• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 20, 2011

Digital agency Razorfish on Thursday appointed Patrick Hounsell as SVP and general manager of Media for North America. In this new role, Hounsell is being asked to create a new national structure for Razorfish's media and search practice, while making better use of the agency's existing resources.

Along with search, Hounsell will likely be placing greater emphasis on social media, along with other emerging channels like mobile and interactive video. "Razorfish's media practice provides solutions which combine multichannel media, analytics, and unmatched technology savvy," Hounsell said.

Hounsell joined Avenue A in February of 2000 as a group account director for search, media and the customer insight group. After the merger with Razorfish in 2004, he joined the East Region's management team, overseeing some of its top media accounts. In 2007, Hounsell became general manager of the marketing and media group, and led Razorfish's offerings in media, search, analytics, social media, marketing creative and account planning.

Razorfish recently launched a number of new services, including one aimed to help chief marketing officers get products and services to market more quickly. The initiative is based on the agency's "agile" methodology, whereby designers and technologists create rough drafts of Web sites and digital marketing campaigns, then modify them based on customer feedback.

Late last year, meanwhile, the agency dipped its toe into the music business, attempting to drum up support for indie pop artist AM with corporate sponsors by bolstering his social media presence and co-sponsoring a promotional contest.