general manager for the global commercial e-mail division at Grey Direct. She has also served as director of sales for General Interactive and corporate customer relations manager for JCPenney Credit. Mullen will also assist in MindArrow’s strategic positioning, developing corporate messaging and representing the firm’s offerings to the media, strategic partners and the financial community.
Chris Plunkett is MindArrow’s new vice president of business development and general manager of the Northeast Region. Plunkett was most recently vice president of business development at Bigfoot Interactive, and he held several senior management positions at Toys ‘R’ Us. He will lead MindArrow’s sales and business development efforts in the Northeast and Midwest.
David Baker will serve as director of professional services and general manager of the Southwest region. Baker last held a post as vice president of professional services at Twelve Horses, a marketing and eCRM firm. He will develop client messaging strategies and hold revenue responsibility for the Southwest.
Brasil Telecom has tapped Modem Media’s
Sao Paulo office for management of its digital marketing efforts. Modem Media will guide and execute Brasil Telecom’s Web and Intranet activities over the coming year.
“Our goal is to further enhance our digital marketing arm so as to increase efficiencies for our customers and ensure them a high quality experience online,” said Waldeck Araujo Junior, Brasil Telecom’s CIO.
Web animation studio ANIMAX Interactive has grabbed Michael Bellavia as its chief operating officer. Bellavia was most recently at Palomar Pictures, an ad production services company, where he worked with the business development team. Before that, Bellavia was a marketing and operations consultant to several entertainment firms, including Miramax, New Line, Artisan, AMC and Elektra.
Integated marketer Planit has hired Paul Intlekofer as senior vice president of corporate development and Joel Fisher as director of interactive services. Intlekofer was most recently senior VP of corporate development for Rdental, an alliance between WebMD and the American Dental Association. While there, he oversaw the company’s marketing activities, strategic business relationships, and acquisitions.
Joel Fisher was founder and chief executive officer of Web shop eighteenoz. Fisher has held roles with Adobe, Macromedia,
and Grafik Communications; and his work has appeared in Communication Arts, HOW Magazine, and Designagencies.com.
The Austin, Texas office of PR firm Porter Novelli recently added Alchemedia Technologies, Layer N Networks, and TippingPoint Technologies to its client list. Porter Novelli Austin will handle all communications planning and media relations for the companies, all of which are focused on security.
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