• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 11, 2010

Scott Neslund, who stepped down as CEO of WPP's Mindshare unit last may, has landed as the CEO of a small, but rapidly expanding pure-play digital agency, San Francisco-based Red Bricks Media.

Neslund, who will split his time between San Francisco and Red Bricks' New York office, succeeds Red Bricks' co-founder Elliott Easterling, who becomes chairman of the board.

"I describe Red Bricks as one of those digital start-up agencies that hasd moved into start-up-plus mode," Neslund tells Online Media Daily. "They've been around for five years, and they're over that initial hump."

The 70-plus organization specializes in search engine marketing, interactive media planning, email campaign management, creative services and emerging forms of media including buzz and social marketing, and has worked with more than 100 brands to date. Its current client roster includes Microsoft, THQ and The Los Angeles Times.

Neslund says he explicitly sought a role in a pure-place digital shop, and one that was more entrepreneurial in spirit than some of the big Madison Avenue organizations he has worked for. Red Bricks has been self-funded to date, but Neslund said the company is eyeing some opportunities to tap capital markets to fuel its growth, such as its mobile and Web development practices. He also sees an opportunity to expand its client services into automotive and pharmaceutical categories, and into international markets.

Until May 2009, Neslund was CEO of Mindshare North America, responsible for about $10 billion in media billings and about 800 employees in the U.S. and Canada. Prior to that he was managing director of Mindshare in Chicago, and before that he was president of Publicis' Starlink unit, now called Spark Communications.